Simple Hex: A Two-Player Connection Game

Simple Hex is a captivating two-player connection game with straightforward rules, making it easy to learn. Players choose red or blue and take turns coloring empty cells on the game board. The objective is to create a connected path of your colored cells linking opposite sides of the board. The first player to complete this connection wins.

Game Modes:

The game offers "Play with AI," "Play with Friend," and "Pass & Play" modes. The AI mode features three difficulty levels (easy, medium, hard), and the AI can play first or second. "Play with Friend" allows multiplayer games using separate devices, while "Pass & Play" enables local multiplayer on a single device.

Game Features:

• Undo Button: Regret a move? Use the undo button (currently unavailable in AI mode).
• Steal Move: To balance the inherent first-player advantage, the second player can choose to switch places with the first player after the first move. This forces the first player to consider moves that don't guarantee a win (unavailable in AI mode).
• Multiple Board Sizes: Challenge yourself with 7x7, 9x9, and 11x11 boards, offering increasing complexity.

AI Algorithm:

The AI utilizes a "stable" unbounded best-first minimax game algorithm. For more details on the algorithm and its performance improvements, visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/nsvemuri/. Special thanks to Saatvik Inampudi and Shoheb Shaik for their contributions to AI performance optimization.

Learn More:

For a deeper understanding of the game of Hex, explore this Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hex_(board_game)

Version 0.45 Update (December 18, 2024):

This update makes the easy AI level truly easy and slightly reduces the difficulty of the medium level.