Hexxerae was made for the Linux Game Jam 2022. It was made exclusively in PICO-8 on Linux.

It is inspired by the DOS game Tesserae, converting its gameplay onto a hex-based grid. Tesserae is a trademark of Inline Design.

This is a single player strategy game played with color tiles. Combine colors and think ahead to clear a board of hexagonal tiles. The object is to remove all tiles until only one is left, in as few moves as possible.

How to play?

A move is done by jumping with a tile over another one and landing behind it. This means that there has to be an adjavent tile which can be jumped over. The target spot behind it may be empty or may have a tile on it.

There are three types of tiles: Basic (yellow, red, blue), Double (orange, green, purple) and Triple (dark). The primary rule is that the jumping color is removed from the jumped over tile and added to the jumped on tile.

About the jumped over tile:

1. Jumping with a Basic tile over another Basic tile is a special case. The jumped over tile is being removed.
2. If the jumped over tile is the same as the moved one, then the jumped over tile is removed.
3. Otherwise the color or color combination of the moved tile has to be part of the jumped over tile's color and will be removed from it.

About the target spot:

1. If the target is empty, then the moved tile is placed there.
2. If the target tile is the same as the moved one, then it just stays the same.
3. Otherwise the color or colors combined in the moved tile must not be part of the color or color combination of the target tile, so that the colors of both tiles can be combined.

A good strategy might be not to create too many Double o Triple tiles, and to get rid of those as fast as possible.

The game ends when no more moves are possible. You have won the game if by then only one tile is left.

Take your time to get familiar with the rules. Be patient.

Hav fun playing!

Controls:

• Arrow keys: move the marker
• Z or X: (de)select tiles
• X: undo moves
• P or Enter: Menu

The game also has mouse support, left click for (de)selecting tiles, right click for undo moves.