u/Dense-Tip3061

Hey everyone,

We’re redesigning the volcano terrain system for our hex-based area control / resource management / combat game Hexanem.

In the current version, volcanoes are mostly seen by players as high-risk areas with almost no reward. Because of that, players tend to avoid building near them. As a result, the map effectively feels smaller and strategic variety decreases.

In my previous Reddit post, I asked how we could improve volcanoes and make them more interesting, and you all gave some genuinely thoughtful suggestions. We’re now trying to combine that feedback into a revised volcano system.

Our goal is to turn volcanoes into risky but tempting “natural forge” areas.

New idea: “Awakening Volcano” system

1. Volcano Forge Bonus

If a player has at least one tower adjacent to a volcano, that player may use the volcano as a forge once during their turn.

When upgrading a tower adjacent to that volcano, or upgrading a champion in the volcano region, the player may pay 1 less iron or 1 less stone.

Our goal is to make volcanoes feel like dangerous but useful natural forges.

2. First flame symbol = reward / warning

If a flame symbol appears on the resource dice, volcanoes become “heated.”

Players with towers adjacent to a heated volcano may gain 1 iron or 1 stone from that volcano.

So the first flame is not a direct punishment; it acts as both a reward and a warning of incoming danger.

3. Second flame trigger = eruption

If a volcano is already heated and another flame trigger occurs, the volcano erupts.

After erupting, the volcano returns to its normal state.

4. Eruption damage: limited impact instead of hitting everything

This is the part we’re still unsure about.

Instead of damaging every tower around the volcano, we want the eruption to affect only one of the 6 surrounding corners.

If there is a tower on that corner, the tower loses 1 level.

If there is no tower there, the eruption is wasted.

This keeps volcanoes threatening without making them so punishing that players avoid them entirely.

Our main question

What do you think is the cleanest way to determine which of the 6 surrounding corners gets hit?

We considered rolling a die, but then another issue appears:

Where do we start counting from?

For example:

• Should we always start from the top corner and count clockwise?

• Should we start from the corner closest to the active player?

• Should volcano tiles have a directional marker?

• Should each volcano tile include small arrows / icons / numbers around it?

• Or is random corner damage too fiddly and better replaced with a simpler eruption system?

I really liked the “Russian roulette” feeling of only one corner being hit. Special thanks to u/golem_moja for suggesting that idea. However, we’re worried that the targeting method could become unclear or annoying during play.

Which option would you personally prefer?

A) Roll a D6 and match it to printed numbers/icons around the volcano

B) Roll a D6 and always count from a fixed direction

C) The active player chooses the affected corner

D) The player with a tower near the volcano / the closest player chooses

E) The highest-level adjacent tower gets hit

F) Remove random targeting entirely and use a different eruption system

Which version feels cleaner, fairer, and easier to explain at the table?

Thanks!

We’re working on a fantasy hex-based strategy game called Hexanem.

One part of the map includes volcano tiles. Their purpose was to create risky zones that push players closer together and encourage conflict.

Our resource dice determine which terrain produces each turn, and flame results also interact with volcanoes. Right now, if a flame result appears, towers adjacent to volcano tiles lose 1 level.

The issue is that players now avoid volcanoes almost completely. Instead of creating tension and conflict, they just feel like areas nobody wants to build near. Since every player rolls on their turn, the risk comes up often enough that the punishment feels too harsh.

We recently updated the map and reduced empty space, so before the next playtest I wanted to ask:

Would you solve this by:

making eruptions less frequent,

making the penalty less severe,

or adding a stronger reward for building near volcanoes?

I’d love to hear how you’d handle high-risk terrain like this in a strategy game.

We finally finished the resin casting process and completed all of our structure prototypes. This video shows one of our magnetic castles, and honestly we’re really happy with how satisfying it feels in person.

We’re still deep in the prototype phase, but seeing the physical side of the game slowly become something real has been really exciting.

The coated paper prints I did at home turned out pretty bad, so I decided to get them printed at a print shop instead. Printing on adhesive sticker paper makes it way easier to stick onto cardboard and cut.

Hopefully I can finish the whole map without issues. What do you think about the coated sticker paper?

Note:

Just wanted to leave a couple of notes for anyone trying this. In the second image, I added red guide lines to make cutting with a paper cutter (guillotine) easier. It definitely helped, but you can still end up with very thin white edges around the hexes.

If I were to do it again with what I know now, I’d make those guides a bit thicker and black so there wouldn’t be any white edges left after cutting.

The coated paper prints I did at home turned out pretty bad, so I decided to get them printed at a print shop instead. Printing on adhesive sticker paper makes it way easier to stick onto cardboard and cut.

Hopefully I can finish the whole map without issues. What do you think about the coated sticker paper?