Hexwood
Build a chain. Join your sides.
The classic connection game: two players, dark and light stones, and a board of hexagons. Join your two sides before the other player joins theirs. There is no luck, nothing hidden, and no draws. Here is everything you need to know before you sit down.
- Free practice
- No sign-up
- Play in your browser
Join a Game Room
HexwoodGot a room code?
- Players
- 2
- You need
- An 11 by 11 board of hexagons, stones
- Style
- Connection
- Goal
- Join your two sides
What is Hexwood?
Place a stone. Build a chain.
Hexwood is played on a diamond of hexagonal cells, 11 by 11. Dark owns the top and bottom sides. Light owns the left and right sides. Taking turns, each player puts one stone on any empty cell. Stones never move and are never captured.
The first player whose stones form an unbroken chain from one of their sides to the other wins. Every stone you place builds your own chain and blocks the other player’s, because in this game the two are the same thing.
The practice table
Try itLearn it one stone at a time.
Play against a bot with our rules, including the swap. Tap a cell to pick it, press Place stone, and the coach shows where it would play and why.
- Easy, Normal, or Sharp bots. Sharp looks two moves ahead.
- Dark or light: open the game and be swapped, or take the swap yourself.
- No account, no host, nothing saved.
Dark joins top to bottom and moves first. Light joins left to right and may swap.
dark joins top and bottom, light joins left and right. Tap a cell to pick it, then place it.
You open. Place your first stone.
Pick a cell that is useful but not too close to the middle, or the other side will swap it.
Quick rules
- Two players take turns placing one stone on any empty hexagonal cell of an 11 by 11 board. Stones never move and are never captured.
- Dark moves first and joins the top side to the bottom side. Light joins the left side to the right side.
- Cells that share an edge are linked. A chain of your stones may bend through any of its six neighbours. The first chain to touch both of your sides wins at once.
- Moving first is a big advantage, so on its first turn only, the second player may swap instead of placing: the first stone becomes theirs and moves to its mirror cell, column and row exchanged. Then dark moves.
- A game can never end in a draw. When the board fills up, one player always has a chain.
Found a bug, or a rule that feels off?Tell us in our Discord →
A little history
Two inventors, one board.
This connection game was invented in the 1940s by the Danish mathematician Piet Hein, and, a few years later and independently, by the American mathematician John Nash. It has been a favourite of mathematicians ever since.
It has a famous proof: the game can never end in a draw, and the player who moves first can always win if nothing stops them. That is why the second player gets the swap on their first turn.
Fun facts
- A full board always has exactly one chain. Either dark joins top and bottom, or light joins left and right.
- Moving first is such a big advantage that the swap rule exists to take it away.
- Each cell has six neighbours, and the slanted ones count as links just as much as the side-by-side ones.
Why people love it
Simple rules. Deep play.
One move to learn.
Place a stone. That is the whole turn, and anyone can play it in a minute.
No luck, no draws.
Nothing is hidden and nothing is rolled. Every game ends with one player’s chain.
The opening is fair.
With the swap, whoever opens has to choose a stone that is good but not too good.
Quick to restart.
Games are short, so a rematch is easy.
How to play
Place. Link. Win.
Setup
- Players: two: you and a bot. Dark moves first. Light moves second.
- Board: a diamond of 11 by 11 hexagonal cells.
- Sides: dark owns the top and bottom. Light owns the left and right.
- Stones: one placed on an empty cell each turn. They never move.
Winning
Be the first to build an unbroken chain of your stones from one of your sides to the other. There are no draws.
- 1
Dark places a stone
Dark goes first and puts one stone on any empty cell.
- 2
Light places, or swaps
On light’s first turn only, light may swap instead: the first stone becomes light’s and moves to its mirror cell, column and row exchanged. Then dark moves.
- 3
Then take turns
One stone a turn. There is no passing, and stones are never captured.
- 4
Link your stones
Two stones are linked when their cells share an edge. Each cell has six neighbours, and a chain can bend through any of them.
- 5
Join your two sides
The moment your chain touches both of your sides, you win. Corner cells count for both players.
- 6
Cut their chain
Place in the way of the other player’s chain. A chain that blocks them is a chain for you.
These are our rules, taken from the Feral Game Kit's Hexwood definition. It has one mode, with the swap. The rules are shown in every room before the game starts. Printable rules card →
Lessons
Learn it in a few minutes.
6 quick lessons, one idea each. Make the call, see why it works, and move on. Your progress is saved in this browser.
Your two sides
You are dark, the stones that move first. Which sides do you join?
Scoring
First to join.
There are no points in Hexwood. The first player to join their two sides wins, and a game can never end in a draw.
| How a game ends | Result | |
|---|---|---|
| Dark joins the top side to the bottom side | Dark wins | |
| Light joins the left side to the right side | Light wins | |
| The board fills with no chain | Can’t happen |
A chain only counts if every stone is linked to the next, cell edge to cell edge, and it touches both of your sides. Corner cells belong to both players’ sides.
Strategy
Play it smart. Then play it feral.
Tip 1
Take the middle.
Stones near the centre have the most routes to every side. That is why a first stone in the middle gets swapped.
Tip 2
Open good, not too good.
When you move first, play somewhere useful but not in the middle, so the other player gains little by swapping it.
Tip 3
Use bridges.
Two stones with two shared empty cells are as good as linked. If the other player takes one, you take the other.
Tip 4
Block and connect at once.
The best stone is usually one that cuts the other chain and links yours too.
Tip 5
Think from the edge.
A stone two rows from your side, with room around it, is already joined to that side. Save your moves elsewhere.
What would you do?
One decision. Every day.
A new Hexwood puzzle every day, the same for everyone. Solve it, then send it to the group chat and see who gets it right.
Want more? See today's puzzles for every game →
Your path to game night
Learn it here. Play it with friends.
Finish the lessons or win a practice game and you're ready to sit down at a real Hexwood table with your people.
The Feral Worlds community
Play-testing Hexwood? Tell us in Discord.
Found a bug, a rule that feels off, or a house rule your family swears by? Our Discord is where we collect play-test feedback, and where game nights are starting to happen.
Glossary
Talk like a regular.
- Chain
- Stones of one colour, linked cell edge to cell edge.
- Side
- One of the four edges of the board. Dark owns top and bottom, light owns left and right.
- Neighbour
- A cell that shares an edge with another. Each has up to six.
- Bridge
- Two stones with two shared empty neighbours. They are as good as linked.
- Swap
- On the second player’s first turn, taking the first stone instead of placing one.
- Mirror cell
- The cell with the column and row exchanged. A swapped stone moves there.
The Feral twist
Still under the hat.
Every game can be played Standard. In Feral mode, the host writes the house rules: the board size, whether the swap is on, which sides each player owns. We'll show you what Hexwood can do when it's ready.
In the Board Games pack
Hexwood is on the ballot.
Backers vote on which board games join the Board Games pack. Owning the pack means every one that joins is yours too.
$9.95, one time, to host every game in it. Playing is always free. Packs go on sale when the full game launches.
Hexwood is on the ballot
Save me a seat.
Hear when the Kickstarter opens so you can vote Hexwood into the Board Games pack, and when you can host it with friends.