Hexteria

[h1]IN A WORD: [b]WORTHWHILE[/b][/h1] [h1]IN A NUTSHELL:[/h1] [quote=] [b]WHAT TO EXPECT:[/b] Abstract game of strategy and domination. Turn-based gameplay. Board-game format. Puzzle-solving focus. Simple to play. Becomes more difficult to overcome with progress. Goal-based objectives. Earn credits to unlock Help System. Earn awards to unlock new areas. Unlockable challenges make levels replayable. Relies on replaying levels to increase play time. Single-player campaign. Online and off-line versus mode. Comprehensive Level Editor. [b]ACHIEVEMENTS:[/b] FOCUSED ON SINGLEPLAYER. [b]STATUS:[/b] JUST OUT. [b]WHO FOR/WHEN TO BUY:[/b] FOR FANS OF PUZZLE LIKE STRATEGY GAMES. WORTH CURRENT PRICE (£6.19 or equivalent)[/quote] [i]More info below....[/i] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2592687520 [h1]THE LOWDOWN:[/h1] Hexteria (Hxa) is an abstract game of strategy and domination with the format of a board-game and a puzzle-solving focus. Made with the the Unity Engine it consists of a single-player campaign contested against an opponent AI. A versus multiplayer mode played with 2-6 players with other gamers or bots. Online or locally. With a calypso beat soundtrack playing in the background. The game consists of numerous pre-determined levels, with a number of coloured hexagonal tiles organised in various layouts. Players begin with a certain number of tiles allocated to them. Coloured accordingly. Remaining tiles are neutral, coloured in beige until flipped by one side or the other. To win players must turn all tiles belonging to an opponent to their colour. Players take alternating turns to rotate one of their coloured tiles clockwise. Basic tiles are marked with a pointer. When the pointer of a rotated tile hits a tile of another colour, it changes that tile's colour. Tiles pointing at adjacent tiles in a continuous sequence form chains. As the lead tile of a chain changes colour, it cascades through all other linked tiles. A number of special tiles provide additional tactical complexity. Timed turn limits add to the difficulty. Along with an suitably performing AI capable of defeating this middling player numerous times. The campaign mode is divided into six animal themed stages with six regular and one boss level. Each of these has three distinct goals. From beating the level, to not using the same tile twice. Multiplayer mode has considerable customisation options. Maps selected from those available. Opponents can be configured. From bots, to the connectivity of other players. Be they located locally or online. Achieving level goals earns currency to unlock additional stages after the first. Once the boss level is overcome, three new challenges unlock to increase replayability. Achieving goals or challenges also awards the player credits for use in the Power-Up shop. Unlocking hints and help mechanics. Such as undoing moves, making counter-clockwise rotations, benefiting from extra rotations or even rotating opponent tiles. A comprehensive level editor allows the creation of levels of the quality already in game. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2593646614 [h1]THE GOOD:[/h1] + Very playable single-player campaign comprised of 42x levels. With some progressive challenging levels. + Balanced learning curve with the game becoming noticeably difficult with every progression. + Very good versus mode with a strong array of configuration options for up to 6x players. + Very good GUI. Easy to use and functionally complete. + Capable AI controlled players with 4 difficulty levels. + Power-up shop allows the purchase of 15x help features using credits earned in-game. + Comprehensive level editor able to create and share additional levels. [h1]THE BAD:[/h1] - Could have increased replaybility in SP by using the dynamic level generator from Versus mode. - A daily level mode would have increased player focus. - Level editor can only save games in a publishable state. - Will rely on a core of gamers making extra-levels to keep interest in playing. - Missing the ability to upload replays to an online platform for sharing. [h1]AND THE REST:[/h1] * Varied mix of level design resulting in a mostly fresh experience. * Simple turn-based gameplay with timed turn limits and pause feature. * 9x tiles increase tactical depth including those special behaviours. * Good incentives to replay levels. * Calypso drum style soundtrack. * Auto-generated replays of completed levels. * Basic slideshow help system. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2592687959 [h1]ANALYSIS:[/h1] Hxa delivered a polished experience with simple, accessible gameplay bringing with it a style of minimal interaction that falsely inferred a casual nature. At least towards the mid-game and onwards. Its puzzle-solving focus provided some head-scratching complexity that required a good deal of careful strategising to overcome. With a gentle and balanced learning curve early on, that grew in difficulty with progression. A trait surpassed in versus games, with larger maps possessing at times a somewhat mind-boggling feel. Level design was benign at first but increased in complexity. The introduction of special tiles and board mechanics inflated the challenge. Something sure to tax the mental capability of most players. Playing the game proved absorbing on the whole. Inviting at first with its accessibly and gentle learning curve. Engaging as much as it was demanding as complexity grew. The time limit which seemed ample for a good part of the campaign eventually felt inadequate as more and more aspects made it onto the board. Increasing the amount of mental processing required to consider which tile to rotate. When time ran out, tile choice ended up relying on luck to make a uninformed choice. Feature-wise the game felt feature complete. Anymore tactical mechanics would have overloaded players. The difficulty was offset in a few ways. The inclusion of automated replays could prove a useful tool for those willing to learn from mistakes. Being able to purchase power-ups will make games easier if not just adding more tactical possibilities. A very nice touch. The content for single-player was a good amount with as good a variation as could be produced with such a concept. Multi-player felt short and will require additional maps for sure. It may well prove folly to rely on players making their own maps. At least the level editor is of a high enough quality to produce maps that could rival those included by the developers. In terms of what could have made the game better, it could have done with some sort of daily mode as incentive to play. Utilising the random-level generator from Versus mode to produce levels on the fly, once the campaign had been mastered. A rating system could also have given additional longevity to the game. Requiring players to perfect their strategies. With a leader-board to hold those that were a cut above the rest. A mechanism to upload replays to YT or other platform would have been welcome also. [h1]VERDICT:[/h1] Polished, virtually feature complete with a measured approach to its design, this will appeal to gamers looking for a new abstract game of domination. Ideally for those who enjoy a simple style of play but look for a challenge that grows at they progress. With a range of mechanics that provides a broad gameplay experience but one that could prove too difficult for some parties. Hxa will require a good level of grey matter to complete but for anyone up to the challenge and wanting to test their logical acumen, this is a worthwhile candidate for sure. [quote=]Thank you for reading. | Follow my curator[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/40556040-The-Irregular-Gamer/] here[/url]. | Key provided by [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/tbtactics]Turn-Based Tactics[/url][/quote]

[quote]A review copy was provided by the developer.[/quote] [quote]Follow my Curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41363546-Fruit-N-Doggie-Reviews/]Fruit N Doggie Reviews,[/url] so you can be updated whenever I post a new review.[/quote] [h1]Overall Rating - Average ★★★☆☆[/h1] [h1]First Impressions[/h1] I've had my eye on Hexteria (HX) for a while, but was uncertain what to think of it. It looks rather simple, and like it should be easy enough to defeat AI opponents. The problem is that since the game is so basic, I could see myself overlooking obvious moves that would both decimate my opponent or cost me the match. “Easy to learn, hard to master,” came to mind when I checked it out, but since others weren't raving about unfair or bogus AI, they're either all brilliant, or the game isn't stacked against the player. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] Anyone who has OCD might be somewhat irked by HX due to all of the arrows on the tiles facing directions haphazardly. There's little rhyme or reason to them per se, but each player in the match is assigned a color and portion of these preset tiles on the board. Your goal is to take control of the opponents' tiles, which is determined by the direction each arrow faces. If an arrow of one color turns and points at a tile of a different color, it'll take possession of every tile connected to that first tile. Since there are no limits to how many tiles can be taken over, or are needed to claim other tiles, momentum and who's winning can change on a dime. A player can have a single tile and win with one move. This is a surprisingly basic but clever concept for a strategy game, and allows for very crafty moves to be made. “I've got you now! You've fallen right into my trap.” “Who's fallen into who's trap, child?” https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2882095773 [h1]Controls[/h1] Theoretically a game like this could be played with a controller, but since it emphasizes thoughtful move-making and a grid-style board, I had no qualms using a mouse. Each time you make a move, all you have to do is click on one of the tiles, so there's very little that could have gone wrong with the controls. Everything worked as it should. [h1]Story[/h1] This wasn't obvious to me when I looked at the trailer, but HX has a campaign to play through. Perhaps I should have read the description more closely. Either way, even as you face opponents and animal-themed bosses, there's no plot or explanation as to what's taking place. You're just doing the things and beating up wild animals in a strategy game. So Yu-Gi-Oh!, but playing cards were traded out for tiles and animal abuse. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2882095565 [h1]Visuals[/h1] Puzzle games have more of a reason for simplistic graphics than other genres, so it's not surprising that the visuals are so basic here. It's made up of different shaped boards with hexagon tiles placed across them. What are you really going to do with that? Since it's designed around the mechanics so much, I'm not bothered that there isn't more to the aesthetics of HX. Abstract backgrounds that aren't too distracting is a good choice when you're concentrating on possible dangers and what moves you should make next. [h1]Sound Design[/h1] Within the campaign there are 6 themed worlds, such as a beach, beehive, or volcano. Each of them has a unique song that plays, which is a simple but nice touch. It's honestly something I expect from most games, but this indie title is the one that actually follows up on this simple premise. Regardless, they're enjoyable tunes that suited the themes appropriately, without being too distracting. There weren't many sound effects, yet that also meant there weren't any possible annoyances to worry about either. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2882096086 [h1]Pros[/h1] 🌟 You sort of get into a flow with the gameplay, having a good sense for how you should face the AI. There were a few stages that would stymie me for a while, but changing my approach sometimes led to a very fast victory. “Checkmate in only 5 moves? I mean, I did that wholly on purpose. As intended.” When you make a smart move intentionally, it feels very rewarding. 🌟 The optional objectives and challenges do provide an extra layer of difficulty, and a goal to aim for while defeating your foe. It's almost like playing with a handicap, to dunk on them even more. “Beating me wasn't enough, you had to do it while blindfolded too?!” 🌟 The AI isn't some chess master that knows how to bend the rules of HX to its every whim. It can be defeated, even if some set-ups are seemingly BS. [h1]Cons[/h1] ❌ With so many levels having goals to beat the opponent in only a few moves, it does reveal a basic flaw with the design of HX. Unless you intentionally made a disconnected, annoying board, many of the matches can be beaten very quickly. It's not a long, drawn-out kind of strategy game. ❌ Even though there's a level-creator available, the vanilla game doesn't have much content. Only 42 levels in the campaign and a versus mode. ❌ The ice power-up can cause odd stalemates where you and the opponent counter each other until one breaks, for some reason. ❌ Sometimes, going second is the much better position to be in. Boards can be really unfair. [h1]Tips[/h1] 🔍 In the right situations, you can play defensively, breaking your large cluster into a smaller piece, allowing it to be taken so you can reclaim it all and more with your smaller remainder. Other times you'll need to be more aggressive, taking neutral portions to set yourself up to claim enemy pieces. Flexibility is important. 🔍 The AI always makes the exact same move based on whatever you do. So if you turn a set of tiles in the same order, the AI will do exactly what it did last time. You can manipulate and learn how it'll respond accordingly. 🔍 Initially, I played HX without buying power-ups, which was a good idea. The ones on the far right are well worth saving up for, as they're completely broken and make HX a cake walk. Mind control? Zany. [h1]Final Thoughts[/h1] This wound up being a short playthrough, which is one of two outcomes I anticipated. Either HX would be really grueling and take quite a while, or it'd be a quick, easy enough challenge. Sometimes though, the difficulty could be really unbalanced. For example, I beat the volcano boss in a single attempt so badly I earned all of the challenges without really meaning to. I enjoyed HX more than I thought I might, so it's a game I'd recommend for those who like clever strategy experiences. Even though its priced for only $6, due to how short the game is, that's a bit steep for what you get, so you'd probably want to wait for a sale. My playtime is based on going for optional objectives and achievements. [quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]Follow our curator page: [b]IndieGems[/b] if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.[/url][/quote] [table] [tr] [th]PC Specs[/th] [th]Performance[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]Ryzen 2700 RTX 2070 16GB RAM ADATA SSD 1920x1080 [/td] [td]The game ran without incident on default settings. 💖 - HX is healthy [/td] [/tr] [/table]

Hextremely fun puzzle game at times, and overall never repetitive with all the goals and challenges. However, there's 1 concern: the more you beat, the more coins you get; the more power-ups you can unlock, and with all these power-ups, challenges can be rendered uncomplicated easily and early in! Now, of course you can decide not to use power-ups, but there's no incentive for doing so, hence you will prefer to 'cheat' more ... This made me decide to give a lot of the challenges a rest (for now), because they turned out a bit unsatisfying sometimes. I also ended up with a lot of useless coins, having unlocked all power-ups sooner than I wanted actually. Other than that, definitely a neat Turn-based Strategy game in which the developer [i][insert one of my favourite birds][/i] put a lot of thought — down to the last detail. I also had fun with the Level Editor that works flawlessly, and there's even a validation screen, so to prevent random stuff to be published. Last but not least, a few notes: - There are 3 challenges per level, but if you want to play the next in the row other than the last/3rd, pressing [i]Continue[/i] won't bring you there and you have to quit to the level selection screen first = a bit inefficient. - Sometimes power-ups don't function in challenges whereas you receive the message [i]"... Activated"[/i]. I do understand the reasons here, but then put an X through the destined power-ups. 8.5/10 — not as challenging as expected, but more variety than expected! PS I received this game as a gift from a friend who tested this game.

So Hexteria. As a Linux-player: It runs smoothly. It is an abstract puzzle game. It makes you think in different and new ways, like a puzzle game should. I haven't figured out the logic quite yet, but I managed to beat the first 2/6 levels. Good to know: You don't have to beat all the achievements at once. I am wondering whether it is possible to get all the achievements without using powerups and at the same time. Recommended for people who enjoy abstract/mathematical puzzle games.

A really well-thought puzzle game with nice visual art and music. It's just a pleasure to play a bit when you don't have hours for a big game, and in the end you might find yourself trying to complete one challenge for a good hour while humming the tunes!

I've always enjoyed these domination/war style games, which require you to capture a whole field/board. The fact that Hexteria with its 6 sided hexagonal tiles can replicate those kinds of games in a simple and functional way, it's certainly impressive. The Campaign allows you to understand how the gameplay and its mechanics work as you proceed further and further (And of course, there's a help menu to refresh yourself if you do forget anything too), and allows you to experience thrilling and sometimes infuriating 1v1 duels against the AI, where you will be trading back and forth tiles until one of you has complete domination. It also offers an in-game shop which you can use coins that you've collected from Goals/Challenges to assist you in some trickier areas. This helps out with some players who might just need that additional change to the gameplay to help them out. The Multiplayer lets you play with up to 5 other players (Or even AI bots) for even more fun. Again, it's very tailor made since it allows people to join via public/private lobbies which hosts an array of gameplay options to make each round different and random too. In addition to that, the player slots can also be replaced with Twitch users instead. This allows Twitch chat to get involved in playing the game by voting on the tile they would like to rotate. The integrated Level Editor will also allow you and your friends to create your own level designs that can be customised to a very big degree. You can draw out a level layout, specify what tiles you would like to use, what directions they start in, and also choose a theme to go with it too. With Steam Workshop support, you can also upload these levels for other players to use in their multiplayer games, and hopefully gives them ideas to create their own designs too. The music and the sound effects certainly provide the player with a relaxing and chill vibe, which changes depending on the theme that is currently on. It's certainly something that you will remember when you play the game, but enjoy every time you hear it. The replay system is also handy if you want to keep any of those games and to perhaps look back and learn from some mistakes that you might have done (Or if you wanna show off that possible 2 turn win to your friends of course). Overall, Hexteria is simplistic and effective at what it offers, which is turning hexagonal tiles to dominate your opponent(s). It includes options to play solo or to play with others too, with the addition of creating your own level designs to share with the community. Simply simply lovely! :)

Very fun puzzle game to play either with friends or try the singleplayer campaign. Is very easy to learn, but has a suffuciently high skill ceiling when playing later singleplayer levels or against more experienced players to keep it interesting.

This game is very intuitive yet so very challenging at the same time, which makes it addicting and so so much fun! I love games likes these where often you'll think you've nearly won, only to then lose so many tiles at once that it feels like the round has started all over again, keeping every player on their toes. Or maybe I just need a better strategy... Highly recommend!

Nice strategic game, nice design with the different worlds. Extra challenging due to the challenges. Very addictive.. It would be nice if there was a mobile app, I would definitly play this on my tablet or phone.

It's a great game! It's fun, challenging and it has many options to play and create different levels. It looks simple, just turn the tiles, but you really have to think ahead and make good choices, it's very clever! It's fun to play with friends, and very addicting if you just play by yourself. Amazing game, I would really recommend it!