Drop a piece
Drag a piece from the tray onto the board, or tap it and then tap where it goes. Pieces stay exactly where you put them.
Rules
How to play Hexi Pop
Hexi Pop is a block puzzle on a hexagon-shaped board. Place pieces, fill lines to pop them, and keep going until nothing fits. Here is every rule, including exactly how points are counted.
Try it in your browserThe board
The board is one big hexagon made of small hexagonal cells: 61 cells on Easy and Medium, 37 on Hard.
Every cell sits on three lines at once: a row, and a diagonal running each way. A line always runs from edge to edge, so lines have different lengths. On the 61-cell board they are 5 to 9 cells long; on Hard, 4 to 7.
The six rules
Fill a line to pop it
Complete a line from edge to edge and every cell in it pops. You score points and get the space back.
Lines run three ways
Rows count, and so do both diagonals. One piece can finish lines in more than one direction at once.
Chain combos
Clear lines on back-to-back moves and your combo multiplier climbs.
Power-ups get you unstuck
In the iPhone app, every few lines you pop earns a hammer, a shuffle or a swap. Save them for when nothing fits.
No room ends the round
When none of your pieces fit anywhere and no power-up can help, the round is over.
Your pieces
- You get three pieces at a time and can place them in any order.
- New pieces only arrive once all three are on the board.
- Pieces don't rotate. Each one goes on the board exactly as it's shown.
- If you drop a piece one cell away from a spot where it fits, it snaps into place.
- Once placed, a piece stays put. Only popping a line, or the hammer in the app, removes cells.
Scoring
Every move scores in two ways:
- Placing: 2 points for every cell of the piece you put down.
- Popping: 5 points for every cell that pops, times the number of lines cleared in that move, times your combo.
On Hard, the total for every move is multiplied by 1.5.
Worked example
You place a three-cell piece that finishes a nine-cell row. It's your first clear, so your combo is 1: 3 × 2 + 9 × 5 × 1 × 1 = 51 points.
On your next move, a two-cell piece finishes a nine-cell row and an eight-cell diagonal at the same time. The cell they share counts once, so 16 cells pop, and your combo is now 2: 2 × 2 + 16 × 5 × 2 × 2 = 324 points.
Combos
Every move that clears at least one line adds 1 to your combo, and the combo multiplies everything you pop.
A move that clears nothing doesn't break it straight away. The combo only resets after three moves in a row without a clear, so you can spend two moves setting up the next pop.
In the iPhone app
Power-ups
Every 6 lines you clear in a round earns a power-up: first a hammer, then a swap, then a shuffle, and round again. You can hold up to 2 of each, and one earned beyond that is lost. They reset at the start of every round, and the only way to get them is to play.
- Hammer: tap it, then tap a filled cell to knock it out. On its own it never pops a line, but it can open the one spot a piece needs to finish one.
- Shuffle: swaps every piece left in your tray for new ones. Empty slots stay empty, and at least one of the new pieces fits if any piece could.
- Swap: tap it, then tap one piece in your tray to replace just that piece.
Power-ups don't count as moves, and they don't change your score or your combo. On Easy, your undo can take one back, and you get the power-up back too.
When the round ends
The round ends when none of the pieces left in your tray fits anywhere on the board and no power-up can change that. Empty cells don't help if they aren't in a shape your pieces can fill, so keep open space where the bigger pieces can use it.
In the app, a stuck round isn't over while you hold a power-up that can act: the hammer needs a filled cell, and the shuffle and swap need a piece in your tray. On Easy, you're also offered your undo if you haven't used it.
In the iPhone app
Achievements
The app has ten badges to earn, and the locked ones show what it takes. They're worked out from your round history, so rounds you played before an update count too. Triple Clear is the exception: it only counts rounds played since the app started tracking it. Delete your rounds and the badges go with them.
- First Round: finish your first round.
- Triple Clear: clear three lines with one piece.
- Combo x5: reach a x5 combo in one round.
- Combo x8: reach a x8 combo in one round.
- 5,000 Points: score 5,000 in a round.
- 10,000 Points: score 10,000 in a round.
- Week Streak: play seven days in a row.
- Month Streak: play thirty days in a row.
- Hard Mode Champion: score 2,000 on Hard.
- Century: make 100 moves in one round.
Difficulty levels
| Level | Easy | Medium | Hard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Board | 61 cells | 61 cells | 37 cells |
| Pieces | Small | Small and medium | Medium and large |
| Next set preview | Yes | No | No |
| Undo | 1 per round | None | None |
| Power-ups | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Points | ×1 | ×1 | ×1.5 |
Questions
Is Hexi Pop free?
Yes. Hexi Pop is free on iPhone, with ads, and a one-time purchase removes them. There's no account to create. The upcoming Android version will also be free, with ads.
Can I play Hexi Pop online?
Yes. Easy mode runs free in your browser on the Hexi Pop website, with no download. Medium, Hard and your round history are in the iPhone app.
Do pieces rotate?
No. Every piece goes on the board exactly as it's dealt, so look for a spot that matches its shape.
Does my combo reset if one move doesn't clear a line?
No. The combo only resets after three moves in a row without a clear.
Why did the round end when the board still had space?
The round ends when none of your remaining pieces fits anywhere and you have no power-up left that could help. There may be empty cells, but not in a shape any of your pieces can fill.
Can I undo a move?
On Easy you get one undo per round, which takes back your last placement or power-up. Medium and Hard have no undo.
Does Hexi Pop work offline?
Yes. The iPhone app doesn't need an internet connection or an account, and your rounds, scores and settings stay on your phone.
What are power-ups and how do I get them?
Power-ups are helpers you earn by clearing lines: a hammer knocks out one cell, a shuffle re-deals your pieces, and a swap replaces one piece. You get one for every 6 lines you clear in a round, up to 2 of each. Power-ups are in the iPhone app; the browser version doesn't have them.
Ready to pop?
Free on iPhone. Android is on the way.
