Deck-Building Puzzler
Number of Players
2-4
Recommended Ages
12+
Time to Play
30-60 minutes
Mechanics Used
Tile Placement, Puzzle Solving, Deck-Building
Elevator Pitch
Completion Status
The unique combo of puzzle games and deck-building, Hex Ages is a quick game where each player is forced to made hard decisions on how to score while being mindful of his neighbors.
Finished. Ready to publish. Willing to make tweaks.
Lead your people to glory through the ages
Protect the fortune and glory of your clan against the ravages of time. Each Heir builds and expands your empire across 8 ages but be warned for your empire will be judged according to design.
When The Game Crafter announced their map-building game design contest, I was quick to finish Inca Rush. One could argue too quick. And so I was wildly uncomfortable with having a game that “worked” right out the gate. Especially since it was a simple maze building game. So I grabbed some spare hex tiles, and a small assortment of smiley face stickers, and began messing with this concept on a fairly primitive level.
The History of Hex Ages
In Hex Ages, players draw and place Hex Tiles to form their empire for the round and score it according to the card they chose. It cannot be all good times, however, as each player must go into decline for 2 of the 8 ages, where they must minimize the number of points they lose. At the end of the age, empires compete with one another for Prestige Tiles. After the 8th round, the winner is the player with the most points.
Hex Ages combines the puzzle gameplay mechanic with Deck-Building. Since each round is scored differently, players will be faced with a deceptive level of strategy.
Mechanically, it was sound but I was worried how the game would fair outside of the little bubble of myself. Also, having the same way scoring from round to round felt a tad weird. And so I started designing a few ways to score and included the decline mechanic. At this point, the game was referred to as Demigod Challenge.
A couple play tests in, a friend of mine named Byron suggested different ways of gaining and losing points based on the era, allowing greater thematic connection but the theme of Demigods building the world across ages seemed tacked on. So I removed the Demigods in favor of generically themed clans (there's no doubt Green is the Celts, Red is France, etc) and gave it a further shot. Thus far, Hex Ages is one of my most unique and enjoyable games (IMO). Now the only question is what to do for the expansion...
