Hex • The Connection Game

How to Play

Hex was invented by Piet Hein & John Nash. It's a pure strategy game — no luck, no draws.

• Red (you) wins by forming a continuous chain of red stones connecting the top edge to the bottom edge.
• Blue (AI) wins by connecting left to right.
• On your turn, tap any empty hex. Stones never move.
• First to connect wins immediately. Corners belong to both of their sides.
• Board: 11×11 is tournament size. 7×7 is faster on phones (auto-selected if width < 640px).
• AI: Simple but solid — 1) wins if it can, 2) blocks your instant win, 3) otherwise evaluates every empty cell with Dijkstra shortest-path: it minimizes its own cells-to-connect and maximizes yours (block opponent shortest path heuristic).

Red = top-bottom, Blue = left-right. That's it.

Controls

Tips to Win

• Play bridging moves — two stones with one gap (a “bridge”) are almost connected. AI hates bridges.
• Don't hug the edge early. Center control gives more escape routes.
• If AI commits left side, push hard on the other side to stretch its defense.
• On 7×7, first player has a forced win with perfect play — try to find it!

About Best

Best is your longest win streak vs AI. Stored as playroom-best-hex in localStorage. Resets only when you lose.