Hexara Home

Playing Hexara

Place the symbols from the scrolls hanging on either side of the pavilion onto the central grid in a way such that symbols which are next to each other on a scroll are also neighbors (any direction) on the hex grid.

When all the symbols on a scroll can be traced on the central hex grid, in order and with a single path that only uses neighboring hexes, that scroll becomes energized. When all the scrolls are energized, the puzzle is solved.

Walk-through for the 1st Puzzle

1. Starting Screen:

To select the puzzle for this walk-through, click on the leftmost (smallest) bronze-colored disk. This will trigger the materialization of the pavilion, with the puzzle ready to play.

2. Puzzle Start:

First, notice what highlights or not upon mouseover: (a) The symbols on the scrolls highlight - and can be grabbed.

(b) The hexes in central grid highlight where you can drop the symbols.

(c) The purple hexes cannot be grabbed, but a mouse-over will highlight the corresponding symbols on the scrolls. With the mouse over the purple (fixed-in-place) Star on the hex grid, the Star symbol on the first hanging scroll is highlighted.

3. Take first symbol (the Star), and place next to the Star symbol on the hex grid (click and drag and release). Hmm. Nothing happens.

Move it over one hex to left. Try each slot. Nothing special happens. For now, leave it in the leftmost empty hex.

4. Take second symbol on the first scroll (Infinity), and place next to the Star – GONG!

The first scroll is now lit up (energized). When the symbols that are next to each other on a scroll are all also neighbors in the central hex grid, that scroll becomes energized. The puzzle will be solved when all the scrolls are in the energized state.

(a) Move the Infinity symbol over one hex. It is no longer next to the Star, so the first scroll goes back to a low-activity state.

(b) Move the Infinity symbol over to the right-most hex on that row. It is now next to a purple (fixed-in-place) Star. Gong! Once again, the symbols from the scroll are neighbors on the hex grid, so the scroll is energized.

5. Take the Heart symbol from the second scroll and place it next to the Star on the hex grid. Nothing happens.

The Heart and the Star are next to one another (horizontally) but on different scrolls. Because they are not on the same hanging scroll, being neighbors on the hex grid has no effect.

6. Place the Moon between the Heart and Infinity symbols. Double gong!

The second scroll (Heart, Moon) and the fourth scroll (Moon, Infinity) both activate. The Moon on the hex grid is next to both the Heart and the Infinity symbols, so both scrolls are energized.

Now, we have three scrolls energized. Three remain to be activated, but only one empty slot remains. How do we complete the puzzle? A big part of solving these puzzles is coming up with ways to be as efficient as possible.

Observation: the Star in the leftmost hex on the central grid isn’t contributing to the solution. There is neither a Star + Waves scroll nor a Star + Heart scroll. So we can replace it. Can we find a symbol that should be neighbors to the purple (fixed-in-place) Waves symbol?

7. Place your mouse over the purple Waves symbol. The Waves symbol on the sixth scroll is highlighted. This scroll also holds the Cube symbol.

Drag the Cube to the left most hex, replacing the Star.

Four scrolls completed. Two to go.

8. We have two scrolls that have not yet been energized (the third and fourth). Inspecting them, we see that both have the Target (aka Circles) symbol on them. In one case the Target is next to the Eye, in the other, next to the Cube. There is a hex on the grid, already occupied by the Heart, that borders on these two symbols. Go ahead and drop the Target on the hex with the Heart.

The third and fourth scrolls are now energized, but with the Heart gone from the hex grid, the second scroll has returned to a low-energy state.

Place a Heart symbol into the bottom, center hex where it will once again be neighbors to the Moon symbol.