I like Hexfall.
End of review. So you can go ahead now and get on with your day. Enjoy the rest of it knowing that I like Hexfall. See, I’ve laid down my opinion. I’m waiting for you to give a response. So you have a random response ready. I form a possible reply to your response. You then decide to think things over. However I’ve decided its time to air our opinions. It’s like one of those turn based debates. Then we have a conversation. One of my points misses the mark. While your well reasoned argument makes complete sense. I’m not sure what to say next. I seem to not have the initiative. So we go back to our thoughts, and pick from a choice of random potentials. this time I’m hoping for a stronger defence. Or some kind of trap to keep you guessing.
Did I mention that I like Hexfall?
I’m sure I’ve whispered it while I delved into a cloth bag and pulled out three hexagonal tiles adorned with a dwarf or an ork. They have numbers, and they also have symbols around their edges if you’re lucky. Normally the lower the initiative the the better the hit, but you then go last. Compared to the fives or the threes, you’re sitting there waiting your turn and hoping that well maybe this time they won’t place a banner, because that means that all the surrounding tiles are elevated to fives. I might as well go home. I don’t. Instead from the three tiles they’ve drawn that round, they place another champion, last to play, but big in health compared to the normal warriors. They’ve placed it on my side of the board. It’s allowed. So I frown, and absent-mindedly shake the bag in the hope that it free some kind of luck particle trapped inside.
Did I say about Hexfall?
Did I say that the fighting doesn’t happen until the FIGHT! Up until then it’s about playing your selection, normally discarding one and then playing the rest. That sometimes these tiles aren’t Orks or Dwarves, but sometimes they push or pull, or they’re a banner or a bomb. You rummage. You are constantly rummaging. You wonder how cool the game would be if they were poker chips thick. A weight and heft that would be felt when you lay them down on the table. Units with swords for up close and bows when you want to say hello from the other side of the board. I don’t know. I’m not planning. this isn’t planning, it’s hopeful survival with what you have been dealt by your own hand. Placing pieces for future pain and hoping that you’ve managed to see the intentions.
It’s not that I overly like Hexfall.
I appreciate it. I appreciate the hand made box, the chunky granola scenery that has crunch and chunk and still and is that a face? I glance at the art a bit too much. It’s not too much. It’s well drawn, coloured and doesn’t detract. You wouldn’t expect a pawn to be wearing some kind of fancy hat on a chess board now would you? We don’t do that here either. The box is corrugated cardboard, you know it’s going to wear over time. The tokens are 3D printed and you can almost feel the smile they received when you first take them out of the bag. There’s no mass production here it seems. You can imagine that every box that hasn’t been sold is tucked up in its own little bed at night, and maybe told a story about the battles it will take part in when it is older.
I like Hexfall.
It’s the built up towards the inevitable battle that you have no idea when will happen. It’s the sweet mini victory battles and the cringing mistakes where units are wiped from the vinyl mat. It’s the randomness that works because its all about doing the best with what you have. It’s the quick learning that almost seems too easy to learn. Its knowing that the next game you’ll play will be definitely different from the last, as you pull your enemy towards an ambush, or drop a bomb that wipes outs their best of intentions. It’s the secret delight in drawing the tiles you want, or the panic as you draw all the best tiles at once, knowing you’ll need to ditch at least one of your golden trio. It’s the lack of restrictions on placing tiles, while making sure you’re locking down where the other player can play.
Yeah. I like Hexfall. I reckon some of you will like Hexfall too..
