I’m not sure why a hex map appeals to me so much—perhaps it’s a flashback to classic D&D games from my adolescence when world maps were made on hexagonal graph paper rather than a square grid. Hex maps, in my opinion, offer an added element of wonder and mystery.
So anytime I see a hex map in a game, I’m usually intrigued, and the one depicted in the Hexoplanet video is no exception. Because, well, wow. It’s stunning.
“You assume charge over a robot society that has recently gained self-consciousness and has to prepare a new planet for their masters, the humans,” according to Hexoplanet, which is being created by artist and engineer Max Gittel. You acquire resources, create factories, make items, manage logistics, explore technology, and transport commodities across the map using trucks, trains, and boats, just as in Factorio and Satisfactory.
Sounds like fun, but I’m really taken by how lovely this hexy planet is. In fact, I believe it is the most gorgeous hex planet I’ve ever seen. Swampy marshes with lily pads, chunky tiny ice floes floating off the coast, wheat fields, poofy trees, hexes piled to make plateaus and mountains, and some really gorgeous shaders and atmospheric effects. Even severely industrialized places have a lovely appearance, with tiny smokestacks spewing out charming clouds of pollution and cargo ships churning through dark brown seas.
And perhaps there’s more to it than a lovely hex planet and a resource management network. At the end of the trailer, self-replicating bot #392094343 examines the label on its arm, which says “Property of Humans,” before gazing towards the sky. Perhaps we’re about to witness a mini-robot revolution?
Hexoplanet is presently in development, with a release date of “expected” next year.
