Hive Stack: a hexagon sort puzzle in a candy honeycomb

How to play

1. Drag one of the three offered stacks onto an empty cell, or tap it and then tap a cell.
2. Watch the top tiles: neighbors with the same top color gather onto the pile that already has the longest run of it.
3. Get ten or more of one color on top and that run pops, counting toward the level target.
4. Reach the target number of popped tiles before the hive fills up.

What it exercises

It looks like a relaxed stack sorting puzzle, but the gathering rule rewards a bit of foresight.

• Planning

  Where you drop a stack decides which pile collects the tiles, so you build toward one big pile instead of scattering colors.

• Spatial thinking

  Every hex cell has six neighbors. Seeing which of them a placement will touch takes practice on the larger boards.

• Seeing chains

  A pop reveals the color underneath, which may match a neighbor and pour again. Spotting those chains in advance is the fun part.

Tips

• Place a stack next to the pile you want to grow; tiles always flow toward the longest run of their color.
• Only the top color moves. A layered stack can feed one pile now and a different pile after it pops.
• Leave a few empty cells near the middle. A full hive ends the level.
• The hammer, swap and shuffle helpers are free on each level. Save them for the moment the hive is nearly full.
• Every color has its own symbol, so you can sort by shape when two candies look alike.

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