Hex
Build an unbroken chain across the board. It can never end in a draw.
How to play Hex
Click an empty hexagon to place your stone. You win by forming an unbroken chain of your stones linking your two opposite edges; the computer tries to link the other two. Because the board always fills to a single connection, Hex can never be a draw. Block the computer while you build your own bridge.
Invented twice, by a poet and a Nobel laureate
Hex has the strangest pedigree in board games: it was discovered independently, twice. The Danish poet, designer, and scientist Piet Hein introduced it in 1942 through the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen and a column in the newspaper Politiken, where it ran under the name Polygon. Around 1948 the mathematician John Nash, later a Nobel laureate for game theory, reinvented it from scratch at Princeton, where students played it on the hexagonal tiles of bathroom floors and called it Nash, or, half as a joke about the setting, John. Parker Brothers boxed it in 1952 under the name Hex, and Martin Gardner's 1957 Scientific American column fixed it permanently in mathematical culture. The standard board is 11x11; 13x13 and 19x19 give longer wars.
The rule that shapes everything
You own two opposite edges of the rhombus, the computer owns the other two, and a turn is one stone on any empty cell. First unbroken chain between its own edges wins. What makes Hex unlike nearly every other game is that a filled board always contains exactly one winning connection: a draw is topologically impossible, a fact mathematically equivalent to Brouwer's fixed-point theorem, which is a lot of weight for a game you can teach in a minute. The strategic consequence is enormous. Since somebody must connect, every wall you build against the computer is simultaneously progress for your own chain. There are no wasted defensive moves in Hex, only moves that defend without attacking as much as they could have. The habit to break early is mirroring: answering each enemy stone with a stone right beside it. A pure shadowing game concedes the initiative and builds you nothing. Measure every candidate move against one question instead: does this shorten my best path, lengthen theirs, or ideally both?
Bridges, ladders, and edges
The bridge is the first tool to learn: two stones a short diagonal apart, sharing two empty cells. If the computer takes one cell you take the other, so the stones are connected in practice while costing nothing extra. Chains of bridges cross the board nearly twice as fast as solid lines of touching stones, and good players fill a bridge only when the computer actually intrudes.
The second tool is the ladder. Push toward your edge while the computer blocks each step from the row ahead and you get a forced zipper, both sides laying stones sideways along the second row. Run a ladder with nothing waiting for you and it carries you into the corner and dies. The cure is the ladder escape: a stone placed in advance along the ladder's path that lets the running chain climb around the block and reach the edge. Learning to spot, and to pre-place, ladder escapes is roughly the line between beginner and intermediate Hex.
Edges are friendlier than they look. A stone on the second row with both cells below it empty is already connected to your edge, by the same two-ways-down logic as the bridge. Safe patterns like this are called edge templates, and knowing the small ones saves whole tempos of unnecessary reinforcement.
Practical habits
- Open near the center; central cells touch the most potential paths, and your edges mostly take care of themselves.
- Connect with bridges, not touching stones, and answer an intrusion calmly by taking the twin cell.
- Each turn, find the computer's shortest remaining path and make one move do two jobs: cut it while extending yourself.
- Do not start a ladder you have not prepared; place the escape stone first, then push.
- Trust edge templates instead of reinforcing stones that are already safe.
One piece of theory is worth carrying into every game. Nash proved, with his famous strategy-stealing argument, that the first player has a winning strategy on any symmetric board: an extra stone can never hurt you, so the second player cannot be the one with the forced win. The proof is non-constructive, meaning nobody knows what the strategy actually is on full-size boards, and deciding a general Hex position is provably hard. The first-move edge is real enough that serious play uses the swap rule, letting the second player steal a too-strong opening. Play your first stone as if the computer might take it from you.
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Hex: frequently asked questions
Can Hex end in a draw?
No. It is mathematically impossible. When the board fills, exactly one player has a connecting chain.
Any tips?
Play toward the center, use "bridge" patterns (two stones a knight-ish move apart) that are hard to cut, and always watch the computer’s shortest threat.
Why can a game of Hex never end in a draw?
Once every hexagon is filled it is topologically impossible for both players to be blocked at once; exactly one color always forms a crossing chain between its two edges. There is simply no way to fill the board without someone connecting.
What is a bridge in Hex?
A bridge is two of your stones placed a short diagonal apart with two empty hexes shared between them. If the opponent plays one gap you take the other, so the two stones are effectively connected and cannot be cut.
What is a ladder, and what is a ladder escape?
A ladder is a forced zipper sequence where you push along a row toward your edge while the opponent blocks each step. Unassisted, it runs into the corner and fails. A ladder escape is a stone placed ahead of time on the ladder's path that lets the chain climb around the block and finish the connection.
Does the first player always win?
In theory yes. Nash's strategy-stealing argument proves the first player has a winning strategy on a symmetric board. In practice no simple winning plan is known for large boards, which is why the swap rule is often used to balance play.
Should I build along my own edge or through the center?
Through the center. Stones near your own edge tend to be connected to it already, while central hexes influence the most possible paths, so central strength is worth far more early on.
How is Hex different from Gomoku or Connect Four?
Those games are about lining up a fixed number of pieces and can end in draws. Hex is about connecting two sides, blocking and building are the same act, and a completed board always has a winner.
Is Hex free to play?
Yes. Hex is completely free on Inkplay, with no download, no sign-up, and no in-game purchases. Open the page and play instantly on desktop or mobile.
Can I play Hex unblocked?
Yes. Hex runs entirely in your browser with no download, install, or plugins, so it loads instantly and keeps working even on school or work networks where bigger game sites get blocked.
More games to play
In the mood for more? Try Chess, Tic Tac Toe, Connect Four, Reversi, or browse all board games and the full games list on Inkplay. Hex also appears in Strategy Games.