Army of Frogs resembles Hive in that the gameboard is created while you play. The goal of the game is to create one large group of frogs -- an army, if you will -- through tactical maneuvering and placement of the pieces, which are hexagonal bakelite frogs. Says Yianni, The molded frog figures have high backs so that they can easily be picked up and moved during play.

Each player starts with two randomly drawn frogs, and on a turn a player takes the following three actions to build and shift an island of frogs in the center of the table: (1) if possible, move a frog of his color that's on the board to a new location (something that's obviously skipped on the first turn), (2) add one of the frogs in his supply to the board, and (3) draw a new frog from the bag and add it to his supply. The first player to create a group of seven or more frogs wins the game.

The game includes a few placement rules along the line of Hive. You can't split the island of frogs, and you can't create a long peninsula of frogs, thus tying up other players. "You can't add your own colour touching your own colour stones, and the way you move is by jumping in a straight line but with multi jumps allowed," says Yianni.

Description written by W. Eric Martin and used with permission of BoardgameNews.com