Is Hex Park Really A Puzzle Game?
You probably shouldn’t expect much from a game that costs less than a single espresso, but even then, Hex Park still falls short.
Priced at £3.29 ($3.99) from the Xbox Store, there is no doubt that Hex Park is a cheap game. It’s something we’ve come to expect from Webnetic, the publisher and developer of this little puzzler. Yet still we slide away from it, disappointed.
Hex Park certainly plays on the ‘hex’ title, providing players with more than 150 levels of hexagonal puzzle stages. Your goal in each of those stages is to clear the screen of a number of coloured hexagons, each of which has a single arrow on it. That arrow is key, as clicking on the tile sees it move in the direction it is pointing, as you look to have it shift straight off the board. If the route to oblivion is clear, off it pops into the nether. But should any other tile be in its way, movement is restricted, the tile refusing to move an inch.
Colourful Tiles, Very Simple Rules
Those tiles come in a variety of colours too, but that matters little as each of the red, orange, blue, green, purple and yellow variants moves as the next – in a straight line, as the arrow flies. We initially assumed that Hex Park would be a bit of a problem for those with sight difficulties and colour blindness, but the various hues mean not a jot in Hex Park; the colours add almost nothing to the actual puzzle-solving.
Levels are of various sizes, some with just a few tiles that need moving, whilst others will have upwards of twenty or thirty that need shifting. But not a single one of the levels present in Hex Park will require any thought; it’s all super straightforward and a cinch to complete. In fact, we powered through the first twenty stages in less than five minutes, completing levels faster than the numerous achievements could pop on our Xbox. And once that 1000 Gamerscore is bagged, you’ll be left with nothing but to work through the remaining stages in your own good time.
We very much doubt you’ll want to though, especially as we’re not really sure where the end of Hex Park is. See, the Xbox Store mentions some 150 stages to play through. Well, we’re at 151 and still they keep on coming.
Same Puzzles, Different Numbers
The problem, aside from the ease? The stages in Hex Park are duplicated, over, and over, and over again. We stumbled upon Level 1 again as it respawned as Level 45. At other points, we’d complete a stage, only to be greeted by it again straight away, cloned as the next level along the line. We’ve even sat down and tried to count just how many different levels there are, but as we reached stage 150, found less than twenty variants. That’s A LOT of repetition right there.
It’s not like any of the stages mix things up either; you’ll have the same tiles, in the same place, moving in the same direction. And you’ll be limited to the same amount of moves too – not that any move limit ever really comes into play in Hex Park.
Power-Ups Add Variety, But No Depth
What Hex Park does attempt though, is a bit of variety in the form of some power-ups. Even these are pointless. Three different power-ups are present in the game, and these come in the form of a hammer to bash a single tile, a drill to create a hole in the stage, and some TNT that explodes, taking with it those tiles around it. Further, there is the occasional switching of tiles via a twister.
But other than using them for the first time to see what they do, you’ll never need them again. Which is a bit of a shame really, because those power-ups are the only thing you can spend your accumulated in-game coins on, pushed out at a mad rate for each level completion.
Hex Park Is Cheap, But It’s No Bargain
Hex Park is about as disappointing a puzzler as you are likely to find – and we’re using that term ‘puzzler’ extremely loosely. It’s super easy to complete, full of stage repetition, and lacking in anything remotely reaching a test of the mind. The only saving grace really is that it comes with easy-to-obtain achievements (you’ll have bagged the whole 1000G in five minutes) and a cheap price. We guess it’s nice that the controls are responsive, with tiles moving exactly where expected, the instant feedback making it easy to understand why a particular move has failed. Frankly though, that’s the least we should expect from a game.
Most will want more than that from their gaming though, and that means you should skip on Hex Park, forgetting it even exists.
Important Links
Hex Park – A Colourful Twist On Classic Puzzle Design – https://www.thexboxhub.com/hex-park-a-colourful-twist-on-classic-puzzle-design/
Buy from the Xbox Store, optimised for Series X|S – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/hex-park-series-x-s/9nh8vck3j7tc
Buy an Xbox One version – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/hex-park/9pclmfq2sdnq
Buy for Windows PC – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/hex-park-windows/9p7n9clqt3n1
