Hexdoku Reviews

Deeply Clever and Infinitely Replayable!

This appears to be a Hexcells/Sudoku clone, but it has some issues. - The tutorial doesn't really explain the game (you need to think more like Sudoku) - The RMB helper overlay is not helpful. If you RMB on a tile you placed, you remove it, instead of highlighting the "paths" your tile blocks. Very annoying. Please, just let me draw!

Only a few minutes in, but it seems fun. The look is clean, the graphics crisp, minimal animation, but it is always easy to tell what is going on. The core game play is pretty much explained in the title, it is a puzzle game where you try to fit symbols into a hex grid with marked out areas so that no two of the same symbol are in the same area, column or row. It starts simply enough, and difficultly builds as you progress, as you would expect. The game implies that level design is an option, but I haven't delved into making one, or trying to find those made by others, which I assume is an option. If not, I will edit the review to let you know. The only thing I found fault with was the sound, as it has this reoccurring 'ding' that distracts me and makes me feel like it should mean something, but if it does I have no clue what. Clearly very minor, I didn't even care enough to turn off the sound. All in all, a nice, fun, simple puzzle offering, an easy thumbs up. ADDENDUM: I got about six hours in before I got frustrated and quit. At a certain point, empty hexes become a part of the puzzles, and I simply couldn't figure out how to deal with those. Irksome, but six hours wasn't bad, given I got this on a good sale.

Interesting shape-based twist on the Sudoku formula. Judicious use of color makes it much more playable than other attempts to deviate from the traditional 3x3 grid. Good QoL, though some of it has to be turned on via the settings. Runs great on Steamplay.

I love hexagons and general deductive stuff more than I hate sudoku, so I had to try [b]hexdoku[/b] at some point. you have to place various shapes all over the hex-based grids, without repeating them in the same line or area. no guessing necessary, one solution per level. [b]32 main levels[/b] unlocked one by one, including a tutorial and a final 'thank you' level. [b]31 bonus stages[/b] with slightly different rules are made available on separate branches when you reach them on the map (3x10 but one also has a tutorial, and they also unlock one by one). [b]custom levels[/b] get enabled after level 7. there are only two, but this is where workshop levels would go too. the [b]level editor with workshop support[/b] appears after level 9, and the [b]random level generator[/b] after level 13. you can choose from 4, 5 or 6 shapes and even enter a seed, so generated levels can be shared easily. [b]mouse-only controls do their job.[/b] when you click or pick a piece up, same ones on the level get highlighted. if the [i]'display affected cells'[/i] toggle is on (I really recommend it), you can right click any cell to show other cells it affects, predictably. right clicking a fillable cell lets you mark it for future reference with the shape(s) of your choice, so left click does the affected cells things there. it also works elsewhere, except on cells containing a shape placed by you. mouse wheel zooms, holding left click moves the level around, neither are really necessary. in fact, I'd like a toggle to disable board movement, as it's very easy to do that instead of whatever your intention was. [b]mid-level progress is not saved, but no reset or penalty when you make a mistake[/b], the piece won't even fly back to the bottom, you can have them all over the screen. completion time and 'mark assignment count' are shown at the end but no visible timer, thankfully. the [b]easy mode toggle[/b] adds an extra icon to the bottom, clicking it shows which pieces can go on which cell. it [b]doesn't adapt to changes automatically, have to click it again when you need help[/b], but it's not a mistake finder. right clicking pieces in the inventory while easy mode is enabled shows where they can go on the grid, based on the current state of the board. the eraser icon clears cells of markings, whether they're from easy mode or your own. the minimalist graphics serve their purpose but some of the music doesn't really fit the game, would've expected something less... noisy, I guess. windowed mode, resolutions, separate volume settings, some languages, and a toggle for the background to make bouncing balls disappear. only gameplay-related toggles and volume settings are available while playing a level. far be it from me to toot my own horn, but I'm relatively good at this sort of puzzling, so let's blame the hot weather for draining what little patience I have and call that a reason for [b]finding this more difficult than expected[/b]. I often had a hard time deducing the next logical step, I was only done with about half the levels when I posted the review and it took many more hours and a bunch of easy mode to get through the rest. or maybe it's just more difficult, and with relatively few levels there's not much room for filler. [b]it's a challenging and enjoyable package for a good price[/b], and you can [b]try the demo[/b] on the game's [url=https://puetsua.itch.io/hexdoku]itch page[/url].