Simple Hex: A Two-Player Connection Game
Simple Hex is a captivating two-player connection game with straightforward rules, making it easy to learn. Players choose red or blue and take turns coloring empty cells on the game board. The objective is to create a connected path of your colored cells linking opposite sides of the board. The first player to complete this connection wins.
The game offers several play modes: Play with AI (featuring easy, medium, and hard difficulty levels; AI can start or go second), Play with Friends (using separate devices), and Pass & Play (local multiplayer). While simple to learn, Simple Hex offers a challenging strategic depth. An undo button lets you reverse your last move(s) – though this feature isn't yet available in AI mode.
To balance the inherent first-player advantage in Hex, a "Steal Move" option lets the second player switch places with the first player after the first move. This forces the first player to consider moves that don't guarantee a win (also unavailable in AI mode).
Three board sizes (7x7, 9x9, and 11x11) provide a gradual increase in complexity and game length.
For more information on Hex, visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hex_(board_game)
Special thanks to interns Saatvik Inampudi and Shoheb Shaik for their work on performance improvements to the AI algorithm in the first version. The current AI uses a "stable" unbounded best-first minimax game technique. For more details on this, connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nsvemuri/
What's New in Version 0.45 (Last updated December 18, 2024):
- The easy AI difficulty level has been adjusted to be genuinely easy, and the medium level is now slightly easier.
