Hexcells

 
Developer:  Matthew Brown
Steam Release: Feb 2014
Hours Played: 3  
Similar To: 
Rating: 3/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY
Here's a quiet little puzzle game for those who like to mull things over gently and take things slow. With zero time pressure you're shown a patterned grid of hexagons and, using numbers as clues in Minesweeper fashion, tasked with uncovering blue hexagons underneath. You left-click if you think there's a blue hexagon underneath and right-click if not. The game plays out like a slightly more complicated Minesweeper but is a lot more engaging. At first, it's a case of simply uncovering hexagons around the numbered ones. Then as you get deeper, you're shown how many are hidden in a column. You'll then graduate to levels showing numbers between two brackets indicating that the hexagons are connected followed by a number with lines either side showing they're unconnected.  

BALANCE & PACE

At the top you're shown hexagons remaining and a tally of how many mistakes you've made. Like Mole Control, there'll be moments where you'll click away as if in god-mode whereas at other times deep thinking is required. The difficulty is ramped up gently and those slight variations in gameplay mechanics get ushered in at the third cluster of puzzles (out of six) making the pacing just right in my opinion. As the game is targeted at the nerd in us all, completing levels with zero mistakes is always going to be the more satisfying goal and I'm happy to say this is certainly quite doable in the first four or five clusters of puzzles. Thankfully, as I approached the sixth cluster I may have encountered just one or two of those dreaded 50/50 decisions where a false move destroys that 100% record but, hey, make a mental note and do it again!  

PRESENTATION & DESIGN
Hexcells is presented in minimalist format with just the bare essentials shown. You get a plain white background. In the game hexagons are shown in black (if it has a number), yellow (if it's to be uncovered) and blue (discovered). Outside of the main game you get two screens: the start-screen showing three profiles in the form of three slots (with its barely perceptible Quit button) and the level-select screen which likewise, apart from white, features those three colours: yellow to indicate the level is unlocked, blue to show completion and black to show levels are locked. The music itself, with its new age subtle ambience, reflects the tone of the game very well.    
 

PROGRESS SYSTEM
Your level-select screen arranges all levels in six bunches (let's call them clusters) containing 4-6 hexagons each. In the middle of the screen is a slightly larger blue hexagon showing how many points you've earned. You get awarded 1-8 points per level depending on its difficulty and how few mistakes you made. Meanwhile, the small number in the middle of each cluster is how many points you need to earn before unlocking the cluster. This, I found to be quite easy to achieve. Completed levels turn the hexagon from yellow to blue and perfect levels (with no mistakes) are highlighted with a little glint or shine on the hexagon - so you know you can go back to get maximum points if you wish. But, hey, it's not too hard to excel at Hexcells.

CONCLUSION

Hexcells is about as far away from a Triple A title as you can get yet just as rewarding in its unique way. This is a thinking person's game with no frills and where completing a level with no mistakes is reward enough making you want to jump back in to do another. You can complete the full game in around two or three hours yet there is good news - the Hexcells Complete Pack comes bundled with the base game plus two superb looking sequels: Hexcells Plus and Hexcells Infinite which extend the experience with an extra 15 hours or so of goodness. My only minor gripe is that if you miss the 0 mistakes goal there is an absence of a restart button meaning you have to exit and then jump in again from scratch. But say, if that's the only criticism the game can't be half bad.