Hexic Rush
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| Hexic Rush

Despite creating one of the most iconic games of all-time, Alexey Pajitnov isn’t exactly a household name.

Maybe that’s the reason why Hexic Rush doesn’t bear his name on the splashscreen or make reference to his past success at any point during the game.

Or maybe it’s because, while Hexic Rush does have flashes of that creative genius found in the earlier title, it’s ultimately nowhere near the same league as the line-erasing masterpiece.

Hex it up

The basic aim of the game is essentially the same as all match-three titles, only with the (normally) square layout of the board replaced by hexagons.

Rather than swapping tiles to create matches, Hexic Rush relies on the player rotating sets of three gems around until a match is made.

As the game goes on, new concepts such as stars and bombs are introduced. The latter is what you’d expect – a game-ending item that needs to be matched before its turn-timer ticks down.

It’s in the stars where Hexic Rush tries to break from the pack.

Ante up

The stars are both a multiplier that boosts the score of a match by x1 for every star present and an infuriating extra layer of strategy that doesn’t quite work in the confines of the gameplay.

The idea is that these stars can be surrounded by one of another colour’s hexes, creating a ‘flower’, and turning them into silver stars. Do this again with a silver star and the world explodes into petals (or you create a series of even harder to make substances, whichever you want to believe).

While making these complicated matches will no doubt have you clawing your way back for another game, it too often feels that the ‘one move, one match’ mechanic and the random bombs that can appear in unavoidable places on the board make success unduly difficult to achieve.

Twist again

Hexic Rush isn’t just about Marathon mode, though – it now has the titular Rush and Expert Rush to try out as well.

Much as in the Blitz variant of Bejeweled Twist, the player is against the clock for this one, and can, thankfully, move whatever they want without necessarily making a match.

Alas, planning those flowers flies out the window when it becomes apparent that the bombs are now on real-time timers – and these are often extremely harsh.

Not helping matters in this faster mode is the wishy-washy controls, which have the tendency to rotate too far along due to some over-sensitive calibration, making the Expert Rush mode infuriating.

Nevertheless, there are definitely flashes of the genius found in that earlier title – matching up a large chain or finally creating the fabled flower can be exhilarating - but the overcomplicated scoring and some iffy control issues stop it being another classic hit, and more one for the hardcore fans.

Hexic Rush

Hexic Rush is more complicated match three game than it initially looks, but isn’t the more enjoyable for it. However, despite some loose controls, there’s still a pleasant puzzler hidden within its hexes
Score
Will Wilson
Will Wilson
Will's obsession with gaming started off with sketching Laser Squad levels on pads of paper, but recently grew into violently shouting "Tango Down!" at random strangers on the street. He now directs that positive energy into his writing (due in no small part to a binding court order).