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? 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 "Play with AI," "Play with Friend," and "Pass & Play" modes. The AI mode features three difficulty levels (easy, medium, hard), and the AI can play first or second. Alternatively, "Play with Friend" allows for multiplayer using separate devices, while "Pass & Play" enables local multiplayer on a single device. While simple to learn, mastering Simple Hex presents a significant challenge. An undo button lets you revert your last move(s) – though this feature is not yet available in AI mode.
Steal Move: To balance the inherent first-player advantage in Hex, the second player can choose to switch positions with the first player after the first move is made. This forces the first player to consider moves that don't guarantee an immediate win. This option is also unavailable in AI mode.
Three board sizes (7x7, 9x9, and 11x11) are included, allowing players to gradually progress to longer, more complex games. Hence the name, Simple Hex!
For more in-depth information on Hex, visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hex_(board_game)
We extend our gratitude to interns Saatvik Inampudi and Shoheb Shaik for their contributions to performance improvements in the AI algorithm's first version. The current AI utilizes a "stable" unbounded best-first minimax game technique. Learn more about this at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nsvemuri/
What's New in Version 0.45 (Last updated Dec 18, 2024):
- The easy difficulty level has been adjusted to be genuinely easy, and the medium level is now slightly easier.
