Wizard Hex is an abstract game of territory control where 1 to 6 wizards representing 6 elemental forces (earth, wind, fire, water, ice and lightning) vie for dominance on an hexagonal network of 19 interconnected dots. Each player enters the board from one of the 6 sides assigned to his element. When the 19th slot is occupied, the game ends and the player with the most tokens in play wins. But there is a catch (two in fact) : a player can only attack an enemy element (an element which is on the opposite side of the board) and he can use the playing pieces of his 2 allied elements (these are two either side of him).
Gameplay
After a first turn where all player are allowed only one move, play continues with each player being able to take 2 moves per turn. The possible moves are : expansion, fortification and attack. For each move, the player is guided by the interface, all possible moves being indicated by a pulsating glow on the slots where a play is authorized. Expansion consist in placing a playing piece of one’s own or allied element in a free adjacent slot of that element. Fortification is done by placing an additionnal playing piece on an already present token, strengthening it. A freshly played token has a bronze hue and becomes silver when fortified once, then golden when fortified further. The last type of move is the attack. When attacking, you simply drag one of your playing piece (or one of your allied elements) on an adjacent space occupied by an enemy element. The outcome of the attack depends on the respective colors (bronze, silver or gold) of the attacker and the defender. The defending token reduces the level of the attacker by its own level. Ergo, same level playing pieces destroy each other, a silver token attacking a bronze one destroys it but is reduced to bronze level, so on and so forth. The fact that tokens are destroyed is critical since each element has a limited pool of 20 tokens. When an element’s pool is empty, that player is not eliminated from the game as he can still play his allied elements and can still win if he uses them to ensure that his element will have the majority when the board is full.
Implementation
Wizard Hex is gorgeous to behold, and conveys perfectly the atmosphere of a medieval game played by elemental wizards. The graphics are crisp and the iPhone version takes advantage of the retina display. The board is surrounded by a flickering candle flame that casts moving shadows on the board. This attention to detail makes for a very enjoyable experience. The interface is very well thought out and elegant, the glow showing the possible moves and the metalic “cling” when a piece is played makes the game easy to play and immersive. All player/AI configurations are possible, up to a total of 6 participants but the AI level is not very strong, even at full strength so it should only be used in learning games. The game really shines with more than 3 players. Playing with your allied elements (belonging to opposing players) creates a dynamic that make the game quite chaotic and may not be suited to the taste of players used to more classic and controllable abstract games.
Grade : 8/10
