# The Hexodic glossary. > Every term the Hexodic rules use, defined in one sentence or two, with a link to its full mechanic page. Definitions of every Hexodic mechanic term — Stone, Tier, Project, Shape, Echo, Echo-Capture, Echo-Lock, encirclement, Network, Takeover, Strangle, half-move cap and more — checked against the rules engine. Canonical HTML: https://hexodic.com/glossary Site index for agents: https://hexodic.com/llms.txt The Hexodic glossary defines every rules and mechanics term used on hexodic.com, from Stone to Repetition loss. Each definition was checked against the Hexodic rules engine, and each term that has its own page links to it; strategy terms such as tier control and containment are defined here too. Reviewed 2026-09-15 against the Hexodic rules engine. For how the mechanics fit together, start at the [rules hub](/rules); to see them in motion, read [how it works](/how-it-works) or visit the [FAQ](/faq). Containment ends in a player having [no legal Project](/rules/project#no-legal-project), which is the Strangle win. ## Terms ### Stone The only piece type in Hexodic. Each player starts with 7 stones in reserve; a stone has no rank or orientation, and its strength comes from the tier of the cell it stands on. ### Reserve A player's stones that are not on the board. While a player has any stone in reserve, their Project must be a Place; captured stones return to their owner's reserve. ### Cell One hexagonal space on the 37-cell board. Every cell has a tier and may be locked; every cell has six neighbouring slots, and slots past the board edge count as edge. ### Tier The height of a cell: 0, 1 or 2. Every cell starts at tier 0. Shape changes tiers; tiers decide encirclement capture, Move capture, the Network win and the tiebreak. More: [Tier](https://hexodic.com/rules/tiers) ### Tier control Strategic term for owning where the high ground is: raising cells under or around your stones, lowering the cells the opponent needs, and locking tier-2 cells so they cannot be lowered. More: [Tier control](https://hexodic.com/rules/tiers) ### Turn One player acting once: a Project, then a Shape, then an optional Echo, followed by the capture check and the win check. One turn is one half-move. More: [Turn](https://hexodic.com/how-it-works) ### Project The first step of every turn: Place a stone from reserve, or — only once the reserve is empty — Move a stone to an adjacent cell. More: [Project](https://hexodic.com/rules/project) ### Place Putting a reserve stone onto an empty, unlocked cell. A player's first Place must be at least 1 step from the centre cell, and after one of their stones is captured their next Place must be at least 2 steps from every cell where it was captured. More: [Place](https://hexodic.com/rules/project) ### Opening restriction A player's first Place of the game must be at least 1 step from the centre cell. The restriction never applies again after that first Place. More: [Opening restriction](https://hexodic.com/rules/project) ### Move Stepping an on-board stone to an adjacent cell. A Move is only available when the reserve is empty; it may enter an empty cell, or an enemy-occupied cell whose tier is strictly lower than the cell the stone leaves, capturing that enemy stone. More: [Move](https://hexodic.com/rules/project) ### Shape The second step of every turn: raise or lower one unlocked cell by one tier, within 2 steps of the stone just Projected. Shape is mandatory whenever a legal Shape targets a cell not occupied by your own stone. More: [Shape](https://hexodic.com/rules/shape) ### Lowering budget The number of times a player may lower a cell during a game: 6 lowers each. Raises are not budgeted. More: [Lowering budget](https://hexodic.com/rules/shape) ### Echo The optional third step of a turn: spend a charge on either an Echo-Capture or an Echo-Lock. Each player has 3 charges for the whole game and charges never come back. More: [Echo](https://hexodic.com/rules/echo) ### Charge The resource an Echo spends. Each player starts with 3 charges; no rule restores them. More: [Charge](https://hexodic.com/rules/echo) ### Echo-Capture An Echo that runs a second, group capture check after the normal one: enemy stones next to the target count as walls instead of protecting it, so a sealed enemy group can be captured together. The target still needs no empty neighbour, a tier of 1 or more, and at least one of your stones adjacent. More: [Echo-Capture](https://hexodic.com/rules/echo-capture) ### Echo-Lock An Echo that permanently locks a tier-2 cell occupied by your own stone. Each player may Echo-Lock once per game. A lock freezes the cell, not the stone: a locked cell can never be Shaped or Placed onto, but the stone on it can still be captured, and a Move onto a locked cell is legal. More: [Echo-Lock](https://hexodic.com/rules/lock) ### Capture Removing an enemy stone from the board back to its owner's reserve. Hexodic has three kinds of capture: encirclement, Echo-Capture, and a Move onto a lower enemy cell. Every capture counts toward Takeover. More: [Capture](https://hexodic.com/rules/capture) ### Encirclement The capture checked after every turn: an enemy stone on tier 1 or 2 is captured when all of its six neighbouring slots are your stones or board edge, and your neighbouring stones' tiers plus (its tier + 1) for each edge slot add up to more than six times its tier. Stones on tier 0 cannot be encircled. More: [Encirclement](https://hexodic.com/rules/capture) ### Capture cooldown After a player's stone is captured, that player's next Place must be at least 2 steps from every cell where their stones were captured. If that blocks every Place, the Project (and the Shape) is skipped for the turn. More: [Capture cooldown](https://hexodic.com/rules/project) ### Network A win: at the end of your turn, 5 or more of your stones stand on tier-2 cells and form one connected group. More: [Network](https://hexodic.com/rules/network) ### Takeover A win: at the end of your turn, you have captured 6 or more enemy stones in the game, by any kind of capture. More: [Takeover](https://hexodic.com/rules/takeover) ### Strangle A win: your opponent begins their turn with no legal Project at all — with stones in reserve, no empty unlocked cell they may Place on and no cooldown skip; with an empty reserve, no legal Move. Checked before the repetition rule and the half-move cap, so a Strangle on the capping turn is a win, not a tiebreak. More: [Strangle](https://hexodic.com/rules/strangle) ### Containment Strategic term for the build-up to Strangle: boxing in an opponent's stones with your stones, the board edge and height until they have no legal Project. More: [Containment](https://hexodic.com/rules/strangle) ### Half-move cap The game ends after 60 half-moves if nobody has won; the tiebreak then decides the result. The cap is the last check made, so a Strangle or a repetition on the capping turn decides the game instead. More: [Half-move cap](https://hexodic.com/rules/game-end) ### Tiebreak How a game at the half-move cap is decided, in order: more of your stones on unlocked tier-2 cells; then the higher sum of tiers under your stones; then more captures; then more raises; otherwise a draw. More: [Tiebreak](https://hexodic.com/rules/game-end) ### Repetition loss A player whose turn recreates an exact earlier position — stones, tiers, cell locks, reserves, charges, capture and raise counts, lowering budgets, whether each player has made their first Place and used their Echo-Lock, and the player to move — loses. A turn whose Project was skipped by the capture cooldown is exempt. More: [Repetition loss](https://hexodic.com/rules/game-end) ### Threefold draw A draw when the exact same position, with the same player to move, occurs three times. It is a safety net that never decides a real game: the repetition loss ends the game the first time a position recurs. More: [Threefold draw](https://hexodic.com/rules/game-end) ### Step 1/2: Place Hexodic's label for the first step of a turn, the Project: "Step 1/2: Place" while you have stones in reserve, "Step 1/2: Move" once your reserve is empty. The "/2" counts the steps the rules can make mandatory: the Project, and the Shape whenever a legal Shape targets a cell not occupied by your own stone. More: [Step 1/2: Place](https://hexodic.com/rules/project) ### Step 2/2: Shape Hexodic's label for the second step of a turn, the Shape: "Step 2/2: Shape". The Shape is mandatory whenever a legal Shape targets a cell not occupied by your own stone; otherwise it may be skipped. More: [Step 2/2: Shape](https://hexodic.com/rules/shape) ### Step 3: Echo (optional) Hexodic's label for the third step of a turn, the Echo: "Step 3: Echo (optional)". It is not counted in the "/2" because the Echo is always optional. More: [Step 3: Echo (optional)](https://hexodic.com/rules/echo) ### CL3O The Hexodic learning bot and the models it serves to players, and nothing else. CL3O is not the name of the analysis engine. ### Analysis engine Hexodic's name for its search core: the component that looks ahead through legal turns to evaluate a position. It is separate from CL3O, the learning bot, and is never called CL3O. [Get the Hexodic app](https://hexodic.com/download) to see every term on a real board. ## Where to go next - [Strategy](https://hexodic.com/strategy) — The principles that follow from the rules, not from habit. - [Learn to play](https://hexodic.com/learn-to-play) — A first game, step by step, with nothing assumed. - [Move-legality checker](https://hexodic.com/move-legality-checker) — Ask the real engine whether a turn is legal, and why. ## Questions this page answers - What does Project mean in Hexodic? - What are Project, Shape and Echo in Hexodic? - What is containment in Hexodic?