Hex (video game)
A turn-based hex-flipping strategy game with unicorns and spells.
In this 1985 turn-based strategy game from Mark of the Unicorn, players guide a unicorn whose goal is to paint every hex on the board a single color. Rival forces try to claim the hexes for themselves. As the unicorn gains levels, it learns new magical abilities, though it can only keep five spells active at once. Originally released for the Atari ST, it later appeared on the Amiga.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Mark of the Unicorn
- Designer
- Stephen Linhart
- Released
- 1985: ST
- Genre
- Turn-based strategy
- Platforms
- Atari ST, Amiga
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The game is presented on an isometric playfield of nineteen hexagonal platforms arranged into a larger hexagon. Each hexagon's top surface is colored green, blue, red, or purple. The player's unicorn jumps between hexes, and landing on a hex changes its color in a fixed sequence: blue, purple, red, green. Adjacent hexes of the same color all change when any one of them is changed by the player. On the first level the goal is to turn the entire field green; on later levels an opponent tries to turn hexes purple. To win, the player must arrange the field so that the opponent's hex becomes green on the player's last move. A match ties if the field turns all red or all blue, or after 100 turns. There are twelve opponents with distinct strategies, starting with a dodo that jumps at random and later including an invisible man and a magician. Magic spells have various effects; after winning a match the player may add one new spell to a spell book, and up to five can be selected before a match. Spells require energy, which is gained by winning a match or flipping a tile green. Opponents also have their own spells. Higher levels feature multiple opponents at once.
Reception
George Millare in COMPUTE! called Hex one of the most challenging and fascinating strategy games yet devised for a computer, noting that opponents seem to acquire distinct personality traits. Suede Barstow in Antic described it as a cross between Q*bert and Archon but unique, calling it clean programming and one of the best strategy-board games seen on a computer. ANALOG Computing's November 1985 review concluded the game was super and as challenging as Archon, with fantastic graphics on Atari's SC1224 color monitor.
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