Hextris
| Hextris | ||
|---|---|---|
| David J. Bush | ||
| ||
| Abstract | ||
| Players: | 2 - 3 | |
| Length: | Medium | |
| Complexity: | Low | |
| Trios per color: | 5 | |
| Number of colors: | 1 per player | |
| - - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - - | ||
| hex board (19 cells or spots) | ||
| Setup time: | one minute | |
| Playing time: | 15 minutes - 30 minutes | |
| Strategy depth: | High | |
| Random chance: | None | |
| Game mechanics: | Placement, Movement | |
| BGG Link: | 28844 | |
| Status: Not Specified (v1.0), Year released: 2005 | ||
Hextris, designed by David J. Bush, won the 3rd Ice Games Design Competition. It requires 2-3 players, one stash per player, and a hex board.
Equipment[edit | edit source]
1 Icehouse stash of a unique color for each player: 5 large, 5 medium, and 5 small pyramids which need not be stackable.
A blank sheet of 8.5" (21.6 cm) x 11" (28 cm) paper and a pencil would be handy.
The object of this game is to be the first to form three connected groups of five pieces of your color.
The board[edit | edit source]
Draw 19 spots on a sheet of paper as shown in Figure 1. Dots or any other shapes are fine, as long as they are clearly visible.
These spots could be regarded as the vertices of a grid of equilateral triangles, or the centers of a grid of regular hexagons. The overall shape of the grid is hexagonal as well. There are 12 spots around the perimeter of the board, and 7 interior spots.
Initial Setup[edit | edit source]
The board is empty of pieces at the start of the game. Each player has their stash arranged in front of them, in full view of the opponents. These off-board pieces are said to be in hand.
How to Play[edit | edit source]
Players choose who moves first. Perhaps the youngest player could move first. Play proceeds clockwise around the board.
On your turn you either:
- Place a piece you have in hand onto any vacant perimeter spot (called dropping a piece), OR
- Move a piece of your color on the board according to its powers of movement.
You may not drop a piece onto any interior spot. You may not both drop and move in the same turn.
There are two different ways to move a piece:
- Move it in a straight line in one of the six directions, OR
- swap places with an adjacent piece. There is no capturing, nor is there any stacking or nesting of pieces.
You may not make both types of move in the same turn.
You may not pass on your turn as long as a legal move is available to you.
If you have no legal move, you lose your turn and play proceeds to the next player.
MOVING PIECES[edit | edit source]
If you are moving a piece instead of swapping a pair, all the spots you move through and the destination spot must be vacant.
- Small pyramids move only to adjacent spots, a distance of one spot.
- Medium pyramids may move up to two spots in a straight line.
- Large pyramids may move as far as desired in a straight line in any of the six directions.
SWAPPING PIECES[edit | edit source]
You may swap two adjacent pieces of any color, as long as they conform to the following size restrictions. Once you have swapped pieces, you may not make any additional moves on your turn.
- A large piece may swap places only with an adjacent medium piece.
- A medium piece may swap places only with an adjacent small piece.
- A small piece may swap places only with an adjacent large piece.
CONNECTED PIECES[edit | edit source]
- Pieces of the same color which are on adjacent spots are said to be connected to each other.
- Any piece of the same color adjacent to a connected group is part of that group.
- If your move produces a connected group of five pieces of the same color, then if that does not end the game, those five pieces are removed from the board and are out of play for the rest of the game. You might form such a connected group for an opponent with a "swap places" move, although this is generally not advisable.
- You are not allowed to form a connected group of more than five pieces of the same color, either for yourself or an opponent. Any such move is illegal.
Game End[edit | edit source]
The game ends when any player has achieved three connected groups of their color (the third group will occur on the board, while the previous two groups are stowed by their owner). That player wins. If two players get three groups at the same time, the winner is the one whose move ended the game. Players may agree to a draw if no one sees a way to make progress.
Other Languages[edit | edit source]
External Links[edit | edit source]
- Some hints and tips
- Someone shared a nice Hextris board on BBG (2009).
- A new Hextris board is available on BGG (2019).
- Hextris is listed on BoardGameGeek.
| Entered in the Icehouse Game Design Competition, Winter 2005 |
|---|
| Winner: Hextris 2nd: Blam! 3rd: A-A-Arctic Kettering |
| 4th (tie): Influence and Synapse-Ice 6th: Quintazone 7th: Martian Race |
| 8th: Icebomb Arena 9th: What Blind Ninjas? 10th: Ice Soo Sorry 11th: StarRunners |