After Hexcells Plus, previous Hexcells looks like mere demo. Or easy mode. Or rather tutorial for the _real_ game. Hexcells Plus looks visually the same as previous game, including the same achievements and same amount of puzzles. But Plus version adds new mechanics, and is much, much more challenging. I enjoyed it. Too bad that all puzzles are handmade, so no more games possible after finishing existing set. Otherwise I could use this game as substitute for Minesweeper on the regular basis. Recommended!

The first Hexcells game is basically the tutorial to Hexcells Plus. If you thought the first game was too easy (and let's face it, that surely includes everyone) then this is the real game right here. The first Hexcells only gets interesting in the last few levels; well, Hexcells Plus starts off from that point, so it's logically a much better game. The concept is simple: find which cells are occupied and which are empty using surrounding clues that tell you how many occupied cells are in a row, how many occupied cells are adjacent to each occupied cell, and how many occupied cells are found within a certain radius of an occupied cell. It looks like Minesweeper at first glance, but it's far more interesting than that. Some of the later levels here get pretty tough, and there are times when you find it difficult to believe that it's possible without guessing, but then suddenly you'll spot a line of reasoning that you've missed and a few more pieces of the puzzle fall into place. It's highly addictive, and not to be played at 2am when you're half-asleep. Great puzzle game, recommended, but if you're new to the series then start with the first one.

Hmmm....what to say? This game was pretty fun. The puzzles are pretty neat, with math and logic being the primary factors. For me, it was a fairly relaxing way to spend an evening. However, there are some random aspects to the puzzles that I feel make some of them pretty cheap. Because of this, you are really needing to memorize the patterns since the occasional question mark instead of a numeric hint throws math and logic out the window.

So...what I did was finish each puzzle and unlock enough points to progress to the next set on y own, until I was able to finish the game (which took me around an hour and a half or so, then went back today with a guide and got each one perfect for the final achievement.

I would have given this game about an 8.5 out of 10, but the cheap moments sort of work to nullify actual logic and math thus defeating the actual purpose of the game, and so I knock this down to a 6 out of 10. Still a good game, but the random moments force you to rely solely on memorizing the puzzles that have the question marks (this will make more sense when you play it by the way) rather than the intended math and logic. Had they left that randomness out though, this would have been a near perfect puzzle game. Still, I recommend it. You will enjoy it regardless of that huge flaw.

This game is insanely hard. It is obsurdly well designed, and a lot of fun. This will cause you significant headaches. Each puzzle can be solved without guessing, which shouldn't have to be specified. That should tell you just how hard this game is. Good luck.

Game: Hexcells Plus
Price: $3.29*
Genre: Puzzle
Time Played: 9 hours
Personal Enjoyment Rating: ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☻

I did give the first Hexcells a not recommended because it was very easy and a bit pricy. At the time of writing that review, I was unprepared to spend another few dollars on Hexcells Plus. One day Hexcells Plus was on sale, and I figured I should give it a shot, and I'm glad I did.

This game is certainly an improvement on the first one and I enjoyed it a lot. The puzzles are a bit harder and some present an actual challenge, particularly if you are disciplined and refuse to let yourself make a blind guess.

The concept of this game is intriguing, adding a few levels of complication and being much more accurate in the solution than Minesweeper is. No guesses are required, everything can be figured out with logic and enough persistence. Harness your inner vulcan!

Some of those complications I mentioned include: cells are hexagons, there are more numbers (rather than just being on the cells they are also found on columns and rows), there are different sorts of numbers (some mean that a string of "mines" are all adjacent, others that "mine" strings are interrupted by a gap).

Very simple - right click and left click. Still no option in game to change which button does what, but you can change it at game launch. However, by now I've become mostly accustomed to them and didn't make too many stupid mistakes by hitting the wrong button.

No storyline, doesn't need one.

Relaxing gentle zen echoie noises. Also, when you click a cell you get nice tinkling chime-like noises. I don't know why that makes it more satisfying to click on cells, but it does!

Very crisp, clean, and clear. The numbers are reasonably large. Some puzzles form an interesting overall image or pattern, and overall, the puzzles come across as well designed.

+ crisp clean graphics whose job is to be functional
+ simple controls to grasp
+ more interesting concept than random old Minesweeper
+ improvements over the first game
- still a fairly short game
- the option to switch the mouse button actions is outside the game

If you did not find this review helpful, I would really appreciate your constructive criticism - tell me why it wasn’t helpful for you. It’s my hope to make the reviews that I do take the time to write up, as helpful as they possibly can be.

For those that are interested in seeing more of my reviews, I have set up an archive of them at an external website. I don't earn anything off of this at all, it's just a little side project that I add to when I can. Steam won't let me create a direct link though, so you'll need to make your own way to the URL I describe now: rothana dot weebly dot com

Footnotes
*With the steam store changing the currency from USD to CDN, the prices I give are in CDN.

Edit Log
27/11/2014 formatting
27/11/2014 added "help me help you" section
18/02/2015 added "rothana's archive” section

Traditional Rating - 94/100
Recommendation - Like Hexcells, but Plus!

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!

This game is like a combination between Minesweeper and Picross/Nonogram. 36 puzzles in total, and a great soundtrack. I found the difficulty to be just right, though once you beat all 36 puzzles, you've finished. Still it's totally worth it, and definately worth $3.

I recommend buying the Hexcels Complete Pack, which costs $8.99 at full price. The pack includes Hexcells, Hexcells Plus, and Hexcells Infinite. They each 36 unique puzzles, which adds up to a total of 108 puzzles. However, Hexcells Infinite includes a puzzle generator, where you put in a string of 8 numbers, or have the game randomly pick, and will generate a puzzle based on those numbers, so you can challenge you friends. Also, instead of pressing the "generate random number" button, you can press a button to use the days date, so you can have a 'daily' puzzle too.

Ok, after almost being done with the game (still got World 6 to do!), I can honestly say that this is probaby the most difficult, rewarding and entertaining puzzle game I've ever put my time into.

I bought the first Hexcells a while back and fell in love with it, but I felt it was a bit easy. Then I picked this one up. Hexcells Plus is RIDICULOUSLY harder than the original, and I love it. I almost never use walkthroughs for these types of games, but one puzzle had me stumped for so long that I had to resort to it once.

The puzzles themself are brilliantly designed, and it's clear that the developer put a large amount of time into making sure they were of the highest quality. The ambient music in the background is wonderful and calming; it also adds to the wonderful experience this game provides. The graphics are simple but gorgeous and charming.

Overall, this is by far one of, if not the best puzzle game I've ever played and there is no reason to not pick it up. However, this game goes by the assumption that you have played the original Hexcells first, so before you pick up Hexcells Plus, start out with the first one.

Much like the original Hexcells, Hexcells Plus is an updated version of the classic strategy game Minesweeper with a bit of added style: you play with hexagons instead of squares. The board starts with an oddly shaped field made of orange hexagons. Mines are marked by left-clicking a hexagon, turning it blue. Hexagons are revealed by right-clicking, showing the number underneath if you click correctly and shaking the piece and adding a tally mark to your mistake count if you're too hasty in your decisions.

Unlike the original Minesweeper, Hexcells is a much more complex game involving a board marked with various different types of clues that give the player hints about how many mines are in each column or in the surrounding area of the board. Hexcells Plus expands upon the original Hexcells by giving players an additional thirty-six puzzles to complete with a couple of added gameplay elements. These elements include the dreaded ?, a marking that denotes a hexagon that has an unrevealed amount of mines around it, as well as numbered mines that indicate how many mines are in a two-piece radius surrounding the hexagon.

Unfortunately, the addition of ? hexagons adds a somewhat frustrating element to an otherwise well-balanced game. I often found myself encountering large walls of ?'s that split the board in half, preventing me from continuing on without making a few risky clicks based off some logical guesswork. Altogether, I found Hexcells Plus to be fun, but slightly less enjoyable and more frustration-inducing than the original Hexcells (although that, perhaps, might have been caused in part by the ridiculously long span of time I had been playing Hexcells for by the time I reached some of Hexcells Plus's more challenging levels).

Nonetheless, Hexcells Plus is an engrossing way to spend an afternoon. Hexcells Plus can be seen as an expansion to the original Hexcells, adding thirty-six new levels for players to complete, or it can be played as a standalone experience, with the basics of the original Hexcells being explained in the earliest levels of Hexcells Plus. After completing the set of levels contained in Hexcells Plus, be sure to check out the original Hexcells or the inexhaustible Hexcells Infinite, which includes a rather effective level generator and the ability to play user-generated content.

I reviewed the original Hexcells as "Quite entertaining and good value for money." While the latter is true (if you like the game), the first part isn't; Hexcells Plus is frustratingly difficult.
I'll argue that the game mechanics have changed, and it's straight up not as fun as the first game.

Like in chess, you have to be able to think a couple of steps ahead, but if you're unable to do that to a sufficient degree, all hope is lost. If you've played (Microsoft) Minesweeper on 'Advanced', you'll know the feeling of having to guess at least once per game. In Hexcells you'll be guessing a lot and that is frustrating as hell.
The game does give you some leeway in regards to the number of mistakes you can make, but while I could make it to the end of Hexcells in about 2 hours, and achieve a perfect score with some determination, I have given up on making it further than the 5th 'World' in Hexcells Plus. There is no difficulty setting, nor a hint system.

If there is some sort of system to solving the game (other than what is taught in the first few levels), I certainly haven't been able to figure it out, and the game hasn't led me in the right direction.

(Edit: To clarify; the puzzles are 100% solveable by logic and time spent (unlike Minesweeper), but you'll be guessing a lot if you find the game difficult, as I did. This was an unexpected change from the first game, which I found to have a reasonable and enjoyable difficulty level. Had Hexcells Plus had some kind of difficulty setting/hint system, my verdict would have been "Recommended".)

The new mechanic of showing "number of blues in a 2-hex radius" isn't polished; it is a bit difficult to see what is 'lit up', and I found it annoying more than challenging.
The (droning) background music is not very good - Hexcells is also better in this regard.
The game has 3 "save slots" to save progress for different users, which is nice.
I'd guess that the time to complete all the levels (if you know that you're doing) is 3-4 hours.

WARNING: You should NOT buy this game until you complete the first Hexcells game, which I have also reviewed.

Hexcells Plus basically picks up where the first left off. It's basically DLC that isn't DLC, but rather its own standalone game. If you liked the first one, you'll like this too; it's pretty much the same, just much more of it.

The average puzzle difficulty has been brought up considerably; whereas I completed the first in two hours, I still have six puzzles left after more than four hours with Plus.

There's also two new mechanics: 1) black "?" hexes which give no information, serving no purpose beyond saying "Good job, you found out that I'm not blue" and 2) Numbers on blue hexes which indicate how many other blue hexes are in a two-hex radius.

WARNING: If you don't like to stare at a screen for several hours, seeing a big bunch of colored, partly connected cells and you're not able to count -> don't waste your time with this game... and reading any further ;-)

Otherwise it's a really nice game and I "wasted" around 23h to beat it perfectly. The predecessor took me only 2h.
In mid-game the developer introduces a the new blue cell type which shows you the number of blue cells surrounding it. This new feature combined with the old known ones will crack your mind.

Level 6-5 took me 3.5h to solve it perfectly in my first turn... I wanted to give up several times because I didn't see any chance in coming further. In the middle I didn't make a click for at least 1h... but suddenly I found the solution for one single cell. And with this new information I was able to keep the track. And it was in front of my eyes all the times.
This are the moments you want to experience when you play this game! You can't really get stucked, but you have hundreds of possible locations where you could go on, but sometimes there is only one single cell which you can determine exactly. And if you find it, you will be very, very happy because you knew you didn't try, your logic succeeded.

It's awesome and mind blowing... but ONLY if you really like stuff like this. Then you get a good value for small money.

This series is criminally overlooked.

After the simple breeze through Hexcells in comparison, Hexcells Plus dialed up the difficulty significantly. This installment is where the rubber met the road for me.

If you enjoy games like sudoku, you will find logical puzzles here that work your brain for hours. While a naive comparison, the game plays similarly to a very advanced Minesweeper. By the second act, though, you'll have discovered the futility of that comparison; this game is on an entirely different level and has an elegance in the solutions that random Minesweeper puzzles cannot ever hope to achieve.

A couple of the puzzles stumped me for more than an hour, and my roommate rapidly grew tired of me talking the solution out loud as I moved my mouse around. There's a brilliant simplicity to the gameplay and yet, while playing, one must keep a large amount of logic in their head. It's easy to get overwhelmed by logic in one area of the puzzle while overlooking the simple move forward in another area, and the feeling is intense when you slap your forehead in stupidity on discovering it.

The soundtrack is quite relaxing, and even after working on the same puzzle for an hour it did not grow tiresome. It's really fun when you get on a "roll" of solving the puzzle, too, because you generate little ditties as a reward.

The entire Hexcells series contains puzzles that are among the greatest I've ever solved. I highly recommend the entire collection, and also very strongly recommend that you start with Hexcells. It is easier than the other two, this one included, by far. For perspective, I am not the greatest logician, and I invested about 15 hours solving this campaign -- for 15 hours of gameplay, this game is a steal.

Get the Hexcells Complete Pack - Hexcells, Hexcells Plus, and the fixed puzzles in Hexcells Infinite all complete a single difficulty curve that properly ramps up.

If you have zero interest in fiendishly, deliciously difficult puzzles and only want more of a zen puzzling experience, you can maybe sorta kinda skip right to the procedurally generated puzzles in Hexcells Infinite.

More awesome Hexcells puzzles! Harder then the original Hexcells, lots of fun, and an extra information piece with the blue cells sometimes having a number counting other blue cells within the 18 cells around it in a circle.

Again, Hexcells is a very clever puzzle game. Simple idea, but because you need to use 2 or 3 levels of counter-logic to complete certain sections of some puzzles, with the extra information piece, and harder puzzles, this was a great sequel to the original. I got about 3 times as much time out of Plus going for the perfectionist achievement as I did with the original.

This game is like minesweeper except that you can solve every level with sheer logic, no guessing required. This is really interesting though because if you don't understand what next to do, you can leave the tiny game minimized in the background and return to it after a small break with a new mindset and generally that helps you solve the problem! It's a good little thing. The puzzles are truly hard though.

My favorite puzzle game series. After a quick refresher, Plus picks up where the first game left off, skill-wise. Truly excellent.

This is the second game in the Hexcells trilogy, and I HIGHLY recommend you play the first game (Hexcells) before attempting to play this one.

While the first game provided wonderful puzzles and brain-stretching "Minesweeper crossed with Sudoku" logic, the second one cranks up the difficulty. Don't be too alarmed, because the game also provides a new puzzle mechanic that adds a whole new twist to solving the puzzles. When you solve these new puzzles, the sense of satisfaction is also cranked up another notch.

The number of puzzles and the increasing difficulty of these puzzles definitely makes Hexcells Plus a 15-to-20 hour endeavour to finish, assuming that you feel the need to get the "Perfectionist" achievement for solving the puzzles without an error.

I highly recommend this game.

amazing

For fans of Picross, Sudoku and similar brain-racking puzzle games. One of the few offerings on Steam, but absolutely worth your time. Perfectionists beware, you WILL restart the same puzzle multiple times. Cheaters need not apply.