Hexagon became Super Hexagon, and Cavanagh feels that fine-tuning the game's challenge was the hardest task he faced during its development.

I loved the idea of diving into this game in particular because I loved the prototype – it was so simple, and pure – like, it's something you could have made in the '80s. I kept thinking about Hexagon, what it might look like if I took that small idea and took the time to explore it properly. Over the next few months, I found myself thinking a lot about why I worked like that, why I would take a promising game and move on from it after just one day. 'I was really proud of Hexagon, but, you know, it was just this throwaway one-day game. Hexagon clearly made an impact, and rather than discard the idea, Cavanagh began to refine it beyond the event. I wish I was still this productive!' Image: Terry Cavanagh I remember feeling kinda guilty about it, like I spent the whole day just making this one game when I could have been making three. but I wanted to work on Hexagon for a bit longer! So I did that instead. After the time was up, we were supposed to just upload it and move on to the next game. 'I don't remember the theme, but Hexagon was the result of the first 'three-hour jam' of the day. 'Some local game developers and I organised a get-together where I lived at the time, and a bunch of us hung out in a local cafe and tried to make things for the jam,' Cavanagh continues. Hexagon would lay the foundations for something that has had surprising longevity, and we owe it to that Pirate Kart jam. Which is very much against the spirit of the thing, really, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.' In the end, I only made one game for this jam, Hexagon. Quantity over quality, as many weird ideas and fragments of individuality as possible. 'The goal was to make as many games as possible and put them all together, which I saw as a kind of protest against the IGF's narrow view about what was important and notable in indie games. 'The Pirate Kart jams were amazing,' Cavanagh tells us today.

Hexagon, however, was borne out of the desire to fly against convention, even in the chaotically productive environment of a game jam. Its origins can be found in Hexagon, which was produced during the twelve-hour IGF Pirate Kart game jam in early 2012 by Irish video game designer Terry Cavanagh, the brains behind VVVVVV and Dicey Dungeons. It might seem odd to say this, but Super Hexagon is a part of that history, because it turned 10 years old last year. Irrespective of your opinion on the merits (or otherwise) of smartphone games, there's no denying that the market for them is utterly huge – and sometimes, there are games on phones which are so compelling that prior prejudices should quickly be forgotten, lest you miss out on a classic slice of interactive entertainment history.

Super hexagon theme