My First Week Playing Hive Grove 🌳 My Experience and Review

It has been over a week since I started playing Hive Grove. Among the many games available on the Hive blockchain, Hive Grove was the first one I chose to play. In this post, I’ll share my experiences with the game—what I enjoy and the challenges I’ve encountered.

At first, I thought Hive Grove was just a standard tree-planting game where you plant, water, and fertilize trees until harvest time to earn money—the typical sort of mobile game.

It turns out I was wrong. Here, players don't just plant and water trees while waiting for them to fully mature; the game also features interesting social interactions. You can help water other players' trees, chat at the Hive Grove campfire, or request gifts from other players.

What Is Hive Grove?

Hive Grove is a social game built on the Hive blockchain. The game focuses less on competition or vying against other players and more on building connections with them—at least, that is the impression I got while playing.

When you first enter the game, you receive a tree seed that you must nurture. You water it once every 24 hours, and upon doing so, you receive Liquid Hive sent directly to your wallet. The value varies depending on the type of tree you own; consequently, the more trees you water, the more Liquid Hive you earn.

Additionally, you can interact with other players by helping to water their plants, sending or requesting gifts and wishlist items, and socializing around the campfire.

Why Hive Grove Feels Different from Most Blockchain Games?

While most blockchain-based games focus on ranking, profit, or being the best, Hive Grove isn't the same.

In Hive Grove, players don't just care for their own trees. They can help water other players' trees, give gifts, create wishlists, and chat around the campfire. Imagine camping in the woods, sitting around the campfire at night, chatting about various topics.

I never felt pressured to be the strongest player. Instead, I felt encouraged to interact with other members of the Hive community.

My First Trees in Hive Grove

I got my first seedling when I first started playing this game. Every time I watered the seed, I received 0.02 Hive in my wallet. After playing for a while, I decided to buy the next tree, the oak tree. Watering it earns me 0.04 Hive. So, your tree needs to be watered every 24 hours, and you will receive liquid Hive sent to your wallet.

The Features I Enjoy the Most

Watering Other Players' Trees

As I mentioned earlier, in Hive Grove, you can help other players grow. You can visit other players' profiles and help water their trees every 24 hours. As far as I know, you can help as many players as you like with watering their plants, provided their trees haven't already been watered by someone else.

Sharing Through Wishlists

You can request items from other players by sharing your wishlist at the campfire. Requests can range from fertilizer and worms to drones that automatically water your trees without you needing to log in.

Campfire Conversations

This feature allows you to connect more closely with other players. You can start a conversation topic or join in on existing ones. Often, the conversation expands well beyond the original subject—after all, isn't that exactly what happens when we're engrossed in a conversation with others in real life?

Leaderboard Rewards

Hive Grove leaderboards are the latest feature in Hive Grove. You earn points for every action you take in the game—whether it's watering trees, requesting or sending gifts, or even chatting at the campfire. It’s similar to the Ecency daily quests - if you are using the Ecency frontend.

At the end of the season, Liquid HIVE from the reward pool will be distributed to those on the leaderboard.

The Login Problem I Faced on Mobile (And How I Solved It)

So, last weekend, I stayed in my wife's hometown for two days to attend my brother-in-law's wedding. I didn't bring my laptop, as I knew I wouldn't have time to use it amidst the busyness there.

I usually play Hive Grove on my laptop. When I tried to log in on mobile, however, I ran into issues. I tried several times, but the result was always the same: a notification appeared telling me to install Keychain—even though it was already installed on my phone. This was strange, considering I was able to log in to Ecency using Keychain on the same browser (Chrome).

Eventually, I decided to comment about the problem on @shiftrox's latest post regarding the Hive Grove mobile layout update. Another player, @elianaicgomes, shared the solution, which turned out to be very simple: log in using the built-in browser within the Keychain app.

Yay... I was finally able to log in to Hive Grove on mobile.

If you want to play Hive Grove on mobile, make sure you're using the latest version of the Keychain app. Then, select the icon that looks like a globe at the bottom—the second one from the left—and type in the game's address: hivegrove.up.railway.app.

Is Hive Grove Worth Playing?

In my opinion, this is a very relaxing game. It doesn't require complex strategies or competition with other players. It’s perfect for someone like me who struggles with long-term strategic planning.

Just log in, water the tree, and you're done!
That’s it!
If you want to put in a little extra effort, you can buy the items you need, help water other players' trees, and socialize at the campfire.

There’s no pressure or specific targets to meet.
The leaderboard serves as a reward from the developers for players who actively interact and socialize in Hive Grove, but there is no obligation to participate. It’s entirely up to each player.

Since the game is still new, there are a few areas for improvement to enhance the user experience.
For instance, new users (like myself) often have trouble logging in via mobile browsers. It would be helpful to have a notification advising new users to log in using the built-in browser within the Keychain app instead.

Another issue is the text input box at the campfire; I find it too small on the mobile version. When I’ve typed a long message and want to check for typos, the small box makes it difficult to scroll through or read the text.

So, is Hive Grove worth playing? For me, it’s an absolute, big YES!

Final Thoughts on Hive Grove

Hive Grove is a very simple game, and that is precisely its main appeal.

I not only earn rewards for watering trees daily, but I also grow closer to the Hive community and the players I frequently interact with at the campfire. Right now, I feel that relatively few players are interacting at the campfire, even though many are active in watering their own trees—and those of others—every day.

I hope more people start playing this game so that the campfire becomes livelier. I am also eagerly awaiting future developments and updates from the developers to make the game even better.

Through this game, I’ve realized that we cannot succeed alone; we need others to support and help us. Just like on Hive, you can't succeed without the support (upvotes/curation) of fellow Hivians.

So, have you watered your tree in Hive Grove today?

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1st image credited to @shiftrox

2nd image: screenshot from my phone

3rd image: screenshot from my phone edited using canva