How to play Hexmosis

Two creatures, one board of hexagons: Magma-Sludge versus Neon-Goo. Whoever holds the most fields at the end wins. The rules take two minutes to explain – here they are in full, with every special case.

Starting a match

In the main menu you set, from top to bottom:

• Game mode – “VS computer” or “2 players (local)”: two people on one device, taking turns.
• AI difficulty (against the computer only) – Easy, Medium or Hard.
• Your creature – Magma (orange) or Goo (green). The computer takes the other.
• First move – you, the computer or random. Random is drawn anew on every restart. With two players, Magma always starts.
• Battlefield – switch between the four boards with the arrows (see below).

“Start battle” begins the match. Both sides start in alternating corners.

A move

Tap one of your pieces. It gets a white ring, and every field it can move to lights up. Then tap one of those – done. Tapping another of your pieces switches the selection; tapping elsewhere clears it.

Depending on how far away the target is, the move is one of two kinds:

The target must be empty. What lies in between does not matter for a jump: the piece flies over your own and enemy pieces just as it does over gaps in the board. Gaps themselves are not fields – nobody can move there.

Assimilation

The heart of the game: as soon as your piece lands on the target, every enemy piece on the up to six neighbouring fields of that field becomes yours. This applies to cloning and jumping alike.

There is no chain reaction: only the direct neighbours of the target change colour, not their neighbours. Even so, a single move can turn up to six pieces at once – and a clone adds the new piece on top.

End of the game

After every move the game checks whether the opponent can carry on:

• If the opponent still has a valid move, it is their turn. There is no passing.
• If they have none – because all their pieces are shut in or they have no piece left – the match is over. Every field still free goes to the player who moved last and is visibly filled with their colour.

Then the pieces are counted: whoever has more wins. A tie ends the match in a draw. So the end can come as a surprise – whoever locks the opponent in is handed the rest of the board.

During a match

• ◀ Menu and ↻ Restart ask first before abandoning a running match. Once the match is decided, they act at once.
• Settings opens the settings; the computer holds its move for as long as they are open.
• After the computer's move you can pick your next piece right away. A move you tap while an animation is still running is carried out as soon as it finishes.

The boards

Small boards make for short, tough matches in which every mistake is punished at once. Large boards leave more time to build up – and more room to overreach.

Tips for getting started

• Cloning beats jumping. A clone gives you one piece more and leaves no gap. A jump pays off when it turns clearly more pieces than any clone – otherwise it leaves a hole for the opponent to move into.
• Count before every move. A clone is one piece plus every turned neighbour, a jump only the turned neighbours. Then look at what the opponent can win back next move.
• Stay compact. Closed groups offer few free neighbouring fields for the opponent to land on. Single pieces pushed forward are easy prey.
• Use edges and gaps. A field at the edge or next to a gap has fewer neighbours, and so fewer sides it can be attacked from.
• Think about the end. Shut the opponent in so they cannot move, and every free field is yours. Conversely: do not let yourself be pushed into a corner.
• Move up gradually. Easy forgives a lot, Medium punishes open flanks, Hard plans one move further ahead than you – at least at first.