hex board game

The Game of Hex

Hex is an elegant game played on a board like this.

                              ___
                          ___/   \___
            X         ___/   \___/   \___       O
                  ___/   \___/   \___/   \___
              ___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___
          ___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___
      ___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___
  ___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___
 /   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \
 \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/  
     \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   
         \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   
             \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/
                 \___/   \___/   \___/   \___/  
                     \___/   \___/   \___/
            O            \___/   \___/           X
                             \___/

Two opposite sides of the board are labeled X and the other two sides are labeled O (any two symbols will do). Two players choose which will play X and which will play O. Players take turns placing their symbols inside any empty hexagon. The object is to connect your two edges of the board with a continuous chain of your symbols. The player who constructs such a chain wins.

Some Hex Boards

The 8 by 8 ascii board pictured above.
An 11 by 11 ascii board.
An 11 by 11 board in PDF format.
Fig file for an 11 by 11 board. Load this file in xfig to print an 11 by 11 board with largish hexagons that fits on an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper.
C code to generate fig files for hex boards. Customize your own board.

This page is maintained by David W. Lyons. Send new puzzles, old solutions, questions, and comments to me at: lyons@lvc.edu