Comparison

Hex for iPad vs Hexagonal Chess

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Hex for iPad

A classic abstract strategy board game played on a hexagonal grid. Players aim to connect opposite sides of the board with their colored stones before their opponent does. Features include undo functionality and a clear turn indicator.

Highlights
  • Hexagonal grid gameplay
  • Connect opposite sides
  • Turn-based strategy
  • Undo last move
  • Clear turn indicator
Features
Read full description

Hex is a strategy board game played on a hexagonal grid, theoretically of any size and several possible shapes, but traditionally as an 11×11 rhombus. Other popular dimensions are 13×13 and 19×19 as a result of the game's relationship to the older game of Go. According to the book A Beautiful Mind, John Nash (one of the game's inventors) advocated 14×14 as the optimal size. History The game was invented by the Danish mathematician Piet Hein, who introduced it in 1942 at the Niels Bohr Institute. It was independently re-invented in 1947 by the mathematician John Nash at Princeton University. Hex is an abstract strategy game that belongs to the general category of "connection" games. Rules Each player has an allocated color, Red and Blue being conventional. Players take turns placing a stone of their color on a single cell within the overall playing board. The goal is to form a connected path of your stones linking the opposing sides of the board marked by your color, before your opponent connects his or her sides in a similar fashion. The first player to complete his or her connection wins the game. The four corner hexagons each belong to both adjacent sides. The turn of each player is shown by a red or blue disc on a side of the board game. The player must touch a cell to fill it with his own color. After that, he can cancel his last move using the 'Undo' button, and redo a different move. When the move is done, the turn comes of the opponent player. John Nash proved in 1952 that a game of Hex cannot end in a tie, and that for a symmetric board there exists a winning strategy for the player who makes the first move (by the strategy-stealing argument). However, the argument is non-constructive: it only shows the existence of a winning strategy, without describing it explicitly. Finding an explicit strategy has been the main subject of research since then.

About

Hexagonal Chess

Experience a unique twist on classic chess with six-directional movement and an expanded board. Challenge a friend in person or test your skills against an AI opponent.

Highlights
  • Six-directional piece movement
  • Expanded board with additional colors
  • Play against a friend locally
  • Challenge an AI opponent
  • Unique chess variant
Features
Read full description

New location, new environment, same rules 50% more directions to move pieces 42% more board fields (with additional color) You can play with a friend but not online, so pretend it is 1990 and actually meet people or you can challenge an AI bot

Screenshots

Hexagonal Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Hexagonal Chess at Free against Hex for iPad's $0.99. Hexagonal Chess also leads on review sentiment (67% vs 33%) and update cadence (every 6 months vs every 37 months). Hex for iPad's advantage is rating (3.0 vs 1.0) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Hexagonal Chess is free to download; Hex for iPad costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hex for iPad holds the better App Store score, 3.0 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 33% of Hex for iPad's written reviews are positive against 67% of Hexagonal Chess's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hex for iPad ships an update every 37 months, Hexagonal Chess every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Hex for iPad versus Hexagonal Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHex for iPadHexagonal Chess
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating3.0 (2 ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews66.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 37 monthsEvery 6 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLuigi FontiKonrad Leszczyski

Customer experience

Hex for iPad

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%

Hexagonal Chess

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

In-app purchases

None

Hex for iPad

No in-app purchases

None

Hexagonal Chess

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hex for iPad free?
Hex for iPad costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Hexagonal Chess free?
Hexagonal Chess is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Hex for iPad or Hexagonal Chess?
Hex for iPad is rated higher. Hex for iPad averages 3.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Hexagonal Chess averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Hex for iPad or Hexagonal Chess have ads?
Neither Hex for iPad nor Hexagonal Chess shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hex for iPad or Hexagonal Chess?
Hex for iPad ships an update every 37 months, and Hexagonal Chess every 6 months. Most recently, Hex for iPad was updated on September 30, 2026 and Hexagonal Chess on September 20, 2026.

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