Hexcells (2013)

Incredibly short puzzle game but a fun modern take on Minesweeper, got it for less than $1 on a steam sale and finished it in 3 sittings across just shy of 4 hours (I was playing while working on something so sometimes it got paused for it a bit, it's probably more like 2-3 depending on how good you are at puzzles)

Looking forward to the 2 sequels

3.5 / 5 Stars

• Year(s) played: 2016 & again in 2019
• Playtime: about 2 hours each time
• Completion level: 100%

(review written for 2019 playthrough)

I've played this one to 100% before, and it doesn't take long to do so, as there aren't that many levels. But it's one of my all-time favorite puzzle games, and so I had a recent urge to play it through again now that it's been long enough that I've forgotten the solutions to the puzzles. It's the perfect mix of picross and minesweeper with a couple twists thrown in. Most importantly, not only are the puzzles expertly designed, but they're 100% solveable by pure logic. No guessing or backtracking required - which is a major puzzle game pet peeve of mine.

It has a sequel and a sequel to the sequel, and all three of them can be picked up together for under $5. If you enjoy logic puzzles I would wholeheartedly recommend picking them all up.

Minesweeper's always had a pretty solid idea behind it. The big problem with it, or at least the implementation of it that everyone's familiar with because it was included with Windows for so many years, is that it sometimes requires you to simply make a guess in order to progress. And if there's one thing I can guarantee I've never said, it's "You know, I sure would like a puzzle game in which sometimes there's no way to know what the right answer is and you just have to guess."

So anyway, Hexcells fixes that. Every puzzle is constructed so as to be solvable through pure logic. They're hand crafted and elegant. It also adds a few other welcome mechanics which are simple to grasp but add depth and variety to the puzzles.

There's also a nice airy ambient soundtrack, and when you click a tile, it makes a nice soft chime noise that blends right in like it's a dynamic part of the background music. It's a pretty nice touch, and it all adds up to a really pleasant abstract puzzling experience that can put you into a zen-like state in a way that few other game types are capable of doing.

My only complaint against the game is that I had to redo puzzle 6-4 several times before I could perfect it because I'm a big dumbass who doesn't know how to count to 7.

Adjacent hexagonal cells: some of them are coloured, while some of them indicate the count of the coloured cells around them. Your objective is to fill the board by marking all cells correctly. The game starts out easy enough and later on introduces new information and new constraints onto the board. One thing I liked about the game is that it enforces logic throughout the entire level. At no point are you required to guess which cell is which. There will always be enough information on the board to fill the cells correctly. The background music adds to the atmosphere, making it a very calm exercise in puzzle solving. No timers around, either.

TL;DR : A well-built logical puzzle mechanism wrapped up in a highly pleasing aesthetic. Solid 5/5.