Echo is the optional third step of a Hexodic turn: the player may spend a charge on either an Echo-Capture or an Echo-Lock. Each Hexodic player has 3 charges for the whole game, at most one Echo happens per turn, and no rule ever gives a charge back.
Reviewed 2026-09-15 against the Hexodic rules engine.
Echo-Capture and Echo-Lock
- Echo-Capture — after the normal capture check, run a second, group capture check in which enemy stones next to a target count as walls instead of protection. Echo-Capture is legal whenever you hold a charge, even if it would capture nothing.
- Echo-Lock — permanently lock a tier-2 cell that one of your stones stands on. Each player may Echo-Lock once per game.
Skipping the Echo costs nothing, and most Hexodic turns skip it.
Why charges are the mid-game
Because charges never return, every Echo is a decision about the rest of the game. An Echo-Capture spent early for one stone is a charge that cannot collapse a larger sealed group later; an Echo-Lock spent too early protects a cell the Network may never use. The Echo → Echo-Capture → Takeover chain is the fastest way to convert position into captures, which is why a player holding charges is a threat even on a quiet board.
Related
- Capture — the normal check Echo-Capture extends.
- Glossary: Echo and Charge
- Hexodic FAQ
- All rules
Get the Hexodic app and save a charge for the endgame.