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How to Play

Lisa's Hexscape teaches itself in a three-part interactive tutorial the first time you press Play. Here is the same lesson in writing.

The goal

Every level is a hexagonal board of arrow tiles. Remove them all and the level is cleared. Some hexes (stones, turning hexes, flower switches) are permanent fixtures; the level completes when every removable tile is gone.

When a tile can leave

A tile's arrow points at one of its six neighboring directions: left, right, upper-left, upper-right, lower-left, or lower-right. It can leave only when the straight line from the tile, in that direction, is clear all the way off the board.

  • Tap a clear tile and it slides away in the direction it points.
  • Tap a blocked tile and it gives a small wiggle and stays. Blocked taps never cost a move; they are a free nudge that you picked the wrong tile.

Clearing one tile often frees others, so the game is really about order. Look for what can leave now, and think about what each removal unlocks.

Garden gates

Some gardens in the Moonlit chapter and beyond have colored gates on their edges, listed above the board with their direction and open or closed state. In a gated garden a tile may only leave through a gate of its own color, so a coral tile pointing at a turquoise gate is just as stuck as a blocked one. Flower switches on the board open and close the gates of their color.

Relaxed and challenge levels

  • Relaxed levels have no move limit, and the undo button lets you take back as many moves as you like.
  • Challenge levels show a move budget ("Moves 3 of 9"). Every removal, frost strike, turner activation, and switch flip costs one move; blocked taps stay free. Run out and a retry screen offers a restart or the Extra Moves booster. There are no timers, hidden or otherwise.

Boosters

Four boosters help when you are stuck. Each shows how many you have left, explains itself before its first use, and can be bought with flower tokens when you run out.

  • Lisa's Lantern lights up one tile that can leave right now.
  • Petal Turn rotates one tile clockwise by a single hex direction.
  • Starburst clears one removable tile, or breaks one frost layer.
  • Extra Moves adds five moves in a challenge level.

Every level is solvable without them, and using one costs the third star.

Controls

ActionTouch / mouseKeyboard
Clear or activate a hexTap or click itArrow keys move between hexes, Enter or Space activates
Use a boosterTap the booster, then a glowing hex if askedTab to the booster, Enter, then a hex
Undo (relaxed levels)Tap the undo arrowTab to undo, Enter
PauseTap the pause buttonTab to pause, Enter
Close a dialogTap outside, or the buttonEsc

The four arrow keys walk the six-direction grid by moving focus to the nearest hex in that screen direction, so every board is fully playable without a pointer.

Keep reading

  • Gameplay covers chapters, obstacles, stars, and the Daily Bloom.
  • Tips has practical advice for keeping all three stars.