# Tiers: the board has height, and height decides.

> Hexodic has one kind of stone, so all of its strength comes from the tier of the cell it stands on.

Every Hexodic cell has a tier of 0, 1 or 2. Tiers decide encirclement, Move capture, the Network win and the tiebreak — which is why tier control is the heart of Hexodic strategy.

Canonical HTML: https://hexodic.com/rules/tiers
Site index for agents: https://hexodic.com/llms.txt

A tier is the height of a Hexodic cell: 0, 1 or 2. Every cell starts at tier 0, Shape raises or lowers cells one tier at a time, and a stone is exactly as strong as the tier under it — Hexodic stones have no rank of their own.

Reviewed 2026-09-15 against the Hexodic rules engine.

## What tiers decide

- **Encirclement** — a stone on tier 0 cannot be encircled. A stone on tier 1 or 2 is captured only when the tiers of the stones around it outweigh its own tier (see [capture](/rules/capture)).
- **Move capture** — a stone may Move onto an adjacent enemy stone only from a strictly higher tier.
- **Network** — the [Network](/rules/network) win counts only stones on tier-2 cells.
- **Tiebreak** — at the half-move cap, the first tiebreak step is the number of stones on unlocked tier-2 cells, and the second is the total tier under each player's stones.

## Tier control

Tier control is the Hexodic strategy term for owning where the high ground is. A player with tier control raises the cells under and around their own stones, spends lowers on the cells the opponent needs, and uses an [Echo-Lock](/rules/lock) to freeze a tier-2 cell so it can never be lowered. Tier control leads directly to the [Network](/rules/network) win, because a Network needs 5 or more of your stones on tier-2 cells, all connected.

## Related

- [Shape](/rules/shape) — the only rule that changes tiers.
- [Glossary: Tier and Tier control](/glossary#tier)
- [Hex grid strategy games](/hex-grid-strategy-games) — how height sets Hexodic apart.
- [All rules](/rules)

[Get the Hexodic app](/download) and build your first tier-2 cell.

## Where to go next

- [Network](https://hexodic.com/rules/network) — Winning with a connected group on the high ground.
- [Strategy](https://hexodic.com/strategy) — The principles that follow from the rules, not from habit.
- [How it works](https://hexodic.com/how-it-works) — The whole turn, in plain language.

## Questions this page answers

- What are tiers in Hexodic?
- What is tier control in Hexodic?