Hex Gambit: Respawned Review

Hex Gambit: Respawned is a strategy game that feels like you mashed the rules of checkers and chess together. I’m not sure how many kids nowadays play those classic board games, but I remember spending countless hours playing both, especially since I got talked into joining the school chess team — even though I wasn’t that good at it. You take on the role of Player #81, who is determined to become the champion of Hex Gambit and is on a quest to take down the Mastermind in this digital board game experience.

Fortunately, Hex Gambit: Respawned isn’t as difficult as learning to play chess. The game itself is actually quite simple: get 10 victory points by taking out all your opponent's minions (soldier pieces) that are on the board, or earn points by tapping the enemy's pillar. Each minion will have their own set of moves to use, selected with the D-Pad. You can move your character around the board to the highlighted areas, attack, or touch the pillar. Move the minion around the hex tile board to get close enough to the enemy to attack or to avoid being taken out yourself. There is the option to spawn additional reinforcements to help you fight, though there are a limited number of times you can do this, and it will take a turn for them to appear to be used, so you won’t be able to utilise them that turn. The gameplay in Hex Gambit seems easy, but if you aren’t careful, it isn’t hard to get overtaken by your opponent, making you have to retry the level again.

Hex Gambit: Respawned has single and multiplayer modes available to challenge. In Campaign mode, you play against AI opponents known as the Hex Royale. You will need to challenge 21 different stages to complete it and take on the Mastermind. If you would rather challenge a human player, there is the option to play up to four players in a 1v1 or 2v2 format, where you can customise the options and the difficulty level. If you don’t have anyone around locally to play with, there is the option to play online, and there are cross-platform matchmaking and private lobbies to play in.

While playing the single-player campaign, you will select which of the captains available — all pretty unique and eclectic-looking — that you want to play as. Each has a special ability known as a gambit that you will be able to use a few times in your match. The minions that you move around are selected for you by the game; you have no option as to which ones you will control. Luckily, there are a variety of types, like the Soldier, a nimble Runner who is fast but weak; a Brute who deals a lot of damage; and others to play as. Each has its own unique pattern that they move in, range, abilities, and attacks that will have you using different strategies to win.

The matches that I played weren’t overly long, usually between 15 and 25 minutes. This makes it a good title to play in short bursts. The gameplay is reminiscent of the classic strategy board games, as you are moving your minions across the hexagonal tiles to attack your opponent's minions or the pillar. Each team, blue and red, has its own pillar that it needs to protect from the encroaching forces. You will be alternating turns with your opponents, each getting three action points per turn to move, attack, or spawn a new minion. To win, you will have to attack the enemy pillar, which will reward you with one victory point, which is the amount you get when you defeat an enemy minion. Combine the two to get up to 10 points to be the victor of the match and earn a Medallion. The game allows you to use three undo actions per turn if you happen to make a mistake and move a minion into harm's way. If you eliminate all the enemy minions on the hex board, you can win by knockout. Having the pillars there as an option to get points was a nice addition, especially when your opponent was getting close to winning.

The different types of minions have a different number of health points that seem to correlate with their size. The small Runners have three health points, whereas the large Brutes have eight. Like the hit points, each character’s attacks inflict different amounts of damage, have different cooldowns, and different charge times. So, you will have to strategise and think about how you will use your three action points. Make a few wrong moves, and you can quickly be defeated by your opponent, so planning and using the undo option when needed will be required. Don’t forget to utilise your captain’s gambit, as this can totally change how your battle plays out.

Hex Gambit: Respawned has a great look to it all the minions that you move around the board look cool — though all the ones of the same type look the same — but due to there being a lot of different types, there is some variety. There are seven different map themes with 21 layouts to make it feel new and fresh each time you play. The boards you play on aren’t huge, but that’s a good thing because if they were, it would take more turns to get across the board to your opponent's pillar or back to protect your own. The music was good — nothing super memorable, but it gets the job done and isn’t distracting while you are trying to concentrate and trying to figure out what to do next.

I’m having a fun time playing Hex Gambit: Respawned, but I wish that there was more to choosing your team than just the captain. It’s tricky to plan when you are given random minions and if they are ones that you don’t like to play as. It’s hard to develop your own strategy when you can’t create your own team. I feel that building your own team and unlocking more powerful minions as you play would lead to a better experience. It was especially unfair that the opponents in Campaign mode had access to minions that you didn't. It doesn’t feel like an even match if the enemy has powered-up pieces. To counteract this, there are a variety of difficulty modes, but easy felt too easy, whereas the normal setting was a bit too hard at times.

If you are a fan of games full of strategy and quirky characters, Hex Gambit: Respawned might be right up your alley, especially with the added challenge of not being able to select your own team. I especially enjoyed the multiplayer mode, though losing to my husband, who is great at strategising games, was a bit humbling. It was still an enjoyable experience. Do you have the skills needed to take down the Mastermind to become the new champion of Hex Gambit?