The Hive on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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The Hive is a strategy game with RPG elements where you assume command as the insectoid hivemind. Build and expand your underground colony, harvest resources, and evolve your swarm using DNA. Will you survive in this hostile yet beautiful underworld?
The Hive is a rts, strategy and rpg game
developed and published by Skydome Entertainment.
Released on August 25th 2016 is available in English on Windows, MacOS and Linux.
It has received 387 reviews of which 279 were positive and 108 were negative resulting in a rating of 6.8 out of 10. 😐
The game is currently priced at 19.99€ on Steam, but you can find it for 0.37€ on K4G.
The Steam community has classified The Hive into these genres:
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System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS *: Windows® 7 / Windows® 8 / Windows® 10
- Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo or AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 5600+
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® 7600 GT or ATI™ Radeon™ HD 2600 XT or Intel® HD Graphics 3000 or better
- DirectX: Version 9.0
- Storage: 3 GB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX®-compatible
- Additional Notes: 1024X768 minimum display resolution
MacOS
- OS: OS X® 10.11 (Latest Version)
- Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M or ATI™ Radeon™ HD 4670 or better
- Storage: 3 GB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX®-compatible
- Additional Notes: 1024X768 minimum display resolution
Linux
- OS: Ubuntu
- Processor: Intel Dual-Core 2.4 GHz or AMD equivalent
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® 7600 GT or ATI™ Radeon™ HD 2600 XT or Intel® HD Graphics 3000 or better
- Storage: 3 GB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX®-compatible
- Additional Notes: 1024X768 minimum display resolution
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
Got on sale for $5. It's okay for that price; I definitely wouldn't pay $20. It's janky. There are levels where AOE markers end up underneath the terrain, and my bugs would sometimes freeze in place and couldn't be made to move at all. Controls are...iffy. But it did entertain me for a day, and it's not super long or anything (10 levels). Maps are nice and big, and you can get a proper swarm of 100+ bugs going.
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The Hive is an atmospheric real-time strategy and colony-management hybrid that invites players into a dark, subterranean world where an insectoid civilization struggles to grow, survive, and reclaim ancient knowledge. Developed and published by Skydome Entertainment, the game blends classic RTS mechanics with light RPG progression, all wrapped in a brooding fantasy setting that emphasizes mystery and discovery. From the opening moments, it is clear that The Hive is less about fast-paced competitive tactics and more about immersion, world-building, and slow-burn expansion. You guide a hive of alien creatures through winding caverns, derelict ruins, and long-forgotten underground kingdoms, gradually uncovering fragments of lore left behind by civilizations lost to time, while simultaneously building your own swarm from virtually nothing. The core gameplay revolves around gathering resources, constructing hive structures, hatching new units, and pushing deeper into the underground. You often begin a mission with only a small worker or a handful of basic insects, forcing you to quickly establish a foothold in hostile territory. Resource management has a central role: food, materials, DNA fragments, and arcane components all feed into your hive’s growth, determining whether your insects can evolve into stronger forms or whether your forces stagnate. The RPG layer ties into this well—defeating enemies, discovering ruins, and exploring the caverns allow you to collect DNA and artifacts that enhance your troops or unlock new types of units. This sense of gradual biological evolution sets the tone for the entire experience: the hive grows not through technological research, but through absorbing knowledge and traits from its environment and prey. Visually, The Hive’s greatest strength is its atmosphere. The game presents the underworld as a beautiful but foreboding place filled with luminescent fungi, ancient temples carved into stone, abandoned machinery, and monstrous subterranean fauna. The environments feel alive with mystery, and Skydome Entertainment’s art direction leans heavily toward dark fantasy, creating a sense of mythic alien history beneath the earth. Each level feels handcrafted, with striking vistas that stand out even when the gameplay becomes repetitive. Creature designs further reinforce the world’s tone: your insectoid units are grotesque yet majestic, with armored shells, glowing eyes, and a distinct visual language that sets them apart from more typical RTS factions. Whether you’re commanding small scouts or massive hive guardians, the units feel cohesive, organic, and thematically grounded within the world. However, beneath its strong aesthetic foundation, The Hive’s mechanics often reveal limitations. While the gameplay loop of expanding, harvesting, and conquering is functional, it lacks strategic depth compared to more complex RTS titles. Many missions follow a similar rhythm: build a minimal base, amass a large swarm, and push forward until all opposition is destroyed. Because the game offers only a modest number of structures and unit types, the variety of viable strategies is limited. This results in a sense of repetition across the campaign, particularly for players who prefer nuanced mechanics or diverse tactical options. The absence of skirmish modes or multiplayer further narrows replay value; once you complete the campaign, there is little to return for unless you simply wish to experience the world again. Pacing and balance also contribute to mixed impressions. The early game often feels slow, requiring careful gathering before any serious expansion. Later missions, however, can escalate quickly, overwhelming players with enemy waves or resource constraints that feel abrupt rather than challenging. A single misstep—such as a poorly timed push or inefficient building order—can lead to a collapse that requires starting a mission over. Unit AI and command responsiveness, while serviceable, occasionally feel imprecise, especially during larger battles where insects crowd tightly around enemies or obstacles. Camera controls and interface clarity can also feel rough in places, making unit management more difficult than intended. These small but noticeable technical issues detract from what is otherwise a deeply atmospheric experience. Storytelling in The Hive is subtle but intriguing. Rather than delivering a linear narrative through cutscenes, the game invites players to uncover lore through exploration and discovery. Ancient writings, ruined altars, and hidden structures hint at a great catastrophe that reshaped the underworld long before your hive’s rise. The narrative tone feels mythic and somber, emphasizing the cyclical nature of civilizations and the strange, almost sacred role your insectoid race plays in the ruins of the past. This approach to storytelling rewards slow-paced, investigative play, though players seeking strong character-driven narratives may find it sparse. Ultimately, The Hive is a game defined by its atmosphere and ambition rather than mechanical complexity. It offers a memorable setting, evocative art direction, and an unusual perspective for an RTS—commanding swarms of alien insects rather than conventional armies. Players who value world-building, thematic cohesion, and the pleasure of guiding a growing hive through a haunting underground realm will find much to enjoy. Those who prefer competitive RTS gameplay, deep strategic systems, or high replayability may instead feel constrained by the game’s limited unit variety, repetitive mission structure, and modest difficulty balance. In the end, The Hive stands as a distinctive if imperfect strategy title—one that prioritizes mood, aesthetics, and environmental storytelling over tactical sophistication. Its flaws in pacing, variety, and interface polish are real, yet its dark charm, evolutionary mechanics, and atmospheric world make it a compelling experience for players willing to embrace its slower, more meditative approach to RTS design. Rating: 6/10
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This game is average. It's not exciting, it's not engaging, but it doesn't make you want to stop playing it either. It also doesn't explain any of its mechanics at all, which is kind of insane. Normally you'd at least have some basic tutorials when new things are introduced, or at least put up a skippable text box. The way you upgrade your units is via an item system that they apparently added a tutorial for, but the game doesn't actually show it. Luckily I was able to figure it out myself, but there's not even a way to access it through the UI, you have to press the I key. There's a ton of free real estate on the unit card and the HUD where you could just have a button that leads to it. Another thing with the item system is that any time you open a new campaign from the menu, if you've completed that level before, every item you've gathered throughout your playtime will be available. Meaning you can quickly upgrade your starting force and unlock whatever units you so desire for the rest of that session. The game does not tell you this either, even though it really, really should. Honestly, there isn't really anything here that puts it above and beyond any other title. You can get much better games for a fourth of the price, you're not missing out. Unless you just really like commanding insectoid swarms or something, but even that market has plenty of better competition now. It doesn't include skirmish, multiplayer, survival or any randomization in the campaign to give it replay value past being able to unlock units sooner. If it was 5 or maybe even 10 dollars, then it would be worth the money. Buy it on sale otherwise.
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this is more of a problem i just wanna note, when your playing the game you cant change settings because of the layout of the UI blocking the enter button, other then that games good (hope a dev sees this cause its a problem if you ask me)
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So I bought this game a bit ago and just finished it. Honestly as a indie RTS, this isn't that bad. I actually enjoyed that the dev's had made a solid story (that could be fleshed out more) with a interesting setting. I'm curious to know who the advisor is and how he knows everything that is going on. Gameplay Mechanics---- I didn't really use the RPG element of this, I just sold everything off to get DNA to unlock mostly upgrades and a few of the units. I do appreciate that certain levels have you starting out with new units to test out! RTS-wise, for what it is, it's not too shabby. As a hardcore RTS Fan and player for certain games (StarCraft 1/2 + Command and Conquer Franchise + more...) I'd save this is average. It's not meant for a multiplayer/competitive scene for sure but for story its fine. I do like how detailed the maps can get and that I just get to build a vast swarm of bugs (200 pop). Although I only used, not counting the worker, 6 types of bugs. I didn't use the infestor or the wasp since there wasn't air units nor not much use for me for the infestor. I wish there was more unit variety. Or a mechanic to evolve bugs in different paths. I did like that there are paths that you can explore on the map for more resources or extra gear (DNA in my case). I wish there we're some side objectives to unlock some other cool things or even to add to the story SPOILERS----- I'm very curious on how, and if, the second one will go! I really do like that we get out of the Underworld and no dive out onto the Surface world. But I want to see more of the space ship disaster / infection. I want to see and find out more of why the swarm advisor was half exploded in the end cut scene. What of the other gods? I'd love to know more! You created a great setting to keep me wanting more. I know this war released in 2016 but I have a feeling with modern tools a 2nd one would be interesting to play! I'll give this a 7/10. + Story + Lovely Maps + Side paths for more resources/gear - Unit type amount - A bit slow game speed than I'd prefer (this is preference) - Encountered some bugs (not game breaking but annoying) - Not enough missions
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Frequently Asked Questions
The Hive is currently priced at 19.99€ on Steam.
The Hive is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 19.99€ on Steam.
The Hive received 279 positive votes out of a total of 387 achieving a rating of 6.84.
😐
The Hive was developed and published by Skydome Entertainment.
The Hive is playable and fully supported on Windows.
The Hive is playable and fully supported on MacOS.
The Hive is playable and fully supported on Linux.
The Hive is a single-player game.
There is a DLC available for The Hive. Explore additional content available for The Hive on Steam.
The Hive does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
The Hive does not support Steam Remote Play.
The Hive is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for The Hive.
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Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 12 March 2026 00:09 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 09 March 2026 10:34 |
| Steam price | 15 March 2026 12:42 |
| Steam reviews | 14 March 2026 05:49 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about The Hive, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about The Hive
- SteamCharts - Analysis of The Hive concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck The Hive compatibility
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Developer
Skydome Entertainment
Publisher
Skydome Entertainment
Release
25 Aug 2016
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