Hexellent

From first move to first result

A puzzle game about placing hexagon stacks so that colours meet, merge and clear in chains. It suits players who like thinking a move ahead without a clock in the rules we know of.

Hexellent is played on a three-dimensional grid of hexagon tiles. You pick up a stack of coloured hexagons by holding the mouse button, carry it across the grid, and let go to drop it where you want it. On a touch screen the same hold-and-release gesture applies.

Colours that match merge and clear. The interesting part is that clearing one group can change what sits next to the next group, so a single drop can start a cascade of combos. The skill is in setting up the second and third clear before you drop the first stack.

Because every move is a placement, the game is closer to arranging than to reacting. You can stop, look at the grid and think. Much of the time spent in the game is spent deciding where a stack goes, not moving it.

The grid view is three-dimensional, so it helps to look at how colours sit relative to each other and not only at the stack in your hand.

A useful way to look at a turn is in three steps: choose a stack, choose a landing spot, then picture the result. Most mistakes come from skipping the third step. A drop that looks fine on its own can bury a colour you needed or fill a space you wanted to keep open.

Cascades are the reward. When a merge clears tiles, the neighbouring colours may now touch and merge as well. Setting that up on purpose is harder than getting it by accident, which is why the game stays interesting after the basic idea is clear.

Since there is nothing in the description about a timer, the pace is yours. That makes it a game you can pick up for a few minutes or settle into for longer.

A fit for these players

People who like puzzle games where each move can be planned, and who would rather think about a placement than react to something falling. It also suits people who find fast arcade games tiring and want something they can take at their own speed.

What may put you off

• Poki shows ads around its games, and this site does not control them.
• The hold-and-release control takes a few tries to feel precise, especially on a trackpad or a small screen.
• Cascading combos are satisfying but hard to plan fully, so some clears will feel like luck.
• The Poki facts do not describe levels, scores or goals in detail, so this page sticks to the core idea of sliding, stacking and merging.
• The 3D view can make it hard to judge which tile is which on a small screen.

Buttons, taps and drags

Pointers for the opening minutes

• Before you drop a stack, find the nearby tiles of the same colour. A drop that touches a matching colour is more useful than one that lands on its own.
• Think about what the grid will look like after a clear. A drop that removes one group and leaves another group exposed is the start of a combo.
• Keep some free space. A crowded grid leaves fewer places for the next stack, and it is hard to recover once the free tiles are gone.
• Hold the stack above the grid for a moment and look at it from the side of the colours rather than the side of the shape. Release only when the position looks right.
• Use a mouse on desktop if you have one. Dropping onto a specific tile is easier with a pointer than with a trackpad.
• When two stacks could go in the same spot, try the one that leaves more free tiles around it first.

FAQ

Hung nearby

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• Cat PizzaA calm management game for the same unhurried mood