Review: Spinning Through The Colorful World Of Astraware’s Hexic

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This is the second in my two-part review of Astraware’s “tribute” to Tetris designer Alexey Pajitnov. In the first part, I looked at the incredibly addictive Mozaki. Today, we will be looking at another extremely addictive color-matching game (imagine that) from Astraware and Alexey Pajitnov, Hexic.

In Hexic, you are faced with a gameboard filled with hexagon pieces (six-sided shapes). At each corner, the hexagon connects with two others, forming a cluster of three adjoining hexagons (which I thought looked suspiciously like a water molecule). To play, all you have to do is create a cluster of three like-colored hexagons to remove them from the board. Do this by tapping the common corner in any cluster. This will cause the cluster to spin. It will continue to spin until one piece connects with at least two other like-colored pieces, or they return to their original positions without finding a match.

Hexic features three gameplay modes: Marathon, Timed, and Survival. In Marathon Mode, you will be given a predetermined number of combos which you must create in order to advance to the next level. Gameplay will continue indefinitely, growing increasingly difficult until 1) you have no more legal moves left, 2) you match three black pearls to win the game, or 3) a bomb explodes, ending the game.

In Timed Mode, you will notice the addition of four blue dots on the side. This is the timer. The longer you wait to find your next move, the more time you will lose. Additionally, if you spin a cluster which does not result in a combo, then you will lose some extra time off the clock. Each time you make a combo, however, you will regain some of your lost time.

Survival Mode changes things just a little bit. Here, the goal is to clear all of the pieces off of the board. As such, when you remove a cluster, those pieces will not be replenished. Remove as many clusters as possible. When you run out of possible moves, the remaining pieces will be locked in place as you advance to the next level. You will be able to remove the locked pieces by moving other pieces to match them, but you cannot move a locked piece. If you succeed in removing all of the pieces from the board, then you will win the game.

While I enjoyed all three modes, I found Survival offered the greatest challenge. Because the pieces were not replenished, gameplay was much more like a puzzle and required considerably more time to be spent considering the strategy of each move than the other modes. Additionally, for an even greater challenge, each game mode offers three levels of difficulty.

Of course, if all there was to this game was spinning and matching colors, then I could see where you would get bored quickly. Which is why there are a variety of special pieces which can help (or hurt) your progress. The most common item is stars. When you use a star piece, you will double your score for that cluster. Connect three star pieces to create a mini explosion.

Bombs are a tricky piece. They will appear with a number on their face. Each time you make a move, the counter will drop by one number. If the counter reaches zero before you use the bomb in a cluster, then your game will end. Combine the bomb in a cluster with a star piece for some added excitement.

In addition to forming three piece clusters, you can also form six piece (ring shaped) flowers. In Marathon Mode forming a flower will result in the creation of a starflower piece. In Timed Mode, in addition to creating a starflower, it will also reset your time and expand the timer. In Survival Mode, it will create…well, I’ll let you see what happens when you unleash the awesome flower power.

Once you have made enough starflowers, you can combine them into a flower of starflowers. This will release the most difficult piece to create, the elusive Black Pearl. Combine the Black Pearls into a cluster or flower and you will win the game in Marathon and Timed Modes.

Did you get all that? I hope so. But if not, there is an easy to use tutorial that can be accessed from anywhere in the game. The tutorial will remind you of everything you need to know for all three gameplay modes.

Like Mozaki, I found the graphics and sounds to be simple, but effective. They really harkened back to the 1980’s video arcade games, but with an updated feel. The animation tended to be extremely smooth, which made gameplay extremely enjoyable.

Of course, this still raises the question of what to do if your game is interrupted for any reason. And the answer is “no problem” When you exit the game, it will be automatically saved. To pick up where you left off, from the main menu, just select resume. I did find it odd, however, that the resume button was hidden in the corner (it is controlled by the left soft button). It can be easy to miss there. It would have been nice if this had been included in the rest of the main menu options. You also are limited to storing only one game at a time. Once you start a new game, your saved game will be overwritten.

Overall, what I found was an easy game to play, but a difficult game to win. This is the kind of game that leaves you constantly muttering, “just one more level” over and over again until you suddenly realize that it is after midnight and you have to go to work or school in the morning. Good luck putting this one down!

What I Liked:

• Easy to learn gameplay
• Three modes
• Three levels of difficulty
• Lots of “extras”

What Needs Improvement:

• Resume button is hidden in the corner
• You can only save one game at a time

Vital Stats:

Name: Hexic

Version: 1.02

Developer: Astraware

Tested: Windows Mobiel 6 Professional

Also Available: Windows Mobile 2003 and higher, Windows Mobile Smartphone

Where to Buy: Hexic

Price: $9.95

Trial: First three levels of Timed Mode only.

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