Super Hexagon
| Super Hexagon | |
|---|---|
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| Designer(s) | Terry Cavanagh |
| Composer(s) | Niamh "Chipzel" Houston |
| Platform(s) | Windows, OS X, Linux, iOS, Android, BlackBerry 10 |
| Release date(s) | iOS
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| Genre(s) | Action, twitch |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Distribution | Download |
Super Hexagon is an independent action twitch video game developed by Terry Cavanagh, with music composed by Niamh "Chipzel" Houston. Originally released for iOS in September 2012,[1] versions for Windows and OS X were released 3 months later, an Android version was released in January 2013,[2] and BlackBerry[3] and Linux versions followed in February 2013. The game is based on an earlier game by Terry Cavanagh, Hexagon, which was created for a twelve hour game jam in early 2012.[4]
Gameplay
The goal of Super Hexagon is to control a small triangle which circles around a central hexagon (which occasionally collapses into a pentagon or square in the hexagon and hyper hexagon difficulty) attempting to avoid contact with incoming "walls". The game has six difficulties, a set of "normal" modes - Hexagon, Hexagoner, and Hexagonest - and a set of "Hyper" versions of those levels which are unlocked upon surviving for 60 seconds or more on their respective normal modes. After surviving 60 seconds in the normal modes the level will change into the hyper mode, along with changes to the colour, speed and gauntlet patterns of the level. Further surviving another 60 seconds in the first two levels (Hexagon and Hexagoner) will result in a palette swap of colors, continuing at the same difficulty. Surviving a further 60 seconds (in normal mode, this means you have survived 180 seconds), the game will change to the next level of hyper hexagon difficulty. Surviving 120 seconds in Hexagonest will not cause this, but surviving 60 seconds in Hyper Hexagonest will cause the appearance of the game to become as such: Stationary hexagon (top and bottom parallel to top and bottom of screen), black background, white walls. Every attempt on any given difficulty is timed, with the best survival time being saved separately for each level as a high score. The timer resets upon "death" (collision with a wall). All high scores are tracked on the leaderboards, in which people can choose to view friends scores or worldwide scores. This is done via Steam for PC, Game Center for iOS and the Play Games feature of the Play Store for Android.
Wall locations are different for each mode, and ordered in different "gauntlets" (sections of repeated walls), which are different upon each attempt, forcing the player to learn how to navigate each set of wall locations rather than the level as a whole. Hyper modes of their respective difficulties contain a similar set of wall locations with some variations, but they appear faster than previously encountered.
Completion of the game is awarded to the player when 60 seconds have been survived on the Hexagonest difficulty (normal ending) and the Hyper Hexagonest difficulty (true ending). However the true ending cannot be obtained though surviving for 120 seconds in the Hexagonest difficulty (completing the regular Hexagonest difficulty then the subsequent Hyper Mode immediately after that). For completing each level, there are achievements available on the Steam, iOS and Android versions.
The game's soundtrack consists of chiptunes set to the rhythm of the game. The game includes three songs (Courtesy, Otis, and Focus) created by the chiptune artist Niamh "Chipzel" Houston.
Reception
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Super Hexagon has received a positive critical response with a score of 86% on reviews aggregation website Metacritic for the iOS version and 88% for the PC version.[7]
The game was the runner-up for Apple's App Store "Best of 2012" Game of the Year[8] and was a finalist for the 2013 Independent Games Festival Excellence in Design award (losing to FTL: Faster Than Light[9]) with an Honorable Mention for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.[10] It was also nominated for "British Game" in the British Academy Video Games Awards in 2013.
References
- ↑ Martin Robinson (2012-09-11). "App of the Day: Super Hexagon". Eurogamer.
- ↑ "Super Hexagon Out On Android". 2013-01-19. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
- ↑ "Super Hexagon now available for Blackberry 10". February 9, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
- ↑ http://terrycavanaghgames.com/hexagon/
- ↑ "Super Hexagon for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
- ↑ "Super Hexagon for iOS Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
- ↑ "Super Hexagon Critic Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
- ↑ "App Store Best Of 2012". Retrieved 27 January 2013.
- ↑ "IGF 2013 winners led by Cart Life and FTL: Faster Than Light". March 28, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
- ↑ "2013 Independent Games Festival Announces Main Competition Finalists". Retrieved 27 January 2013.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Super Hexagon. |