Hex

How to Play Hex

Hex is played on an 11x11 board of hexagons slanted into a rhombus. You play the red stones and own the left and right edges; the AI plays blue and owns the top and bottom. Red moves first. On your turn, place one stone on any empty hexagon - stones never move and are never captured. The first player to build an unbroken chain of their own stones linking their two edges wins immediately.

What makes Hex remarkable is that a draw is mathematically impossible: once the board fills up, exactly one player must have a connection. Every stone you place does double duty, because a stone that extends your chain also stands in the way of your opponent's. Competitive Hex often uses a "swap rule" to offset red's first-move advantage; this version plays without it, so make that first move count.

Strategy Tips

• Use bridges - two stones placed diagonally with two empty cells between them are effectively connected: if your opponent plays in one gap, you take the other. Bridges cover ground twice as fast as solid chains.
• Blocking is connecting - on a rhombus, any wall that fully cuts your opponent's path must itself run between your own two edges. When in doubt, play the move that does both jobs at once.
• Fight for the short diagonal - the center of the board lies on both players' shortest routes. Early stones near the middle influence far more of the game than edge stones.
• Don't chase the AI's last stone - responding locally to every placement lets your opponent dictate play. Step back and reinforce your own shortest path instead.
• Approach edges from the third row - stones on the third row from your edge can usually reach it through standard escape ladders, so you rarely need to fill in the last two rows until forced.

Playing Hex on PlayVersusAI

Hex is played on an 11x11 rhombus of hexagonal cells. One player connects the left and right edges, the other connects top and bottom, and players take turns filling any empty cell. Nothing is captured and nothing moves.

Hex has a property almost no other game has: it cannot end in a draw. It is mathematically impossible to fill the board without one player having completed a connection, which means every single game has a winner. The strategic consequence is that blocking your opponent and building your own path are the same activity — there is no third option and nowhere to hide.

What's on This Page

• Four difficulty levels — switch between Easy, Medium, Hard and AI Training at any time, including mid-game.
• Online multiplayer — play a friend in real time using a private room code, or take on a stranger from the public lobby.
• Tracked results — wins count toward your profile statistics and the site leaderboard.
• No account required — the full game is playable as a guest, on desktop, tablet or phone.

Easy extends its own chain and blocks only direct threats. Medium understands bridges. Hard uses bridge connections and virtual connections properly, meaning it treats two cells as already joined when they cannot be severed. AI Training plans full-board paths and defends by threatening to connect elsewhere.

Mistakes That Lose Games

• Placing stones directly adjacent to each other. The bridge — two cells apart with two shared neighbours — is a stronger link, because if your opponent blocks one route you take the other. Solid chains waste moves.
• Blocking without building. Every defensive stone should also advance your own connection, since the two goals are geometrically the same task.
• Ignoring the short diagonal. The distance across the board is not the same in every direction on a rhombus, and paths that look equivalent are not.
• Playing on the edges too early. The centre is worth more in Hex for the same reason it is in most connection games — it participates in more possible paths.

Hex Questions

For the complete rules, the deeper strategy and the history of the game, read the full Hex guide, or browse guides for all 20 games.