Make7! Hexa Puzzle is a new puzzle that is easy enough to pick up and play, hard enough to work out strategies. It can be played offline, is free, and is addicting as hell. So, we think you should check it out.
This game is the kind of a find you can’t remember how you even found it. It must have been in the new games some two weeks ago, and I can’t even recall why I even downloaded it.
The screenshots do not look dazzling, let’s be honest, and hexagon-based puzzles are dime a dozen. Besides, the developer’s page has a bunch of sudoku and pipe connecting games, and a clone of Candy Crush. So, there was nothing about it that could promise a good time.
However, as I started playing (about a week after I downloaded it), it clicked immediately. There is a number of things the developer got right with Make7! Hexa Puzzle that has promoted this little inconspicuous game to the top chart of my favorite casual time killers – puzzles.
Gameplay
You play on a board of 19 hexagonal tiles. The game randomly generates numbers. You place them on the grid with the aim of making matches. Three adjacent tiles of the same number merge into one, but with a higher denomination.
The game always starts with ones and twos. The merged tiles are always one unit more than their previous denominations that got merged.
Sometimes, it’s just one number, sometimes it’s two adjacent numbers. You can not separate them. All you can do is rotate them clockwise until you get the needed orientation.
You can merge 4 or more tiles, but if you want to do it, you would need to place them so that none of them makes a three tile merge. Three identical tiles merge automatically, so you need to make pairs of two tiles before you can merge multiple tiles of the same number. When you do it, you strike a combo and the game adds more points to your score.
There is a limit to the numbers – 7 is the largest you can make. Three sevens merge and clear a certain area of the board, depending on where they were placed.
The merged tiles always blend to the last one placed.
Replay Value
You see, it’s darn easy to get started, but the more you play, the more you discover ways of placing, merging tiles, making combos, and scoring better. Yet, the addiction factor is not in Make7! Hexa Puzzle’s high score chase, although it might very well be a factor for the competitive player. The replay value is in how each replay is unique. No two games are the same. Some boards turn out better than the others, and there are a lot of factors at play here. Luck, strategy, availability of the power-ups, or a slip of a finger that sends a coveted number to the wrong tile.
IAPs, Power-Ups, Ads
Since we mentioned power-ups, there are three of them, with the last one getting added just a few days ago. So, when you see a pending update for Make7! Hexa Puzzle, make sure to download – it might be worth it. A hammer destroys one tile for X money. Undo button undoes your last move for X money. Trash button sends the pending number/numbers to the trash bin for X money.
Each board you play and ultimately and inevitably fail scores you points and coins. The points value is your score or high score, the coins are the in-game currency you can spend on power-ups. Note, however, that the price of power-ups increases after you use one or several of them once in a game. If you want to use any of them for the second time within a single board, its price doubles, if I am not mistaken.
This makes for a perfect combination of accessibility and value. The power-ups are accessible because you can play a few games and earn enough coins to be able to spend on several power-ups the next time. But they are expensive enough to use them seldom, without relying too much on cheating hammers and trash bins.
If, however, you feel like your experience is going to be more lively with lots of hammers, you can buy a pack of coins via IAPs. If you don’t wish or can not afford an IAP, Make7! Hexa Puzzle is totally complete and fully-featured in its freemium form. There is no limit to the number of replays you can have. You can farm the coins. You can even play it offline. It does come with quite a few ads, but in this case, I don’t feel like whining because it feels like a fair deal.
The music and sound score overall is catchy. The design is quite minimalist, but I like the dark background and the non-toxic colors because they’re easy on the eyes and you can play it at night without illuminating a dark room.
One other thing I like about Make7! Hexa Puzzle is there is potential for expansion. More variety in boards, for example, would be a blast. Different modes, like a time-based one, could add the stress factor some would need. A visual upgrade, or purchasable skins or number faces could be an option.
The Good
Addicting
Easy enough to pick and play
Challenging enough to work out strategies
Infinite replay value
Catchy tune
Smart
Lots of potential for expansion
Non-intrusive IAP
Accessible power-ups
You can play it offline
No paywalls
The Bad
Simplistic looks
I miss the counter-clockwise rotation because the one-way rotation adds unnecessary tapping when you miss the mark accidentally
Make7! Hexa Puzzle
Developer: BitMango Puzzle
Price: free to play, Offers in-app purchases
Download from Google Play | iTunes
The Verdict
There is something about Make7! Hexa Puzzle that works as a detox from stress; the game is very pacifying. It’s challenging, but it never feels frustratingly punishing. All of these little things together make a wonderfully addicting puzzle.
If you’re done with Imago, by all means try Make7! Hexa Puzzle.
