The Hex

The Hex keeps changing shape, and that is the point: it is a game about moving through different videogame genres and seeing how each one breaks under pressure. By our assessment, its strength is the range of ideas it packs into one structure, from mystery and self-conscious storytelling to shifts in play style that keep the player alert. The downside is that this can also make it feel uneven, because every section has to do a different job and not all of them land with the same force. In practice, it plays like a cabinet of short forms, each with its own rules and tone, so attention matters more than settling into a single rhythm. It sits well above a simple parody and below a pure action game; the whole thing depends on adaptation rather than mastery of one system. The Hex is most rewarding for players who like experiments that keep interrupting their expectations.