If Super Hexagon were an arcade game, my quarters would be vaporized in less than a minute. The simple controls and arcade-like feel make Super Hexagon fun to play in short bursts and for long periods. However, the psychedelic colors and flashing may encourage players to opt for short bursts over longer play sessions.

Super Hexagon has two controls: left and right. The goal of the game is quite simple – keep the triangle that represents you from hitting walls that are approaching the hexagon on which you reside. The game has three initial modes: Hard, Harder, and Hardest. Three additional modes can be unlocked, but I haven’t even gotten past Hard. My best time, in the past week of playing between other games, is just over 16 seconds.

The bit-tunes music is catchy and caught my attention in a good way. It’s almost like a reward to do well just to hear more of the track. The music matches the flashing color palettes of the game itself. It has that sort of rave feel to it where you don’t really know what’s going on beyond your little triangle and oncoming walls. The flashing colors is not so much distracting as mesmerizing and also provides hints as to what is a wall and what isn’t. Some time past the ten second mark, the walls, which are represented by solid lines, become solid planes (quadrangles). I have a theory as to which are supposed to be the walls (the ones that flash) and which are not, but considering I can barely get up to that point, I haven’t been able to test my theory.

It’s also not very frustrating to have to restart from the beginning. Practice makes perfect, after all. The only difficulty is getting into and staying in “the zone” by becoming hyperfocused on the clues provided by the game. Supposedly, if you hit 1 minute in each mode, you unlock another difficulty level. I suppose if you were able to hit that one minute mark, you’ve managed to focus really well on playing the game. Perhaps that tells something about you when you put your mind to some task?

I would definitely keep Super Hexagon on my desktop as one of those games to play during a short break. There is no “end” so to consider it “finished” is not quite true, but I do see myself playing it for another week or two. The concentration required on getting far in the game will easily override whatever is on your mind and may be useful while writing a paper, coding, or doing something that requires a small break every now and then to let the dust settle. I haven’t experienced any enlightenment or illuminating thoughts while playing, but I will be sure to mention it if it ever does occur. If anything, the thoughts might occur after finishing a round.