Claim your ground
Build up your cities and expand your territory across the hex map. Your borders tell your story.
STONE ROAD STUDIOS PRESENTS
A world worth
fighting for.
EIGHT HEROES. EIGHT WAYS TO CHANGE THE FIGHT.
Raise your banner. Rally your heroes. Make your mark on a world where every hex is worth fighting for.
Play in your browser · Beta in development
EXPLORE THE WORLD YOUR BANNER. YOUR KINGDOM. YOUR WAR.
01 / THE WORLD OF HEX
One more hex.
One bigger ambition.
From your first city to the next enemy border, every move starts with a decision. Build your strength, lead your marches, and decide where your banner flies next.
Leo on the front line
Marching among Moss Giants with a hero, banner, and army in view.
A kingdom taking shape
Connected territory, cities, and a hero on the move.
Choose your next move
City commands and a marching army on the live map.
Actual player-captured beta gameplay on a phone. Tap any image to view it at full size.
Lead the march
Take your commander into the field. Send your troops, choose your targets, and make each march count.
Find your people
Talk tactics, share your victories, and help shape the beta with the HEX community.
02 / THE FULL HERO ROSTER
Same foundation.
A different way to win.
Eight heroes. One equipped at a time. Each brings a unique passive and an active skill that changes your decisions—not just the face beside your banner.
350% TOTAL BASE BONUSES
The 350% rule, explained.
Every hero starts with 350 bonus percentage points spread across seven stats: Attack, Defense, March Speed, Troop Production, Gold Production, Blood Money, and Scavenging. The total is shared; the distribution creates the role.
Freddy puts 50 points into each stat. Nitro puts 202 into March Speed, with the remaining 148 split across four other stats. Equip one hero to use that hero’s allocation. Passives and active effects add their own rules, benefits, and tradeoffs beyond the base allocation.
Passive: a distinct ongoing or triggered benefit Active: a skill you choose to use, with a cooldown
CHOOSE A HERO TO OPEN THEIR BATTLEFIELD GUIDE
TEMPO & RAPID STRIKES
Nitro the Hex Rusher
Make time your weapon. Nitro is built to reach an opportunity quickly, then turn that first success into a short burst of pressure across the map.
PASSIVE / ALWAYS PART OF YOUR HERO
Afterburner
A successful HEX Rush starts a five-minute window with +35 percentage points of March Speed. Further resolved attacks and new occupations add stacks, up to five stacks (+175 points). Stacks do not extend the window. When it expires—or the original Rush force is completely lost—Crash Mode applies −50 points of March Speed for five minutes.
ACTIVE / CHOOSE YOUR MOMENT
HEX Rush
Cooldown · 30 minutesPrepare a charge, then send the next eligible attack at an enemy city, boss, monster, or meteor. Its outbound trip takes the shorter of its normal travel time and 60 seconds. The cooldown begins when that army is dispatched.
HOW TO CHANGE THE BATTLEFIELD
Open a window
Choose a first Rush target your army can actually beat. A fast arrival alone does not start Afterburner: you need a qualifying success, such as a hostile city capture, a boss or monster defeat, or a new meteor occupation.
Chain the follow-up
Prepare nearby targets before the first impact. During Afterburner, further resolved attacks and new occupations can build speed without restarting the five-minute clock. Spend that time moving troops toward the next useful objective.
Keep the force alive
Losing part of the original Rush army does not automatically cause a crash; losing all of it does. A reckless opening can end your momentum early. Account for the slower five-minute recovery before committing reinforcements.
THE DETAIL THAT MATTERS
Try Nitro in the beta
Before equipment, skills, or clan bonuses, Nitro contributes +202% March Speed normally, +377% at five stacks, and +152% during Crash Mode. The extra 175 points are a temporary passive effect, outside his 350-point base allocation.
FLEXIBLE CONQUEST
Basic Baddie Freddy
Freddy keeps every part of your empire moving. His even stat spread supports expansion, while Foresight lets you change a plan after the army has left home.
PASSIVE / ALWAYS PART OF YOUR HERO
Pillager
A successful city capture pays Gold equal to 10% of the city’s upgrade investment that has not already paid a Pillager reward. The same investment cannot be collected repeatedly by recapturing the city.
ACTIVE / CHOOSE YOUR MOMENT
Foresight
Cooldown · 15 minutesRedirect one city army that is already marching to another valid city, using the map’s Active Skill action.
HOW TO CHANGE THE BATTLEFIELD
Turn captures into momentum
A developed enemy city can offer both territory and a Pillager payout. Put that Gold back into your next round of upgrades, while remembering that recently collected investment will not pay again.
React to a changing front
If your original target becomes less attractive, use Foresight to redirect an eligible marching army to a better valid city. It is a way to adapt an existing march when the battlefield changes.
Keep a decision in reserve
Avoid spending Foresight simply because it is ready. Its value rises when you have an important army already moving and new information changes which destination matters most.
THE DETAIL THAT MATTERS
Try Freddy in the beta
Foresight changes a destination; it does not create a second army or guarantee an instant arrival. Plan around the troops and route you actually have.
ATTRITION & RECOVERY
Morrigan
Morrigan changes the economics of a hard fight. A costly victory can become the foundation of your next army, provided you hold the battlefield long enough to claim the dead.
PASSIVE / ALWAYS PART OF YOUR HERO
Death’s Due
Sets Rebirth to 95%. In exchange, final troop production is multiplied by 0.80 after all production bonuses: a 20% reduction to the final output.
ACTIVE / CHOOSE YOUR MOMENT
Raise the Dead
Cooldown · 15 minutesAfter Morrigan wins a city battle, raise 50% of the unclaimed troop casualties recorded at that city during the last five minutes, including your own losses. The casualty count is taken before Rebirth, and the city must still belong to you.
HOW TO CHANGE THE BATTLEFIELD
Fight where recovery matters
A contested city with recent casualties can be more valuable to Morrigan than a quiet expansion target. Win the city battle with her equipped, then use the eligible casualty pool while it is still fresh.
Secure the claim
The city must still be yours when you use Raise the Dead. Keep enough strength there to survive a counterattack rather than immediately sending every survivor away.
Mind both clocks
Casualties age out after five minutes, while the active has a fifteen-minute cooldown. Do not assume a large battle will remain available until the skill is ready.
THE DETAIL THAT MATTERS
Try Morrigan in the beta
The tradeoff is deliberate: strong recovery and resurrection, but less final troop production. Long periods of quiet growth play differently from a front with repeated city battles.
INTERCEPTION & COUNTERATTACK
Swamp Fox Francis
Francis moves the fight off your doorstep. A successful interception can become an opportunity to hit back at the city that sent the attack.
PASSIVE / ALWAYS PART OF YOUR HERO
Fox on the Hunt
After a winning Interdict, choose to retreat or counterattack the launch city. A successful counterattack grants +25% overall speed for three attacks, counting that counterattack itself, and starts a 35-minute passive cooldown. Retreating spends no passive cooldown. Interdict wins during that cooldown automatically retreat.
ACTIVE / CHOOSE YOUR MOMENT
Interdict
Cooldown · 15 minutesSend troops from the city under attack to intercept its incoming moving enemy army before arrival. Matching colors help identify the linked city and threat. The intercepting troops must come from that attacked city.
HOW TO CHANGE THE BATTLEFIELD
Defend the threatened city
Keep usable troops at the city that is actually being attacked. An army sitting in a distant friendly city cannot supply that Interdict; the threatened city is the required launch point.
Win the rendezvous
Select a hostile army early enough for an interception before it arrives. The ability creates an interception opportunity, not an automatic victory—troop strength still matters.
Choose pursuit deliberately
After a win, compare a safe retreat with the value of attacking the launch city. Only a successful counterattack earns the passive speed benefit, and that counterattack already uses the first of its three attacks.
THE DETAIL THAT MATTERS
Try Francis in the beta
Interdict’s 15-minute active cooldown and Fox on the Hunt’s 35-minute passive cooldown are separate. You can have the active ready while the counterattack reward is still cooling down.
MONSTER HUNTS & REWARDS
Monster Hunter Shamus
Shamus turns your army into a hunting engine. His unique advantages reward you for choosing world encounters and making the most of the monsters you bring onto the map.
PASSIVE / ALWAYS PART OF YOUR HERO
Monster Hunter
Against monsters and bosses, gain +55% Attack, a 75% chance of an extra blueprint, and +250% base Blood Money. Those hunting benefits apply to monster and boss encounters.
ACTIVE / CHOOSE YOUR MOMENT
Hunter’s Call
Cooldown · 1 hourSpray from your owned cities and summon one purple, publicly huntable monster per ten owned cities, with a minimum of one. The monsters use the strongest tier allowed by current world progression.
HOW TO CHANGE THE BATTLEFIELD
Prepare before calling
Have armies ready before you use Hunter’s Call. The spawned monsters are public targets, so summoning them does not reserve their rewards for you.
Hunt within your strength
The call follows world progression, not a promise that your current army can win. Check the encounter and commit enough troops before treating the summon as a reward.
Plan the reward loop
Use monster and boss fights to pursue Blood Money and blueprint opportunities. The extra blueprint is a chance, not a guaranteed second drop on every encounter.
THE DETAIL THAT MATTERS
Try Shamus in the beta
An expanding empire can summon more targets per call. The strategic question is whether you can reach and defeat those public targets before other players do.
ECONOMY INTO COMBAT
Merchant of Death, Bosnia
Bosnia makes economic preparation part of your combat plan. Build value in the normal form, then choose a short window to turn your Gold bonuses into battlefield strength.
PASSIVE / ALWAYS PART OF YOUR HERO
Holding Company
Gain +150% Experience from cities you hold while in the normal form.
ACTIVE / CHOOSE YOUR MOMENT
War Economy
Cooldown · 30 minutesFor ten minutes, choose Attack or Defense. All Gold Production percentage bonuses convert into the chosen combat stat. The +150% city Experience benefit becomes Blood Money in Attack form, or Scavenging in Defense form. Base Gold production continues, but the converted percentage bonuses are unavailable to Gold during the form.
HOW TO CHANGE THE BATTLEFIELD
Choose the job first
Attack form suits a planned offensive; Defense form suits an expected incoming fight. The choice decides where the converted percentage bonuses go for the ten-minute window.
Time the impact
Think about arrival time, not just departure time. A march that reaches its fight after the form expires will not benefit from a combat conversion that is no longer active.
Account for the cost
Gold percentage bonuses stop boosting Gold while converted, and the city Experience benefit changes role. Activate with a purpose rather than expecting the economic and combat benefits at the same time.
THE DETAIL THAT MATTERS
Try Bosnia in the beta
In the base allocation, Bosnia puts 200 points into Gold Production. War Economy can convert those points—and other applicable Gold percentage bonuses—into the chosen combat stat for its duration.
COMBAT PRESSURE & PROTECTION
Spartan King Leo
Leo can press a favorable stat matchup or turn an exposed empire into a protected position. The important decision is when to stop issuing orders and commit to the shield.
PASSIVE / ALWAYS PART OF YOUR HERO
Spartan Resolve
Having higher Defense than your opponent grants +20% overall Attack. Having higher Attack grants +20% overall Defense. Both can apply; ties grant neither corresponding bonus. The comparison uses effective stats before Spartan Resolve.
ACTIVE / CHOOSE YOUR MOMENT
Molon Labe
Cooldown · 24 hoursProtect every owned city with ghost shield domes for six hours. Incoming attacking armies return home intact. Issuing a new troop order cancels every dome; marches already underway can finish normally.
HOW TO CHANGE THE BATTLEFIELD
Build both sides of the matchup
Attack and Defense feed different parts of Spartan Resolve. Raising Defense can unlock an Attack benefit, while raising Attack can unlock a Defense benefit. Equal stats do not trigger that comparison’s bonus.
Set up before shielding
Decide your troop movements first. Existing marches are allowed to complete, but a new troop order after activation removes all of the protection.
Use the breathing room
Molon Labe can interrupt incoming pressure and protect your cities while you reassess. The returning enemies keep their troops; the shield prevents those fights rather than farming kills.
THE DETAIL THAT MATTERS
Try Leo in the beta
A six-hour protection duration does not mean six hours of immunity while issuing fresh attacks. One new troop order ends the domes, and the active still has its 24-hour cooldown.
ARMY GROWTH & CONCENTRATION
Dr. Samuel L., PhD.
Samuel turns a productive empire into a concentrated army. His passive builds the supply; his active helps put an empire’s production into the city where you need it.
PASSIVE / ALWAYS PART OF YOUR HERO
Extra Credit
For every four troops produced, gain one extra bonus troop. This multiplies troop output by 1.25.
ACTIVE / CHOOSE YOUR MOMENT
Doctor’s Family Reunion
Cooldown · 15 minutesGenerate one full hour of troop production from all owned cities, including Extra Credit. After Samuel performs his skill and returns, clones gather the troops at the selected city in a spiral within 30 seconds.
HOW TO CHANGE THE BATTLEFIELD
Invest in the production base
The reunion is based on your cities’ troop production. Stronger production makes the one-hour grant larger, and Extra Credit is included in that calculation.
Choose the meeting point
Select a useful city for the incoming troops: a staging location for an offensive, or a position you intend to hold. A large grant is only as useful as where it lands.
Leave time for arrival
The skill performance and clone delivery happen before the full gathering is complete. Do not plan as though every troop appears instantly at the moment you tap the button.
THE DETAIL THAT MATTERS
Try Samuel in the beta
Samuel allocates +225% to Troop Production before his passive. Other sources can change the final production rate, so check your actual city output when planning a reunion.
Guide checked against Beta 1.0.53-beta.19. Tactical suggestions illustrate how to use the current mechanics; outcomes depend on armies, timing, and opponents. Beta balance may change.
03 / THE WAR ROOM
The world is better
with you in it.
Join the conversation. Share a battle story, report a bug, or tell us what you want to see next. HEX is being built—and your voice belongs here.
BEFORE YOU MARCH
A few things
to know.
How do I play?
Select Play Beta to open the game in a new tab. Sign in or create your game account on the beta’s start screen, then enter the world.
Can I play on my phone?
The beta runs in your browser on phones and computers. For the best view on your phone, turn it sideways and use the game’s Full screen button.
Is HEX still in development?
Yes. This is a playable beta, so artwork, balance, and features will keep evolving. Come share your feedback with the community.
YOUR NEXT CHAPTER STARTS HERE