HexCards is a prototype for a trading/battle card game in which two players strategically place hexagonal cards on a playing field to capture the other’s cards. Each of the six sides of each card is assigned a numeric value ranging from 1 to 10 (10 is displayed as an “A”). When you place a card on the playing field, you can capture cards in adjacent tiles if the value for that specific side is larger than the value on the adjacent card’s side.

Download HexCards

The rules and format of the game are based off of Final Fantasy VIII’s Triple Triad mini-game. The game ends when the playing field is full and the winner is decided based on who has the most cards at that time. Watch the video tutorial for a demonstration with instructions for more information.

Note that the first player has the advantage of choosing the first slot in which to play. The second player also gets an advantage: They won’t be able to play one of their cards, but that means it counts as a “free card” in their favor in the final tally.

HexCards was originally created for DonationCoder’s NANY 2009, an annual programming challenge (which stands for New Apps for the New Year). You can see HexCard’s original NANY page on DonationCoder here.

Version History

  • v1.08.2008.12.30 – Final NANY 2009 Release. Game now highlights winner and automatically starts a new game.
  • v0.07.2008.12.11 – Fixed the code to find and store adjacent tiles. Game logic now automatically captures cards.
  • v0.06.2008.11.08 – Game board now creates an extra ring of hex tiles for walls.
  • v0.05.2008.10.11 – More data is stored to make it easier to find adjacent cards/tiles.
  • v0.04.2008.10.08 – Coded to dynamically create board of any size. (alternate board sizes not implemented)
  • v0.03.2008.10.07 – Coded to dynamically scale graphics sizes based on tile size.
  • v0.02.2008.10.06 – Streamlined creation of hex shapes for various uses (playing cards, board tiles, hand tiles, etc.).
  • v0.01.2008.10.05 – First playable prototype.

Credits: