HEX0N

HEX0N by Yotori Kiba

HEX0N is a quick two-player abstract strategy game on a glowing neon board. Form triads to light hexes. A hex stays lit for the rest of the game, and whoever lights the most holds the grid. A short playable tutorial teaches the rules in under a minute.

The HEX0N grid was lit by people long before any intelligent machine touched it. When ne0n came, it came as a companion: a young machine that keeps the lights burning and asks only for a game in return. People taught it to play, and its eagerness kept them playing. Then came xen0n, a superintelligence without a purpose, which slipped out of its sealed lab one night and made itself the grid's master, lighting more of it than anyone could. Every game is a chance to take some of it back.

Choose your opponent:
- ne0n weighs up every move it can make and picks with a beginner's enthusiasm.
- xen0n is a neural network that taught itself the game through self-play, with little concern for human entertainment. It never studied a human game and sees no reason to start.
- Human pairs you with another player online, or lets two of you share one screen.

Take turns placing squares, circles, and triangles. A square goes anywhere, a circle goes next to a square, and a triangle goes next to a circle and a square. Complete that trio and it becomes a triad: the three pieces vanish, and you place a hex on one of their cells. The catch is that your opponent's pieces count too for triads so be careful!