Hexploder

Place pieces. Fill cells. Trigger chain reactions.

Hexploder is a two-player strategy game on a hexagonal board. Place pieces on your own or empty cells — but beware: when a cell is full, it explodes and spreads its pieces to all neighbors, capturing enemy cells in the process. A single move can set off a cascade that flips the entire board in seconds.

Simple rules. Deep strategy.

Features

Play against an AI opponent on easy or hard difficulty Watch the computer play against itself Choose between 4×4, 5×5 and 6×6 boards Win/loss statistics per player Available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV History

1983 — Hexplode on BBC Micro The game was originally created by Janet Ansell for the BBC Micro in 1983 and published in Personal Computer World magazine in December 1993. The BBC Micro was widely used in schools across the UK, USA and several European countries. https://bbcmicro.co.uk/game.php?id=3319

1989 — Hexa on Macintosh In 1989, Magne Roald created a Macintosh version in C. This version introduced a computer opponent based on a 6-step rule-based priority heuristic — the same logic that underlies the "Easy" difficulty today. The game was distributed as shareware under the name Hexa 2.0.

2026 — Hexploder on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV This version is a complete rewrite in SwiftUI for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. It preserves the feel of the 1989 original while adding animations, sound, extended statistics and a stronger AI opponent on "Hard" difficulty, based on Laurens Geffert's approach from 2017. https://janlauge.github.io/2017/hexplode-game-ai/