H E X HEX is a magical game of shifting strategies and sudden reversals. You are the Unicorn, competing against your peers to hone your magical skills. The game is subtle, the strategies complex, the uses of magic - -mind-boggling! HEX is played in 120 levels, each one more difficult than the last. You will face twelve opponents several times each, both alone and in pairs. To win a level, you must turn the entire HEX Arena green while your opponent tries to turn it purple. If the Arena ends up red or blue, or if the level has not been won in 100 turns, then you and your opponent have tied, and you must play the same opponent again. To win the game, you must win all 120 levels. THE HEX ARENA Nineteen hexagonal pillars ('hexes') form the HEX Arena. The top of each hex changes color ('flips') when you or an opponent move onto it. The colors change in a simple sequence; green, red, purple, blue and back to green. Whenever two adjacent hexes are the same color, they 'lock' together. You or your opponent must 'jump' on all of the hexes in a locked 'group' before they will all flip. As a level progresses, hexes will lock together in larger and larger groups until the entire Arena is a single color and the level ends. When a player junps on a locked hex, the hex 'stores' the flip; a locked group will not change color until each hex has at least one flip stored on it. The color of the pillar of a hex in a group indicates whether that hex has stored flips: a hex with a dark pillar has stored flips, and a hex with a light pillar must still be jumped on if you want to flip its group to the next color. MOVEMENT You and your opponent take turn moving. On your turn, you may jump to an adjacent hex or the the one you are on by clicking the mouse on that hex. As you move the mouse, the surface of the hex you are about to select will be highlighted. You cannot enter a hex occupied by an opponent, and you cannot leave the Arena. If you attempt to do so, you will jump in place. MAGIC HEX offers more than 100 magical spells, which you and your opponent can use to turn the board to your advantage. You may 'know' up to five speels at any one time. Casting spells requires the expenditure of magical energy, which is earned during the course of a game. The amount of energy you can have is limited by your magical capacity. Your capacity will grow each level, so long as you can will levels quickly and consistently. If your capacity ever falls to 0, you lose the game. Starting Up... When you bring up the program HEX, you see the logo screen, a demonstration game, and then the MAIN MENU. (Clicking the mouse button will take you directly to the MAIN MENU.) The MAIN MENU includes seven command options and ten saved games. DEMO GAME starts a series of demonstration games. Watchnig these games can improve your understanding of the game and of your opponents. You can leave the demonstration at any time by clicking on the mouse button. RULES displays a screen of simple rules and guidelines. To return to the MAIN MENU, click on the mouse button. NEW GAME lets you start a new game of HEX and enter your name; your name identifies your saved game. (You might want to start each game with a different name, since any given name cannot appear more than once on the high score list.) If there are already ten games saved, you will have to clear one before you can start a new game. CLEAR GAME shows you the vital statistics for all of the saved games and allows you to clear one of them. If you decide not to clear a game, click on CANCEL. CLR SCORES allows you to clear all but the top three high scores. Do this occasionally so that new players can get onto the score list. SOUND ON turns the game's sound on. When the sound is on, this option changes to SOUND OFF, and vice versa. During the game, you can toggle the sound on an doff by clicking MUTE. EXIT lets you leave the program HEX. This is distinct from SAVE, which is available during play and return you to the MAIN MENU after saving your game. SAVED GAMES: If you have started a game, and you haven't won, lost or cleared is, HEX has saved your game. To continue a saved game, you simply click on it with the mouse. Magic... Magical spells are tools to help you win levels of HEX. You may have up to five spells in the 'Spell Slots' found to the left of the Arena. On each turn, you may select any one of these spellls to cast. To select a spell, click on its slot with the mouse; you can still change your mind until you move on the Arena. Each spell has a duration in turns (dur) and a cost in the magical energy; these are displayed on the bottom line of each spell's slot. You need spells to overcome powerful magic-using opponents, but take care not to use all of your energy against one opponent, or you will be vulnerable to the next. LEARNING SPELLS Each time you win a level of HEX, you are offered a new spell or spell improvement. Accepting a spell or an improvement costs you some of your magical energy. To accept a new spell, click on a slot and then on CONTINUE. The new spell will replace any spell in the slot that you have indicated. A spell improvement will always reduce the cost (per turn) of a spell; some improvements will also decrease its duration. To apply an improvement to one of your spells, click on that spell's slot and then on 'CONTINUE'. To reject a spell, click on 'CONTINUE' while No Spell is selected. MAGICAL ENERGY AND CAPACITY Casting a spell uses magical energy (ENR); this is the cost of the spell. Therefore, you must earn magical energy in order to cast spells. You receive one point of energy for each green hex in the Arena every turn. You also get one eighth of the energy expended by your opponents each time they cast a spell. You receive a large bonus of magical energy when you win a level. Your magical energy is limited by your magical capacity (CAP), which changes during the course of a game. Your capacity starts out at 500, and increases by 250 each timeyou win a level. YOur capacity drops by 400 each time you lose a level, and you lose a little capacity, each turn of each level. To develop and maintain a high capacity, you must win levels quickly and consistently. If your capacity drops to zero, you have lost the game and you must start over from scratch. THE SPELLS There are more than 100 spells that you and your opponents can use to transcend the basic rules of each game. These spells are composed of 'spell parts'. Each spell also has a cost and a duration (both of which may be improved). Multi-turn spells can be cancelled in the middle by selecting another spell or No Spell. However, you will not often want to do this, since you pay half of the cost of a multi-turn spell on the first turn. The spells are divided into categories as follows: Help - You start the game with the single spell Help. This spell plays five turns FOR YOU. Use it if you are confused about your goals or if you want to learn good tactics. Jump or Jmp) - allows you to move to a distant hex. 'Jump 3', for example, allows you to move three times, flipping only the last hex you land on. When it is in a multi-part spell, Jump allows you to move to distant hex before applying the remainder of the spell. Flip (or Flp) - controls the numbre of times you flip a hex when you land on it. Without magic you only flip a hex once when you land on it; with spells, however, you can flip a hex two or three times, or not at all. Flip spells will not always changes the color of a hex becuase they do not negate the effects of locking. There are three specialized aspects of flipping: * Clear Flips removes stored flips from a hex and turns its pillar light. * Random Flip can flip a hex a random number of times (from 0 to 3), or clear it. * Own Flip puts the correct number of flips (0-3) on a hex to make it your color, Own Flip acts like Clear Flips on hexes that are already your color. Speed (or Spd) - allows you to make several moves in one turn. When combined with other components, Speed allows you to perform them all repeatedly during a turn. For example 'Spd3Jmp2Flp2' allows you to move two hexes and double-flip the hex you land on, three times in a single turn. Break Lock - is like Flip except that it breaks the hex you are flipping out of any locked groups. Own Color is like Own Flip except that it always turns the hex to your color independent of locking. Random Color (or Rdm Color) is equivalent to Random Flip. Regions specify an area for a spell to affect. They can be used to affect the hex under your opponent. There are five types of regions: * Ray affects a straight line of hexes from where you are to the edge of the Arena. Spells including Ray are the only spells that do not allow you to move to a new hex without a jump component. The direction you indicate after selecting the spell specifies the direction of the ray rather than your intended move. * Big Hex (or Bhx) - includes the hex you move onto and all adjacent hexes. Thus, Big Hexes have more effect when you are near the center of the Arena than when you are on the edge. * Scatter - affects a random number of hexes (one in four, on the average) scattered randomly across the Arena. Scatter does not necessarily affect the hex you jump on. * Group - refers to the hex you jump on and all the hexes that are locked to it. * Arena - covers the entire playing field and has the same effect on every hex no matter where you jump. Toggle - allows you to destroy a hex, totally removing it from the Arena for the remainder of the level. Spells have no effect on toggled hexes, except Fakes (see below) or another Toggle, which restores and hex and turns it to your own color. Fake - allows you to change the appearance of the hex you jump on without actually affecting it at all. The illusion lasts until the hex is jumped on again or until a Dispel Fake is cast. There are four types of Flakes: * Invisible - causes a hex or hexes to disappear. * Fake Flip - causes the affected hexes to appear to have dark pillars independent of any actual stored flips. * Fake Color - makes hexes appear to be offset by two colors from their actual color. * Randome Flake - causes hexes to appear to be a random color and pillar color. Shield - keeps you and your opponent from affecting a hex for the duration of the spell. There are three types of Shield spells parts: * Shield Movement - keeps you and your opponents from moving onto a hex. * Shield Flip prevents the number of stored flips from changing. * Shield Color prevents the hex from changing color. Trade Places - allows you to switch positions with your opponent before your regular movement. Influence spell parts come in three types. Each type can affect your opponent's Spells and/or Movement. If a spell doesn't say which of these it is affecting, then it infulences BOTH. Influence affects all of your opponents, but not Phantom Partners: * Freeze Spells - prevents your opponents from casting a spell, and immediately cancels any spell they have in effect. * Freeze Movement - prevents your opponents from moving for the duration of the spell. * Confuse - randomizes your opponents' movement and/or spell selection. * Control - lets you control your opponents' movement or spells, or both. If you are selecting a spell, but are not in control of movement, you must still click on the Arena to make the spell take effect. Phantom Partner - creates an 'ethereal' partner who will hop around the Arena trying to help you turn it green. Phantom Partners can not use magic, and, for the most part, are not affected by it. This is particularly good spell to cast at the beginning of a level or when you are confused. Clone - creates a whole new YOU. You control both of you, and you are equivalent in all ways. Both of you cast spells and you are both affected by influence. You also share the same Energy. This means that your energy and capacity go up or down twice as fast. You and your opponents can create as many as four Clones, so long as there are never more than a total of six creatures on the Arena at one time. Phantom Partners and Clones last until the end of a level. The Other Players... Your opponents in the game of HEX are a strange collection of wandering sorcerers and powerful dilettantes. They each have a unique style and a unique set of spells. To play HEX well, you must treat each of the other players as an individual, and tailor your strategy to your opponent. When you are faced with two opponents at once, this becomes particularly challenging. Egbert - is the last of the Dodoes of Mauritius. When his fellows were going extinct, Egbert suddenly and mysteriously acquired magical power and vanished from the face of the Earth. Since then he has been playing HEX and grazing on the strange flora around the Arena. He still hasn't learned to read or write, but he does wield great power. Manowa - is a jellyfish of considerable size and intelligence. At first she had trouble getting around on dry land, but this kind of problem can be overcome with persistence. . . and power! She uses this power with stunning effect as she floats over the HEX Arena. Fitzroy - is a Triceratops from the time of the Great Mesozoic "Extinction." In reality, the majority of the dinosaurs did not die out; they departed for other dimensions. Because of the time distortion involved in dimension travel, Fitzroy is still a baby after 65 million years, but he has quite a stomp! Amy - is not your average sentient mushroom. She grew up as an orphan in the city of Mascara, surviving by her wits and magic. She relies primarily on illusions and defensive spells. Without even trying to see through her own illusions she can outmaneuver most challengers. Brazz - is the crown Prince of Mayfair. Like manu of the proper nobility, he spends most of his time involved in sports. Due to his easy life he has had a lot of time to practice HEX. Like the simpler bees of Earth he likes to flit heither and yon, and play among bright colors. Sir Jake - is proper an dupstanding, but not exactly British. In fact, he's not exactly anything. He's a lot more like nothing at all. Where Jake came from, nothing is much of anything. He feels very comfortable around nothing, and tries to keep the Arena looking that way. Phoebe - is one of the seven Shield Maidens of Artemis. When she is not on duty, she seeks out challenges to hone her skills of mind and body. HEX is just such a challenge. Phoebe is strong, fast and smart, and her spells were chosen form her by Artemis herself. Beware of Phoebe's renowned bursts of power. (Half horse, half woman.) Kirion - hails from Iceland, where there are still quite a few of the little folk. He prefers not to get involved with outsiders, but Stephen talked him into trying a game of HEX and he has been hooked ever since. His specialty is illusion and he can put up a dazzling display of chicanery. (Caveman type.) Kengar - is a wanderer of the dimensions. No one knows where she came from. AT times she can be found stalking wumpi on Rigel, or chasing clouds of water through the Enchanged Grove. Sometimes she cannot be found at all. Kengar is fast, very fast. She can outrun a hawk in the mountians! She is also powerful enough to wander freely through the 500 worlds. (Leopard.) Stephen - is ordinary human being who was granted mystical powers as a result of his friendship with Kirion. Stephen believes that great power brings great responsibility. His life is difficult and dangerous. To relax and calm his nerves he plays HEX. His magical style was developed for more important purposes, but it can be devastating in the Arena as well. Rubicon - is a strapping young dragon. Her clan considers her to be very promising and already very powerful. She is quite formidable, and when she has learned cunning and subtlety she will be practically invincible. Don't underestimate her power and versatility. KRAKAWANN - is an elemental force of nature and very nearly a god. Its power and wisdom are incomprehensible in ordinary terms. KRAKAWANN created the HEX Arena and is familiar with all of its intracacies. The only reason that the other players are willing to enter the Arena with KRAKAWANN is that it puts very little of its attention and will into the game. Finishing... HEX saves your game when you click on SAVE. However, saving in the middle of a level causes you to lose the ground; you would have to start the level from the beginning with the energy and capacity you had when you quit. Saving at the beginning of a level, however, has no penalty. There are only three ways to eliminate a saved game: * Win all 120 levels, and thus win the game; * Lose all your capacity, and thuse lose the game; * Clear the saved game with the CLEAR GAME option from the MAIN MENU. HIGH SCORES The high score list records the highest level that you or any other player has won, and your energy at the end of that level. To top the high score list you must not only win more levels than any previous player, but you must do it with more energy left. WINNING To win a game of HEX, you must win all 120 different levels. On the first level, you will play alone to familiarize yourself with the Arena. After that, you will face opponents in sets of seven levels. The stakes of the game increase with each set. Your bonus for winning a level goes up every set, and your loss capacity per turn becomes larger. Good Luck, and may the best magician win!