Echo-Lock is a Hexodic Echo that spends a charge to permanently lock a tier-2 cell occupied by the player’s own stone. A locked cell stays at tier 2 for the rest of the game, because Shape can never target it, and no stone can be Placed onto it. Each Hexodic player may Echo-Lock once per game.
Reviewed 2026-09-15 against the Hexodic rules engine.
What a lock does — and does not do
- A locked cell cannot be raised or lowered by either player.
- A locked cell cannot receive a Place. A stone can still Move onto it.
- A lock protects the cell, not the stone: a stone on a locked cell can still be captured by encirclement, Echo-Capture or a Move from a higher cell — and since tier 2 is the highest tier, a Move capture onto a locked cell is impossible.
- Locked tier-2 cells still count for the Network win, but the tiebreak’s first step counts only unlocked tier-2 cells.
Lock, tier control and Network
Echo-Lock is the purest form of tier control: the opponent’s Shape cannot undo it. The usual reason to lock is a Network in progress — a lowered cell breaks a chain of tier-2 stones, and a locked cell cannot be lowered. The cost is a charge that could have been an Echo-Capture, and a little tiebreak value.
Related
- Echo — charges and Echo-Capture.
- Glossary: Echo-Lock
- All rules
Get the Hexodic app and lock the cell your Network depends on.