Game: Hisss

Thread: Re: How to push your luck without generating a hissssssy fit

leroy43 — 2008-10-11T05:50:34+00:00

reapersaurus wrote:
I think you're pushing it with the "challenging enough for adults" line.

Hisss is fun, if you're playing with young children (

Fortunately, I have one and she likes playing games. I figure every hour I invest in board games now is... Oh who am I kidding, she'll never play EuroFront II (well, maybe EuroFront IV by then...) with me, but hey, it's time I get to spend with my kid, and that's just a GoodThing(tm).

Thread: Re: How to push your luck without generating a hissssssy fit

brafman — 2008-09-29T20:09:12+00:00

A favorite for playing with my 4-6 yr olds.

Thread: Re: How to push your luck without generating a hissssssy fit

reapersaurus — 2008-09-29T19:29:04+00:00

I think you're pushing it with the "challenging enough for adults" line.

Hisss is fun, if you're playing with young children (

Thread: Re: How to push your luck without generating a hissssssy fit

leroy43 — 2008-09-29T00:50:20+00:00

The "push your luck" element lies in deciding whether or not to make that join.

For instance, if there's one snake with 3 segments and one with 4, do you use that new tile to make one that's 8 long and hope you get to cash it in, or do you just make one or the other longer instead?

It's not much deeper than that - this is a kids game after all.

Thread: Re: How to push your luck without generating a hissssssy fit

skink — 2008-09-28T22:35:29+00:00

Nice review. Not sure the push-your-luck element is really there, however. The way I read the rules, you can only join two snake segments with a new tile if by doing so you complete the snake. So you always get to score it and I wouldn't see much need to choose not to do so. Or maybe I'm not understanding properly.

Thread: How to push your luck without generating a hissssssy fit

leroy43 — 2008-09-28T21:35:53+00:00

Hisss - the game of snake making for 2-5 players, [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]ages 4 and up[/BGCOLOR]. The game is simple enough for children, and yet challenging enough for adults.

Components
The game comes with 50 sturdy (think Carcassonne thick) cardboard playing card sized tiles with snake heads, tails, and bodies. There are six each of heads and tails in the six different colours available (red, orange, yellow, blue, green, and purple), one head and tail in "rainbow" (can be used on any snake), and the remaining 36 tiles are body segments. All body segments come in two colours.

The colours are vibrant and easily distinguished.

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Image posted by jwedel

Rules
The rules are simple. The tiles are shuffled and spread out on the floor. "Floor?" I hear you ask? Yes. The game will need a large surface area, and your best bet is the floor. A random card is turned up and then the youngest player begins.

On your turn, you take a tile and turn it face up. If you can continue an existing snake, you attach the card to that snake. Tiles do not have to line up, only snake segments.

If you draw a tile that cannot be joined to an existing snake, you simply start a new one.

If you draw a tile that would let you join two existing snakes, you may do so. For example, if you draw a red/blue piece, and there is one snake that has an open red and and another with an open blue end, you can use the tile you just drew as a connector and put them together. You are not required to do so.

To complete a snake, it must have a head, a tail, and at least one body piece. The head and tail may be different colours. A rainbow head or tail may be used adjacent to any other colour.

The player completing a snake collects the snake and all its tiles.

Strategy
When playing this game with kids, the fun is making the snakes. Given the tile mix, it's possible to make up to seven snakes.

When you draw a tile, if you have the option of joining two segments into one, you need to evaluate whether you think you'll have the chance to cash in on the completed snake or if you think you're better off leaving them separate. To this extent, there is a push your luck element in the game. The more players there are, the more you'll be pushing your luck...

Game end and "winning"
The game ends when the seventh snake is completed or the last tile is drawn and played.

Players then count the number of total tiles in snakes they've completed, and the one with the most tiles is the "winner". However, I put winner in quotes because, like Pit, the fun of Hisss is in the playing. In our household, we like to see how big we can make the snakes and also focus on finishing the snakes. We don't worry so much about who got the most tiles.

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kevintlee — 2008-09-28T20:50:43+00:00

hisss box insert

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henk.rolleman — 2008-06-07T19:08:02+00:00

Back Cover Dutch Edition 999 Games

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henk.rolleman — 2008-06-07T19:06:23+00:00

Front Cover Dutch Editon 999 Gams

Thread: Re: Daddy, I want to play the snake game!

wmshub — 2008-02-21T20:40:06+00:00

Your bit about your daughter bringing Hisss to you as you did dishes reminds me of a month back, when I woke up one Saturday morning to see my 2 year old standing next to my bed holding the Obstgärtchen box. "Do you want to play?" I asked, and she nodded her head, so I lifted her up and we played right there. I'd choose a game in bed over breakfast in bed any day.

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hseldon — 2008-02-21T18:15:34+00:00

Camille is getting ready to win!

Thread: Daddy, I want to play the snake game!

hseldon — 2008-02-21T18:12:30+00:00

For any gamer Dad, are there better words ever spoken? My three year old came running into the kitchen after lunch with the game box and cheered when I put down the dish rag. The mess can be cleaned up later.

After getting the table cleared, Camille started off the game by making two stacks of cards and then drew the first one quickly. We go through the colors and talk a little about the color wheel (primary and secondary colors) as we play. The first few cards were either green/yellow or purple/red and we had some nice snakes building up. Camille scored the first one with a wild head and proclaimed. "I am winning! Hooray for me!" I don't know where she gets that from.

I was able to put together a small snake and Camille continued her reign of terror as she was drawing heads and combining small snakes together to make larger ones for herself. We had four different snakes going on the board now and the tiles were running out. I snagged a blue tail and was able to take a snake into my scoring pile, but Camille was able to get a middle piece that combined two small snakes into a large one.

We did wind up leaving a fat one on the table as the last card was a purple tail, when I needed a green one. Camille started laying out her cards in rows of 5 for counting. She is doing well on the teens, but needs more practice and games are a great way to practice. She scored 23. Then we counted up mine, in batches of threes this time. I snaked out a mere 17. Camille then pranced about singing " I beat Daddy, I beat Daddy!"

Sigh. How long before she beats me at Princes of Florence?

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Zxqueb — 2007-12-30T04:02:11+00:00

Hisss tile front

Thread: Re: It's a great game to play WITH the kids.

mistermarino — 2007-11-21T08:45:16+00:00

Agreed--it's a nice little game that my son and I played many times.

Thread: It's a great game to play WITH the kids.

pepperhead — 2007-11-21T04:40:43+00:00

Hisss is a great game for the kids and not to bad for the adults either. Easy rules, fun play, a chance for everyone to win, and grandma and great grandma can understand it too. What could be better for the kids and family than that!

The game comes with 5o heavy stock multi colored Cards.
7 Heads
7 Tails
36 Body parts

The object is to turn over a card and place it either starting, adding, or finishing a snake. The parts that make up a snake are the following 1 head, at least 1 body segment, and 1 tail. As you attach cards to each other end to end the colors need to match, all the cards are multicolored except for the head and tail. (one head and tail are wild and they actually are 6 different colors)
]]> Image from BGG & Cordwainer Bird (mistermarino)

Other than that the only other hard rule at least for my three year old is waiting your turn.

The game ends when the last card is turned over and played. The winner is the player with the most pieces at the end, in case of a tie the one with the most snakes wins.

We have gotten snakes up to 28 cards long before completing them and it is really exciting for the kids as they wait hoping they are the ones to get the last needed piece and the huge windfall (kind of like adults when the lotto gets around 398 million). My 6 year old daughter almost always gets the long ones, second to her is great grandma Ruth who has had some pretty big ones herself. (Ok stop the snickering) The kid’s favorite part is to HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS loudly when they complete a snake and claim it as their own.

It is a game that always has takers at our family get together's, always goes to grandma’s house, and I never turn down a game unless I have a real reason to.

Games play fast rarely lasting more than 8 to 10 minutes.

If you have kids and want to help them get into gaming by teaching then turn taking, chance playing, counting, card placement, card movement, set collection and losing gracefully. Along with visual skills, logic, color identification and counting this is a great game to have in your collection.

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jwedel — 2007-10-28T04:44:15+00:00

Hiss cards.

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jwedel — 2007-10-28T04:37:30+00:00

Hiss - alternate (larger) box back

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jwedel — 2007-10-28T04:34:02+00:00

Hiss - alternat (larger) box front

Thread: Re: Hisss - A Light Review

SABATAI — 2007-10-07T18:34:35+00:00

I have been looking for Hisss in Europe without any look now realizing it's available here as Serpentina from Amigo I will purchase it for my daughter - 4 yo.
Thanks

Thread: Re: A review of Hisss

Pigs Breakfast — 2007-09-15T17:42:31+00:00

I definitely agree - my daughter is thoroughly taken with this game, positively vibrating with anticipation when she finishes a snake and can say "Hisssss" before taking it. It's a great kid's game and much less of a brain-killer for adults than some other kids games.

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BrewB — 2007-08-11T17:50:43+00:00

Hisss - Age 4

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janos_hunyadi — 2007-04-08T11:16:57+00:00

Box cover (Hungarian version)

Thread: Snow Day? Let'ssss play Gamesss.

dsmeyer — 2007-03-03T08:30:26+00:00

Well, we have our second snow storm in a week and this one closes the town down for two days. What can we do? Play games.

In the game of Hisss, our girls, as do most children I would guess, really like to get the wild head and tail. It doesn't seem to matter who deals the tiles out, but they always seem to end up with the wilds.

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The game starts off with the snake body pieces hitting the table. a couple of tails hit the game field, but no heads yet. I am luck enough to pull the first head finish a snake with an orang head and a yellow tail. It is only three body parts long, but, hey I got a snake done. Olivia is next and is lucky enough to pull the rainbow head, wierd I know. She has amuch longer snake and is very happy about it. A few more snake hit with Shan getting one then Olivia getting anouther one. Madeline finaly gets one that is eight tiles long and a Palindrome.
In the end Everyone gets two snakes but me. I had the first one and then just provided parts for the rest of the game.

We all had fun and some how each of my daughters ended up with a wild.
Dsmeyer

Thread: Re: Hisss - A Light Review

Neil Thomson — 2007-01-04T00:28:51+00:00

Hi Fraser,

This is probably a result of my teaching background and working in the public system, where many children do not have the skills that the average person would expect.

I would also counter by saying that I always recommend that anyone who regards themselves as a gaming family should add a couple of years to the age of their children when considering the age recommendation on a box (or from a review) to account for gaming experience and thinking skills.

Having siad that some added detail wouldn't hurt. I'll modify the review.

Thread: Re: Hisss - A Light Review

Karlsen — 2007-01-03T20:31:54+00:00

Neil Thomson wrote:

The Final Word
Hisss is another excellent game for the 5-7 age group.

I'd put this more in a 3-5 group myself, at least based on experience with Daughter the Elder and Daughter the Younger.

Thread: Hisss - A Light Review

Neil Thomson — 2007-01-03T15:44:58+00:00

All of my reviews aim to offer a brief overview that allows people to get a good feel for what the game may offer them. I feel that other reviews can be sought if detailed game mechanics is what you are after.

As this is a game based on educational principles I am also able to draw on my experience as a primary school teacher (Australia) when reviewing them. I hope you find this insight useful.

In Hisss, Gamewright have taken the classic game of dominoes and spiced it up for young children. Like all of their games, Hisss is visually appealing as it consists of 50 snake tiles that come in a range of colours and a range of body parts. In total there are 6 heads, 6 tails, 38 body segments and 2 wild cards. The heads and tails are a single colour and the body segments all feature 2 colours per tile. The wild cards are multi coloured (1 head and 1 tail).

Before play begins all of the tiles are shuffled and then fanned out to allow any tile to be chosen at any time. One tile is drawn as the start tile and is added to the play area to represent the start of the first snake. The play is then very simple making it perfect for the age group.

Each player starts their turn by drawing a tile and looking at the play area. If the tile will connect to any tiles already in play (the colours must match and a head or tail can only connect to a body segment) then the tile is placed accordingly. If the tile will not match any of the tiles (existing snakes) on the play area, then the tile is placed to start a new snake. This can often be the case with the multi-coloured body segments. Once the tile is placed it is the next player’s turn to go. In this way the players can build and create new snakes and young children really enjoy watching the snakes grow longer.

If a player can place a tile that completes a snake, they move that snake into their score pile. Once the last tile is played, each player counts the number of tiles in their score area and the most points will determine the winner. Of course this means that completing longer snakes is generally more beneficial.

The Final Word

Hisss is another excellent game for the 5-7 age group (lower this if your children have gaming experience). It helps to build visual-spatial awareness, concepts in logical building, reinforces colour awareness and basic counting skills. It can also be an excellent way to introduce young children to the concept of tile-laying games which will help them advance to games like The Legend of Leandlock, Snap and Carcassonne as they get older. Of course the most important factor is that kids find it fun and can use their imaginations by introducing sound effects. Hisss!

Thread: Re: One-Tile Hand for Added Strategy

OzGamer — 2006-03-01T06:59:52+00:00

That's an interesting variant. I might try it with my kids some time.

Just as a thought - maybe you could start on one of the Carcassonne variants. If at first you just play it like a puzzle, it is not much more complex than Hisss - really just matching 1-4 sides rather than 1-2. Then perhaps after mastering that you could gradually introduce other game elements.

It's great that you find games to be an enjoyable activity with your boy. I don't know anything about him at all beyond what you've said, but it may be that it could be a really good development exercise for him, and one that can be done in a safe, loving and fun environment.

Also, take a look at some of the lists for kids' games. I'm sure there are many that he would be able to play and would really enjoy.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist.php3?action=view&listi...

Thread: One-Tile Hand for Added Strategy

robuck — 2006-03-01T03:31:25+00:00

I have an 8-year-old with some developmental issues that impact his planning capabilities and make complex games too frustrating for him, so I bought Hisss.

We liked the game, but it was a little too simple for the rest of us (and soon for him).

Soooooo we tried it tonight with this variation: each player has one tile in their "hand." When it is your turn, you draw another tile from the pile and you have a choice of which tile to play. This doesn't make this a high-level game, but provides some more choice to add strategy and interest.

We all had alot of fun with the game tonight - enough choices to keep us all engaged - enough luck that no one could take losing too personally!

Thread: 4 Year Old Grandson: Vs. Poppy

McGuit — 2006-02-18T19:57:38+00:00

In this corner weighing in at 37 pounds and 4 years old my grandson Andrew.
In this corner weighing in at over 200 pounds and age 51 his grandfather me.

Andrew has been wanting to play with our regular gaming group whenever they come over and I have been looking for a game that he and I can play together.

Found Hisss online and included it in my last order.

Game is pretty simple.
Turn cards and color match Head - Body - and Tail.
When you do you take those cards for your pile and whoever has the most cards at the end of the game wins.

Before, I even got the rules read, Andrew was busy putting snakes together to show me he could do it.

I told him how to play and we were off.
Figured I'd take it easy on him the first game.

He best me 41 cards to 8.

Told me he wanted to beat me again. I figured, I would play hard so that he would learn that playing a game meant being able to be both a graceful winner and on occasion a graceful loser.

Second game he beat me 30 - 4.

Guess he will have to wait on the above lesson for a later time.

He beat me like a drum and we both had a really good time and I know we will play many times in the future.

McGuit

Thread: First games of Hisss with a 3+1/2 year old

wmshub — 2006-02-17T03:38:59+00:00

It's been about a month since breaking out Viva Topo with my daughter Ella. Tonight she said she wanted to play something new...so into the hidden paper bag in the closet I went, and out came Hisss!

I went over the rules. She got the color matching right away. We played a bit, I made a snake first, showed her how to stack them up. She made a snake and did the same. She got a little bit excited about this, but it was hard to tell if she really liked the game or not. But she kept playing, and that's a good sign. We each made a few snakes, then I show her how to count them: one...two...three... (flipping a snake tile each time). I had 22 snakes. Then she counted. She did really well up to 10, then got a little lost, so I helped out: eleven...twelve...up to 20. I had won!

Now the question: Does she want to play again? Yes, she did! And this time my wife joined us too. We played through another game, much like the first, but this time she got a few chances to join two snakes together. She just didn't seem to get it. She would add the body to one snake (a head snake), then no amount of pointing out the color match would get her to join it to the tail snake. Finally I moved the tiles around to show they matched, and she picked up the tiles, but she seemed kind of disturbed about it, like she thought that she didn't deserve this snake.

Well, the game ended, this time I had 19, Ella had 20, and Sue had 8. Ella won! She was happy about that.

We played one last game, just her and I again. Again she had trouble understanding the idea of joining two snake halves together, but the counting is getting easier each time! This third game she won by a lot, ended up with 30 points. She didn't know what came after 29, but when I said 30, and pointed out that I had only 11...well, she knew who won at that point, and was pretty happy about it.

Thread: Hiss.....

angelotti — 2005-08-28T17:38:46+00:00

Yep – this is a kid’s game and I played it with my 7 year old daughter. She asked to play!

My daughter jumped out to a big first lead getting two large snakes. I picked up a big snake only to see my girl pick up yet a third, though small, snake.

I picked up the last snake with only one tile left in my hand. The game ended with probably 10 tiles left on the table.

I was surprised to see I won, but only by 4 tiles. We had fun and will be playing again.

Thread: A review of Hisss

Grod — 2005-08-03T20:48:00+00:00

A Review of Hisss

Hisss is a game for 2 or more and is probably best suited for players aged anywhere from 3 to 8 years. No reading is required to play, so it’s a good fit for pre-schoolers.

The game is almost entirely luck-based with virtually no strategy, and little decision-making. This might make parents want to run from this game, but it is surprisingly enjoyable, even for the grown-ups.

Bits
The game comes in a small, compact box that should be familiar to those who have played other Gamewright games. Within the box you will find a set of sturdy, colorful cardboard tiles that are both appealing to look at and are able to withstand most of the punishment a 4 year old can dish out. The tiles are quite thick and about the size of a playing card. This makes them easy for small hands to grasp and manipulate.

Printed on each tile is one part (head, tail or mid-section) of a variety of brightly colored cartoon snakes placed on a desert background. The snakes themselves are cute and happy-looking and have no “ick”-factor to concern the ophidiophobic.

The rules are printed on a thin pamphlet with small type. The rules are well-written, but the small pamphlet is almost sure to be quickly lost or misplaced. As the rules are quite simple and straight-forward, however, the pamphlet is not required after the first play.

Play
Game play is extremely simple. The tiles are shuffled and placed face down (either in one big pile or several stacks). Each player takes a turn selecting a face down tile and flipping it over to reveal the head, tail or mid-section of a snake. The mid-sections of the snakes are comprised of two colors (e.g. blue/green), with one color at each end. The heads and tails are each of a single color. After they reveal a tile, the player must attempt to match their tile with other face-up tiles in the play area in an effort to build complete snakes.

Each completed snake must have a single head, a single tail and at least one mid-section tile. The tiles are matched by color (e.g. a blue head could be placed next to the blue end of a blue/green mid-section). Players may also join two existing sections together if they have an appropriate mid-section.

The player who manages to complete a snake is supposed to yell out “hisss!” and claim the snake by collecting its tiles. The game is over when the last tile is revealed, and the player with the most tiles wins.

The game is therefore almost completely luck-based (as even the youngest player will rarely miss a match) with no real strategy involved.

Fun-Factor
For some reason kids love this game! Every one of my daughter’s friends (aged 3-6) who has played it has greatly enjoyed it, and it is commonly requested. One of the nicest aspects of the game is that young ones can play it by themselves and even explain the rules to each other. It’s not easy to cheat and conflicts between younger players appear fairly rare. Even though each player is out for themselves, there is a communal aspect to the game as players all work together to lengthen the snakes in the common area (until someone manages to complete one).

There is a tension that can build as headless or tailless snakes in the common area get longer and longer. Everyone knows that someone will win the big snake… but who will the lucky player be?

Because the game is based strictly on luck, this means that younger players and older players are fairly evenly matched, and everyone has an equal chance to win.

Conclusion
The game is non-violent, relatively non-confrontational, has communal aspects and has a fun theme that appeals to kids. In short, this is a simple and fun game that parents can play with young children, and also a good game for kids to play amongst themselves.

Highly recommended!

Thread: Hisss

pbwedz — 2005-05-19T17:36:00+00:00

Hissss is a great kid’s game for ages 4 and up!

Hisss is a tile game. The game is simple. Each tile has on it either a head, body or tail of a snake. Each head or tail is one of 6 colors. The body tile is either one color or half one color and half another. There is also a ‘wild card’ head and tail tiles.

All tiles are put into a pile and one tile is picked as a starting tile. This is the first snake. The first player picks a tile and tries to match the colors on the tile to the colors on the snake. If he can’t, this tile makes up a ‘new’ snake. The next player picks a tile and tries to match that to any snake and play continues. If, after playing a tile, two snakes may be joined together, then the player may do so if he wishes.

If a player completes a snake, by the snake having a head, at least one body tile and a tail, then the player puts that snake into his snake pit, off to the side. When all tiles have been played, each player counts the number of tiles in his pit. The one with the most tiles wins.

My thoughts:

• Game Components – The tiles are sturdy and the art work first rate.
• Rules – Easy for a 4 year old and up to pick up quickly.
• Length – 10 to 15 minutes

There is next to no strategy with this game, each move (except for when joining a snake together) is next to automatic. However, because everyone is building on same snakes, there is a lot of interaction between you and the kids playing. Kids have a lot of fun with this game. Most US style games is roll the dice and maybe something will happen and maybe not. With this game there is player interaction with each move.

Out of all of the games I play with my kids, this is one of the few that playing the game its self doesn’t feel like a chore.

8 out of 10 is the rating for me. Clearly this is not a game that adults are going to play together. However, this is a game that you and your young kids can both play together and both enjoy. I want to play the game again with my kids once I’m done. For a game to be both that enjoyable for an adult and kids age 4, to me is something special in a game.

Thread: User Review

OzGamer — 2004-11-19T15:01:20+00:00

Introduction

Hisss is a game for 2 or more children and adults aged 4+. It is a type of tile-laying game that I have found children to greatly enjoy.

Components

The box is small, sturdy Gamewright box in the standard size. It contains fifty sturdy, good quality tiles and a small paper rulebook. The tiles are very attractive and each is either a head, tail or middle section of a snake on a desert background. The head and tail are of a single colour, while the middle section is of two colours, with each colour meeting the edge of the tile. The snakes are cute and cartoon-ish and are nicely drawn.

There is a nice touch in the design in that the tiles have little background elements; sometimes a plant, sometimes a little bug. All in all, some thought and design went in to making an attractive little game.

Gameplay

First, the tiles are shuffled and placed face down in one or more piles.

The players then take it in turn to draw a tile and place it in the middle of the playing area. The tile may be matched with an already played tile if the colours can be matched correctly. A snake can be completed by joining a head and tail by at least one middle section in between. When a snake is completed, the player calls out “Hisss” and moves the snake in to their “snake pit” (the area in front of them).

When the last tile is drawn, the game ends and the player with the most total tiles in the snakes in their snake pit is the winner.

Conclusion

There is not too much strategy here, the only real decision points come in whether to join two existing sections together, or whether to add to a bigger or smaller snake when given a choice. However, it is a very good educational game for smaller children, as they are learning to match colours, recognize structure (a snake can’t have two heads) and count tiles.

None of this would matter, however, if the game wasn’t fun, but this it certainly is. My kids often ask for it and generally want another game as soon as it’s finished. And, to be honest, I usually say yes, because I quite enjoy it myself.