THE CORE RULE
Every step on the path must move from cell N to cell N+1. Start and end cells are pre-marked. Some numbered cells are given as clues — they are fixed positions on the path. Everything else you fill in.
The path visits every cell exactly once — there are no branches, no skips, no revisits. When you place a number, it locks both its position and the direction the path must travel through that spot.
START FROM ANCHORS, NOT FROM THE BEGINNING
Beginners try to trace from cell 1 onwards. This fails quickly once the path can branch. Instead, treat every given clue as an anchor and work outward in both directions.
Between two consecutive given clues — say clue 5 and clue 9 — the path must pass through exactly three cells (6, 7, 8). Count the cells and map the available hexes between those anchors. If only one route fits the cell count, the path is forced.
The gap between adjacent clues is the puzzle's unit of constraint. Small gaps = forced paths. Start there.
EXPLOIT EDGE AND CORNER HEXES
Interior hexes have six neighbours. Edge hexes have four or five; true corner hexes have only three. A path passing through an edge or corner hex has fewer possible entry-exit pairs — sometimes only one valid pair exists for a given sequence range.
When a hex sits on the boundary and belongs to a gap between two clues, check whether it can even be reached from both directions given the neighbour restrictions. If it can only be entered from one side, the path direction through it is forced.
THE SIX-NEIGHBOUR ADVANTAGE
Square-grid mazes often have long forced corridors — hallways where only one direction is available. Hex mazes have fewer of these, but the same deductive principle applies. When a hex cell is surrounded by already-placed or blocked hexes on five sides, only one entry-exit pair is possible.
The six-neighbour topology means diagonals are real neighbours in hex mazes. Always count all six surrounding hexes when assessing how many path directions remain open for a given cell.
THE SOLVING LOOP
- Identify all gaps between adjacent clue pairs. Note the gap size (number of missing cells).
- For the smallest gaps, enumerate the reachable hexes between the two anchor clues. If only one route fits, place those numbers.
- After placing numbers, recheck nearby clues — the new placements may reduce a larger gap to a single valid route.
- For edge and corner hexes in any remaining gap, verify entry-exit pairs. Eliminate directions blocked by placed cells or boundaries.
- Repeat until all cells are filled.
THE BEGINNER MISTAKE
Guessing a path direction and following it until it fails. In hex mazes, a wrong early choice often produces a contradiction ten steps later, making it hard to trace the error. Always require a forced reason before committing a direction — either a count argument (only this route has the right number of cells) or a neighbour argument (only this entry-exit pair is geometrically valid).