Hex Dominion is a small territory game. You start with one hex (your crown) and the computer starts with one of its own. Each turn you spend Action Points to grow, and you win by holding 60% of the map or by capturing the enemy crown.
Everything is done by tapping hexes. What a tap does depends on what you tap:
| Tap a… | What happens | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Grey hex next to yours | Expand: it becomes yours at strength 1 | 1 AP |
| Hex you own | Fortify: +1 strength (up to 5) | 1 AP |
| Red hex next to yours | Attack from your strongest neighbouring hex | 2 AP |
You get 2 AP a turn on most maps, so a turn is two small moves or one attack.
The start of a game on the Settler map. The dashed outlines are the hexes you can expand into.
The attack maths
There are no dice. Before you commit, the game shows the result, and it always follows these rules:
- You win if your hex is stronger than theirs. Ties go to the defender.
- If you win, the captured hex gets your strength minus one, and the hex you attacked from drops to 1.
- If you lose, both hexes lose 1 strength (never below 1).
So attacking a 2 with a 4 takes the hex at strength 3 and leaves your attacker at 1. That's a good trade only if the enemy can't punch straight back through your weakened hex next turn.
Attacks cost 2 AP, so the game asks you to confirm: tap the red hex again, or press the big Attack button.
Attack 2 vs 1: the first tap previews the capture and shows TAP AGAIN; the second tap takes the hex. The attacking hex drops to 1.
1. Don't grow a thin snake
The most common beginner loss: spending every point on expanding, so you end up with a long line of strength-1 hexes. The computer only needs one strength-2 hex next to that line to start cutting it up.
Expand, but fortify the hexes that touch the enemy. A compact block where the front line is at 2–3 strength is much harder to break than a sprawl. Hexes in the middle of your territory don't need strength at all, because nothing can reach them.
2. Watch what the enemy just did
On the computer's turn, the game shows each move before it happens: an arrow in red, then the change, then a short recap ("Last turn, The Wanderer expanded 2"). Don't skip it every time.
The enemy turn: move 1 of 2 expands, move 2 of 2 expands again. Now you know which of your edges it's pushing toward.
If it fortified the hex next to yours, don't attack there. If it expanded toward your crown, that's where your next fortify goes.
3. Take the resource hexes early
From the Warlord map onward, some hexes are marked with a ⚡. Each one you hold gives you +1 AP every turn. Three AP against two is a big lead: you can expand and fortify in the same turn and still attack the next.
Head for resources early, even if it means growing away from the enemy for a turn or two. Grey mountains (from the General map on) block movement completely, so plan your route around them.
Where to start
The levels get harder in order: The Wanderer moves randomly, The Swarm grows fast, The Tactician balances, and later computers attack harder or adapt to you. If a level feels unfair, go back one and practise the habits above. The Undo button takes back moves within your turn, so experimenting is cheap.
Play Hex Dominion. You can also play a friend on the same device with vs Friend.