Hexcells uses similar logical reasoning skills to Minesweeper, but without the timed aspect. Great puzzle game but way too short.

Really enjoyable casual puzzle game; challenging without being frustrating, although seasoned puzzle enthusiasts might consider it to be a bit too easy. Common complaint is that it is short, but for the price I still see this as a good value title. There are around 30 logic puzzles, still offering several hours of challenges to exercise your mind. Concept is most like the classic Minesweeper that was included with Windows OS back in the day. You need to use logic to determine if there is a 'number' or 'vacant' hex in the adjacent cell from the already revealed hexes.

The simple designs, grows in complexity as you progress through larger levels with new rules being added & for the purists there is also the challenge of completing each puzzle without any mistakes. Graphics are bright yet clean & basic, but suitable to the game. Sounds are relaxing & controls are easy (just left & right mouse buttons).

Other than the exceptional LYNE, this is one of the best puzzlers I have played in recent years & look forward to trying out the sequels (which I am told are a much harder challenge too!).

Great puzzle game. As others have mentioned, its minesweeper, with some added gameplay elements. Relaxing music, no time limit, and a very zen like vibe going thru-out.

Acheivement hunters, its an easy 100%. Took me 2 hours.

Only drawback is its short, so try to find it on sale.

It's like a cross between Minesweeper and Picross set to a soothing, chilled out ambient soundtrack, where every successful move plays a note that sounds like you're contributing to the score. Yes, it's as addictive as that sounds, but alas it's over in a couple of hours. But it's still enormously addictive, and there are two sequels...

Just echoing (heh) what's already been said:

It's a short and sweet cross between Minesweeper and Paint by Numbers (aka Nonograms, JCross, Picross).

Clever puzzle design (not too easy nor difficult). Nice ambient music and sound.

Easy to 100%.

If you already have it from a bundle, play it. Otherwise pick it up if it's on sale (may not be worth the $3 price point due to very short length (took me 2 hours to 100%)).

It's a cross between Minesweeper and Paint by Numbers puzzles using hexes instead of squares. Good while it lasts, but very short. As in 98 minutes to 100% ingame and achievements for me. It was worth the portion of the bundle price I paid. If it's worth the $1.01 current sale price or $2.99 regular price is an exercise left for the reader.

Great OCD timewaster!

The game is a mix of Minesweeper and Piccross within Hexagonal cells. It has beatufiul minimalistic graphics and it is very well organized within itself, keeping the player aware of new mechanics and making everything simple but escalating from it.

If you like Minesweeper, puzzles, have OCD tendencies, or just want to waste some time having fun while keeping your head occupied, then this game is for you.

Nice relaxing puzzle game with gameplay familiar to anyone that's ever played minesweeper or one of its many derivatives. This one is based on purely logic based designs that must be solved flawlessly for perfect scores.

Get it now while it's still on sale if that sounds like your thing.

REALLY Easy once you get the hang of it. Completed the game in an hour of gameplay. You can call it easy to master or easy to play. Regardless, it was WAY too short and didn't really engage me.

One of the best puzzle games I've played. It's a bit like minesweeper but without the frustration of logically impossible puzzles, and it's honestly much more fun and interesting. It's simple to understand the basic rules/tricks but levels can definitely be tricky. Luckily there is always a logical next step based on the clues you get such as "there is 2 blues touching this hexagon" or "there are 3 blues in this column and they are all touching each other". The clues get more subtle as you go on, and by the end you need to combine multiple clues and always be considering what clues have now become relevant with your latest move.There's not a huge amount of puzzles, but the quality of them is good and the solutions/levels are nicely varied. It's already a low price and in the sale it usually drops by a good margin, so it's definitely value for money whenever you decide to pick it up.

Hexcells could be considered a spiritual successor to the classic game Minesweeper. Your goal is to determine which of the hexagonal cells on each grid should be marked blue, and which should be eliminated from the game, using the various clues given to you for each puzzle.

Unlike that classic, however, there is always a way to logically determine how to solve the puzzles in Hexcells without making a mistake. This sets it apart from games which use trial and error as a mechanic; while there is nothing wrong with trial and error, it's nice to see game that is designed thoughtfully enough to allow each level to be solved the first time without making a mistake for the observant.

Hexcells falls into that category of games which are easy to pick up and play, but difficult to master. Controlling the game could not be simpler; you need only use the mouse to confirm or erase cells and to navigate menus. The overall design aesthetic is pleasing both visually and aurally, with nice ambient music accompanying each section of the game. The music can easily be muted if you prefer, however. There is also no pressure; you can take as long as you need to solve a particular puzzle, and it's easy to back out if you need to take a break. All puzzles can be retried, and you can preview later stages as you unlock them through successful completion of the early stages. The only possible criticism, as I have seen pointed out in reviews on-line, is that you can't determine which puzzles still need to be perfected once you've cleared many of them, unless you write them down or something. Once a stage is cleared, its symbol in the puzzle index is marked blue, without any discerning marks to distinguish those you have perfected from those in which you made a mistake.

Hexcells is not a short game, but it's primary downfall is that once you've played through a few times, the replay value goes down. It's almost like the Portal series; once you have that initial moment of wonder and discovery as you solve each level, it wears off. You can't have those moments of discovery ever again as you have basically figured out everything there is to learn after so long.

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't give this game a try, and the price is right. The puzzle design is very thoughtful; it's clear a lot of work went into each one to make sure that players can perfect them all. This is the type of design that appeals to me. Even if I make a mistake, I know I can come back later and re-examine the puzzle for the correct solution. Unlocking all six achievements is absolutely possible time and practice, adding an additional layer of accomplishment. If you like puzzle games, give Hexcells a try!

8.0 / 10

If you need some extra help with this game, check out my newly-published guide to Hexcells: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=320523083

First things first: this game doesn't really have any replay value, and you will probably 100% it within 1.5 hours.

That being said, this is a really good set of logic puzzles, drawing elements from both Minesweeper and Picross. Each puzzle is well-crafted, and there's a nice, smooth difficulty curve (with the last set being really satisfying to solve). The interface is simple and clean, and the visuals combined with the music and sound effects form a relaxing, aesthetically pleasing experience; it avoids being dull while also allowing you to focus on solving the puzzles.

While it's disappointingly short, it's also appropriately priced (especially on sale, I bought it for one [1] American dollar). Definitely, 100% worth checking out if you like logic puzzles.

I usually satisfy myself with mindless clicking at things that move, clubbing zombies and “flamethrowing” aliens enough to make a batter-happy Flintstone giddy. After a while the repetitive slashing and gouging puts a strain on my steadily numbing mind and I need a break. Brainiac games like Hexcells provides that pause from the world of action titles that many gamers find soothing from time to time. The minimalistic interface calms you to the core like entering your hotel room, the first day of your sunny beach-filled holiday. Easy-peasy controls and rules, as most strategic puzzle games tend to excel in, are explained through directions (though for Level 1 I felt the couple of trial plays planted in the beginning of each rule change, would have sufficed). I’ve seen plenty of reviews exclaiming it as comfortably easy to finish, which isn’t quite true as new rules are added regularly and consistently starting at Level 11. This lessens repertoire and makes Hexcells highly entertaining for a puzzle game of its kind. It calls for the elimination and deduction tools we have honed through countless hours of playing games such as Sudoku and Minesweeper. There is no timer so in a sense is closer to a Sudoku that’s pleasing to the eye. Hexcells adds the “chic” that Sudoku lacks and the logicality which Minesweeper is deficient in through functions which allow no room for the guessing games and visuality to match. No function is lacking or overdone in Hexcells. As Goldilocks would say, “It’s just right.” It is one of the most accessible and convenient game I have ever played. The UI looks fantastic for touch screens and as I’ve been marooned on my laptop for a few months, it’s always heaven to play low spec games that won’t freeze mid-play and still provide high quality content to keep me amused for consecutive hours. It is also a great game for a few minutes here and there as an easy to start, continue and leave at any time type game that doesn’t bore. For example, the widely loved classic, Peggle will have me dozing off in a few minutes flat although it’s a sweet little thing.

The intermediate level starts around Lv. 18-19 and I started finding it mind boggling beginning at Lv. 22. After that point some are comparatively easier than others which didn’t reflect the actual order or the levels. Thank goodness because the couple of easier levels here and there let me hang on to my sanity!

Most of the reviews I’ve read stated plenty of appreciation towards the needlessness of guessing the answers. There is 0% need to speculate and everything must be calculated if you want to play the game to its maximum. Keep in mind that if you mess up once you’ll end up with the obvious answer which means it’s extremely easy to use trial and error to pick through the games effortlessly. This sucks all the fun out of it so I suggest you aim for 100% accuracy each time you play or try and forget the hex you just wrongly clicked and move on to something else so you won’t end up getting everything easy. Another tip I have is to try playing it as fast as your mind will think and fingers will click because the music sounds better that way. It has one of those almost interactive tracks so that what and how you click will determine a different sound that in turns melds into the original score underneath it.

In all honestly, the aspect the feature I enjoyed the least was the music in Hexcells as it is repetitive and some parts sound like an orchestra of mobile phones with annoying, monotonous ringtones. (Note: I understand that there was only so much the developer could do and it wasn't that bad, I'm just used to better soundtracks is all. ;D) Which is why I eventually turned down the volume and even then I still couldn’t quite stand it. It wasn’t the relaxed ambience I was hoping for but it wasn’t as noticeable when playing at a faster pace (clicking hexes in acceleration) for reasons already noted above. A better example would be Duet, the strategic arcade game by Kumobius (iOS/Android). The music is directed via the player’s fingertips as they go through the puzzles and it is scored in a way that’s surprisingly meditative for a game of somewhat high difficulty. The fluidity of a game’s soundtrack influences a massive portion of its play mood in any genre. Other than that, I’m interested in buying the other two as well for a rainy day and hope the background music is a tad better than the first one.

It's a novel little puzzle game. However, all three levels are basically the first set of puzzles repeated 3 times, and there isn't much longevity after that. If you got it for cheap, I'd recommend it for a nice little challenge and 6 achievements, else it needs to have a randomly generated mode, light UI tweaks, and such to make it more worth your while.

Minesweeper x Sudoku w/ some great aesthetics.

Hexcells is a very relaxing game. It eases you in with the first few levels and then starting at around world 3, it gets a little bit more tricky. Your goal is simple enough: Right click the cells you think are blank, get a number that tells you how many blue 'hexcells' are adjacent to that cell, and then left-click the cells you think are blue. There are other variables introduced later on, but that's all you need to know at the start. Find all the blue cells in a level and you win. It's not an incredibly difficult game (it took me 4.5 hours to 100% the entire game) but the visual style and the relaxing ambient music make the experience worthwhile, especially if you get it on sale.

+Very elegant visuals and soothing audio
+Great gameplay concept executed perfectly
+Generally a fun puzzle game if you take your time...
-...but most of the earlier levels are too easy

Recommendation: Get it if any of the above sounded interesting to you. If it sounds too easy, get one of the sequels instead.

Nice game as an introduction to the series. I wish there were more puzzles at this difficulty. This game is easy and very short. Completed to 100% in less than 5 hours while tired and not thinking as fast as I would while fully awake. I think most will find the price is a bit high for the amount of content.

Many say that the game mechanics are similar to minesweeper crossed with Picross (nonogram puzzles) on a hex grid. I would say instead of standard picross mechanics it is closer to the mechanics used in Picross 3D which are actually somewhat different than standard nonogram puzzles.

At the end of each level, you are awarded with a certain amount of progress hexes which are used to unlock more levels. The amount of progress hexes earned depend on the difficulty of the level and the amount of mistakes you have made during the level. There is no way of knowing how many progress hexes there are for a specific level or, if you missed any in prior runs, how many are still left to earn. This is only indicated at the end of a level and can not be checked on again without completing the level once more.

Note that Hexcells Plus has a much higher difficulty than this game and not just more puzzles at a similar difficulty. If you found this game too easy or think you may be ready to try to take on more challenging levels, go try that. Don't be fooled by how easy the first few levels are on Hexcells Plus. By level 12 you've already exceeded the difficulty of this game. If you've played Hexcells Plus, my advice is to not bother with this game unless you found that the difficulty curve was too steep and are looking for more simple levels to better get used to the basics of the mechanics.

Traditional Rating - 93/100
Recommendation - Minesweeper fans rejoice!!

Remember the free old Windows game Minesweeper? Remember how fun it was finding those hidden mines, and how you could feel your brain scream "NOOOOOOOOOOO" whenever a mine would pop its stupid head up and kill you? Remember how immensely frustrating it was when it was entirely impossible to solve levels without guessing?

WELL, NO MORE! Hexcells to the rescue.

Hexcells is very similar to Minesweeper in that you have to use various clues and reasoning to find the hidden blue cells on each level, but unlike Minesweeper, Hexcells' soultions can ALWAYS be reasoned, and if you're doing it right you will never have to guess.

The levels start out easy, with simple rules and puzzles, but new tricks are added just regularly enough to fully grasp, and before you know it, you'll find yourself scanning through 15 different criteria to find the 1-in-100 blue cell to start a level off. It's very satisfying.

Speaking of satisfying, the puzzles here never seem overwhelming or too tricky. Take my opinion with a grain of salt (since I have always loved games like this), but the level of difficulty in these puzzles was just perfect, and while some levels did force me to stare at them for a while, the solution was always there somewhere just waiting for me to grab it.

The Hexcells series is really 3 games: Hexcells, Hexcells Plus, and Hexcells Infinite. They each have different puzzles, and they are each worth getting, but Hexcells Infinite is the one to get if you're on a budget. It has the most advanced puzzles, and it includes a random level generator, so you can literally play to your heart's content. All 3 of them will slowly progress you through the mechanics of the game, though, so don't feel like you will be overwhelmed if you jump right into Infinite.

It's worth mentioning that the random levels in Infinite are mere pale shadows compared to the premade levels (they are often quite easy), but for fans that cannot get enough and don't want to go back to the guess-fest Minesweeper, they can be a lot of fun.

I highly recommend this game. If you're a fan of logic-based puzzle games, you can't go wrong with any of these 3 games. The prices are cheap, and the series is rather unique. If the devs could have just tightened up the infinite level generator ever-so-slightly, this game might be the only game I've rated to pass Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons.

Scratch that Minesweeper itch, my friend!

Minesweeperest/10

Like Minesweeper, only it works. And it's clever as fukk.

As many people said: It's pretty much like Minesweeper, but(!) in a new way you wouldn't expect.
It tooked the basic concept and evolved it with fresh features and a mdern interface. You never feel like playing a simple clone or an old rusty game. The Levels are preconstructed which makes u avoid the logical dead ends known from Minesweeper. But actually that's a downside too! It took me 1:30h to solve all puzzles in the game and earn every arcivement. For 5€ this would ve been way to less. I can only recommend this game because buying the double package for 2.50€ seems fair to me for this nice little puzzle game.

Hexcells Plus is an atmospheric puzzle game with really logic levels on which you never have to guess, but cross-analyse clues to make the right decision. You have some different kind of clues and it's variations to deal with, which can be hard and confusing, but the game provides you marker features to help you with it.

Game: 8.5/10
Graphic: 8.5/10

100% Achievement : Easy | Medium | Hard | Very Hard