Hexa Words: Match Associations

As other reviewers have already pointed out, the “free” version is ad supported, and there is an ad after every single puzzle following a certain level. Your tolerance for that will vary. However what is the most egregious sin is that the puzzles become engineered in such a way as to REQUIRE the use of multiple hints which after using them up require in-game currency, purchased with actual money, to purchase more. Hints can be earned without spending actual money, but they are earned at too slow a rate to bypass the “problem puzzles”, which will need many to be used just to continue. Other reviewers have rightly complained about the similarity and overlap between topics making separating and arranging them impossible, but a more common and insidious tactic is to randomly assign unrelated words to the topics so that the puzzle can only be “solved” via brute force or buying hints. The “solutions” to these puzzles are not just deliberately obtuse or use obscure definitions to justify their connection, they are completely irrelevant to each other. The “solution” can be seen after using a hint, and once you catch on to the underhanded methodology it is infuriating. I started this review thinking I would rate it 2 stars, but recounting this justifiably angers me to realizing it really deserves a 1 for this nonsense. The closer you get to puzzles in the 80s the more common it gets. The Topics might be Safari and Nobility. The “shared” word? Not binoculars or anything that might make sense… it’s Elephants. What? That’s only a single example of this nonsense, it gets worse. Seeing the “solution” after hints have placed the words is maddening: especially when you realize that it’s not just that often there are better fits for the groupings, but that the “acceptable” ones are categorically and empirically wrong.

The clues provided are often so general as to apply to multiple categories with the association of a word to one category being as strong or tenuous as an association with another category. This leads to needing to try a wide variety of combinations to figure out which loose collection of associations is the one the dev’s intend. I can’t tell whether this is due to the devs being bad at crafting associations or doing so intentionally to drive people to spend money for hints. Given the state of app game market, I suspect the latter. But as they say, never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence. That said, you can pay for no ads— for 7 days. Then you have to pay again and again for every 7 days for continued absence of ads, so maybe just scum

The game is different and I like it. There are some levels that will stump you so it’s not a super easy game to get bored of. The topics are also interesting. I just wish there was a dark mode so that I could play it at night to wind down. I also have sensitive eyes so the dark modes are always appreciated.