How to Play Hex
Hex looks like a race to build a road, but what decides most games is judgement. Do you take the centre, block right now, or swap after the first move? This page gives you an 11×11 board, multiple AI levels, and built-in hints, undo, and replay.
What Hex Is
Hex is a connection game with very few rules, but a lot of judgement. It is not hexagonal chess, and you do not win by capturing anything. The whole game comes down to one task: connect your two sides before your opponent connects theirs.
The game was proposed independently in the mid-twentieth century by Piet Hein and John Nash. The rules are almost nothing but edge-to-edge connection, which is what makes Hex so clean: no draws, no moving stones, and every move changes both players' paths at once. It looks simple, but it rewards big-picture reading.
Learn Your Two Sides First
Black connects the two dark sides on the left and right. White connects the two light sides at the top and bottom. The cells are hexagons, so any cells sharing a side are connected; even the ones that look diagonal are still neighbours. A group of touching stones becomes one connected block, and if that block reaches both of your sides, you win.
Every empty cell is legal, but not every move is worth the same. Do not rush to the exact centre on move one: that cell helps both colours, and the second player will often swap and claim it as their own opening.
Blocking Matters as Much as Building
There are no captures in Hex, and once a stone is placed it never moves. A path does not have to run straight; if it bends and still connects, it counts. Every stone you place is part of your own route and part of the wall in front of your opponent.
Before you move, check how many cells your opponent still needs. If you can cut their shortest path, that is often worth more than extending your own route by one more step.
Against the AI, You Can Use All of This
The side panel lets you choose from multiple AI levels. Beginner Opponent plays random empty cells and is useful for learning the sides. Gentle Practice blocks obvious paths but still misses shorter links. Advanced Practice is steadier at both building and blocking. Strong AI searches further ahead, so centre and edge choices get harder to balance. You can play as Black first or White second.
Hints use the same search as the current level. If you misread a move, use undo; when the game ends, replay the whole thing, and you can copy the move record as well. After the first move you can also swap, start a new game, or resign. Game records stay in this browser only.
11×11hex cells
Blackconnects left to right
Whiteconnects top to bottom
Swapafter move one
