Why we built Hex Sense on hexagons and other interesting choices we made
As we already mentioned in the previous post, we really love Minesweeper. We played it a lot when we were younger and it shaped a big part of our puzzle taste (for better or worse :)). So when we started making our own games, a square grid was always the obvious starting point, because that is how the classic puzzle games look.
In case you are new here is a quick recap. Hex Sense is a logic puzzle game where you guide a little hero called Mochi through a hexagonal field. Some tiles hide deadly hazards and the numbers on open tiles tell you how many hazards are around them. You read the clues and find a safe path to the exit.
There is no deep reason why we chose hexagons instead of squares for our puzzle. Somehow we just really love the hexagon form. We simply find hexagons beautiful and pleasant to look at. That is also why Hex Sense is not our only hexagonal game. Clean! also plays on a hexagonal grid. And a little spoiler: it is probably not our last game with hexagons either. We are working on a hexagonal daily word puzzle game and very soon will share it with you.
There is also one small practical difference between classic Minesweeper and Hex Sense worth mentioning. In Minesweeper every square touches eight neighbours and some of them only touch corners. A hexagonal tile has six neighbours and every one of them touches with a full side. Which is a little bit counter intuitive for us. Shouldn’t it be like the more sides you have - the more neighbouring tiles you should have? But with square vs hexagonal tiles it’s apparently the opposite.
Now let’s talk about some of the other interesting decisions that we made when making Hex Sense. When the hexagonal field was working and the logic was in place, we realised that we still wanted a little more fun and action in the game. So we decided to introduce a hero, someone who would be travelling through this field. Then the bombs become different hazards - depending on the chapter theme. They become enemies standing between Mochi and the Exit.
We decided that Mochi should be round just because round is a very soft, cute and friendly form. And pink, because to us pink is the softest and most positive colour you can pick.
Mochi travels through different lands. So far we have four chapters: forests, caves, a desert and volcano lands and we are planning to add more. But before we add new settings, we still want to improve the gameplay a bit, because we think we can make it even more interesting and dynamic. We see that Hex Sense got a lot of dedicated players who love the game and return to it everyday. But we also see that a lot of people try the game and don’t find it as engaging. So we definitely have room for improvement.
And here we would really like your opinion. Wouldn’t it be cool if Mochi could sometimes fight a monster? How about different boosts, catapults, bosses?
We have all these ideas in our heads and we honestly don’t know yet which of them players would enjoy the most.
Tell us what you think in our Discord server. And if you haven’t tried our hexagon logic puzzle Hex Sense yet, it is free and you can play it right in your browser.
Written by
Ana