Tick (fan expansion for Hive) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• The Tick
• Alternative Rule (Diagram)
• Discrepancy Between the Sources

The Tick

Written rules text (BGG item description):

The Tick alternates between moving one space up onto the Hive followed by one space back down again on the following turn. It cannot move along on top of the Hive.

Or, it can use its special ability: Mind Control.

Mind Control allows the Tick to take control of any enemy piece it is adjacent to at the same level of the Hive. It makes the enemy piece use its own special ability, e.g. another piece's special ability, or move the enemy piece using the piece's own movement.

Rules diagram (titled "Tick/Parasite"):

• Tick moves by 1 space around the Hive
• OR
• "Mind Control" forces an adjacent piece to move (according to the piece's move/ability rules)
  • Cannot move a piece that moved last turn
  • Mind-controlled piece cannot move on the next turn

Diagram illustrations:

• The diagram shows the Tick moving one space to an adjacent empty hex (green arrows), and the Tick's Mind Control targeting an adjacent orange piece, which then moves to an adjacent empty hex (orange arrows).

Alternative Rule (Diagram)

Rules diagram (titled "Tick/Parasite (alternative)"):

• Tick can move into any (even surrounded) empty spot adjacent to another bug of the same type as one of Tick's current adjacent bugs
• Tick's power does not work on Queens
• Example: when adjacent to Beetle and Queen, Tick can only move into adjacent spots of another Beetle.

Diagram illustrations:

• The diagram shows a Tick adjacent to a Beetle and a Queen. Green hexes mark the empty spots adjacent to the other Beetle, which are the only spots the Tick may move into in this example.

Discrepancy Between the Sources

The sources do not describe the same movement:

• The written text says the Tick alternates: one space up onto the Hive on one turn, then one space back down on the following turn. It cannot move along on top of the Hive.
• The first diagram says the Tick moves by 1 space around the Hive, or uses Mind Control. It does not describe a climb-then-descend alternation.
• The alternative diagram says the Tick can move into any empty spot adjacent to another bug of the same type as one of its current adjacent bugs, and that its power does not work on Queens.

Mind Control is described by both the written text and the first diagram, but the two differ in detail: the written text says the Tick takes control of an enemy piece at the same Hive level, while the diagram says "an adjacent piece" and adds that a piece which moved last turn cannot be forced to move, and a mind-controlled piece cannot move on the following turn. The diagram's restrictions are transcribed as printed; the written text does not mention them.

The written text and the first diagram cannot both be followed. Players should agree which version to use before play; this transcription does not choose between them. The alternative diagram is a separate variant of the Tick's movement and is recorded as printed.

Transcriber note: the item description also contains a stray paragraph pasted from the Shieldbug's rules ("moves two spaces... up onto the Hive then one down"). It belongs to another piece, so it has been omitted and is not part of the Tick rules.