Brandon Quinn Author & game designer

Hexakai Has a New, Improved Book

By Brandon Quinn Hexakai

New edition: The New Hexakai Book. 200 puzzles, sizes 3 to 13, four difficulty levels. Beside the text, the book's cover.

In June 2024, I officially launched Hexakai, and just one month later, I published a Hexakai puzzle book (a hardcover edition followed). In the more than two years since, the game has grown considerably. I've created new generator patterns for more visually striking boards, I've added many new strategies, some of them specifically for the purpose of conquering the behemoth, and the player base has grown well beyond where it started. I decided it was time to incorporate the game's growth over these past two years.

What's in the new book

Get the new Hexakai book (cover of Hexakai: A Sudoku-Inspired Game of Hexagons by Brandon Quinn)
  • 200 puzzles, from tiny size-3 warm-ups to sprawling size-13 boards. All 200 are new. This is an increase of 50 from the first book, and the new puzzles are based on the generator patterns that didn't exist when the first book was made.
  • Four difficulty levels, from Easy to Ultra-Difficult, in a steady progression.
  • Strategies for Winning: techniques for every level, from first steps to advanced elimination. Updated from the original book.
  • The Mathematics of Hexakai: the ideas behind the game, for the curious. Updated from the original book.

Get the new Hexakai book on Amazon

From evenly spread to striking patterns

In the first book, all puzzles were generated with my algorithm's standard approach, evenly distributing blank cells throughout the board. Two examples are shown below:

A size 9 Hexakai board whose given numbers are spread evenly across the whole board, with no clear shape.
Standard: evenly spread
A second size 9 board with fewer given numbers, still spread evenly across the whole board.
Standard: fewer numbers, still evenly spread
Two size 9 examples of the Standard pattern, made with Hexakai's generator. They are not puzzles from the book.

In this book, the puzzles were generated with a combination of all generator patterns, leading to more visually striking patterns, such as those shown below:

A size 9 board whose given numbers form parallel diagonal stripes, alternating with stripes of empty cells.
Diagonal Strings: diagonal stripes of numbers
A size 9 board whose top tip is almost empty, with the board below it packed solid with given numbers.
Top Heavy: nearly empty tip, packed below
A size 9 board where, in the top half, given numbers alternate with empty cells like a checkerboard; most of the bottom half is empty, with a few given numbers near the bottom tip.
Checkered Board: checkerboard top, mostly empty bottom
A size 9 board with an empty top, a solid band of given numbers across the middle, and below it given numbers and empty cells alternating like the pegs of a Galton board.
Galton Board: a solid band over rows of pegs
Size 9 examples of four generator patterns, made with Hexakai's generator. They are not puzzles from the book.

I hope you enjoy the new book!