Java Hextris
quick links: run Hextris - highscores - binaries - source code - email

What now?

Hextris is Tetris with stones made of hexagons (see image on the right). It is harder but more fun than standard Tetris. The idea of using hexagons comes from David Markley.
It takes some time to get used to the hexagon board but it's worth it :)

Features

  • severity levels for beginner, medium and expert
  • selectable speed at game start
  • global highscore list
  • adjustable hexagon size
  • Java/multiplatform implementation
  • GPL license
The aim of the game is to score as high as possible. So here are some score hints:
  • Moving down stones manually scores more than waiting until stones move automatically.
  • Playing in higher levels scores more than playing in lower levels. If you start in a higher level then you stay there as long as it takes to reach that level from level 1. So if you feel comfortable in say level 3 then it's better to start in level 3.
  • The score for removed lines depends on the number of simultaneously removed lines and grows quarely, i.e. filling 2 lines with one stones brings 2 times the score of filling 2 lines seperately. 3 times for 3 lines etc.
The actual number of score points can be found in the help display.

Running Java Hextris

Hextris runs on any platform with a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed. A current JRE can be downloaded here.
There are several ways to run Hextris:
  1. as webpage applet: If your browser and JRE are properly configured you can go to this webpage which contains hextris as an embedded applet.
  2. as Java Web Start application: If you prefer to run hextris as standalone application then you can install and start hextris by clicking this link. You will be asked to trust the application and hence grant all permissions. If you are paranoid (you'd have good reason on the internet) you can use this start link and will not have to grant any extra permission. In this case your preferences can not be saved locally plus an extra message is shown at the top of the application window which can be turned off in the javaws preferences.
    This method should work with Mozilla and Explorer. Other browsers might have to be configured to run the returned jnlp-file with javaws (i.e. javaws hextris.jnlp)
    You can lean more about Java Web Start at its homepage.
  3. from the binary by downloading and running the jar archive hextris.jar (type 'java -jar hextris.jar' at the command line)
  4. by downloading the source code into you favourite Java IDE, compiling it and running net.hextris.Hextris.main(). The source code links can be found in the source code section below.

Source Code

Java Hextris is free software released under the GPL. You are free to use the game, modify the source code and redistribute it as long as your changes are redistributed under the same license.
The source code of the current release can be downloaded here.

There is also anonymous read access to the CVS that is hosted by sourceforge.net.
More information about this can be found at the Sourceforge jhextris project page.

Contact

For comments, critics, complaints, hints, feature requests, bug reports and patches you may use the tracker system and the forums at the Sourceforge jhextris project page.

Or send a message to: hextris@inner-space.de Or use this form:

your email address:

subject:
body:

You might also want to check the Freshmeat jhextris page.

inner-space | frank felfe