Hex Grid as a Design Tool

Why Hex?

The idea of using a hex grid was inspired by the battlefield of Teamfight Tactics (TFT) — where hex tiles create movement that feels noticeably smoother and more natural than a standard square grid.

The most important property of a hex tile is that the distance to all 6 neighbors is equal. This means that when an object changes direction on a hex grid, the movement looks logical and linear — unlike square grids where diagonal movement feels “off” perceptually.

Impact on Gameplay

With 6 directions instead of 4 on a square grid, the design implications are clear:

• More complex mazes: Players have 2 additional directions to block — mazes can curve, zigzag, and create far more surprising situations than a square grid allows
• More diverse map shapes: Hex grids enable unique map shapes not constrained by rectangles
• More intuitive range display: A tower’s circular range naturally aligns with the hex shape, avoiding the strange “dead corner” cases of square grids

Technical Challenges from This Design Decision

Choosing a hex grid introduced a series of technical challenges — from calculating offset coordinates (odd/even column offset) and designing the A* algorithm for hex geometry, to generating a procedural mesh — all of which are covered in detail in the sections that follow.