An Early Ending to the HEXplore It: Klik’s Madness Campaign
Explore the first full chapter in a narrative adventure filled with many choices in the HEXplore It: Klik’s Madness Campaign.
With the prequel completed, I moved onto the first chapter of the HEXplore It: Klik’s Madness Campaign with my trusty duo! Truth be told, I was all about the story but had a little apprehension about all of the bookkeeping. Still, that wasn’t a reason why I wanted to stop before I even started. To Dragon’s Port and the mysterious adventure across this valley!
Spoiler Alert
A few paragraph examples and general notes are included and are not exactly spoilers, but the details may give away some of the unique experiences. If you’re excellent at remembering the specifics, I recommend skipping this post until you play.
Game Overview
Game Name: HEXplore It: Klik’s Madness Campaign
Publication Year: 2022
Designers: F. Calcagno Jr, J. Mariucci, & J. Spaid
Artist: Uncredited
Publisher: Mariucci J. Designs, LLC
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game (Cooperative)
This hefty campaign book takes place across chapters. A timer deck provides a bit of pressure to stay focused, although there are plenty of secondary elements to explore. Paragraphs are enjoyable to read, and the whole story offers a gripping tale that characters play an interactive part of!
First Play
November 29, 2025
Complexity
3
Latest Play
December 22, 2025
Expansions
3
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
2
Play Time
2 Hours
High Score
N/A
Game Area
40" x 28"
Low Score
N/A
To Dragon’s Port
Setting up the first chapter certainly was a step up from the prequel, though I mean that in a positive sense. The map was larger with plenty of interesting points of interest.
I’m going to preface the rest of this post with a note that campaigns can be overwhelming, especially when played solo. Add constant bookkeeping and math into the mix…
I’ll be the first to admit that I sometimes have wildly unpredictable tastes, and I surprise myself sometimes.
Yet I went into this chapter excited to get immersed in the story, which pulled me in from the first few sentences.
Shared Heroic Moment
The story offers many decision points, and a lot of these are tied to heroic moments. The trick? These are specific to the characters, so not all of them are always available.
I had a fun time when one of them applied to both Grean and Sona, though! They took an obvious interest in a part of this story, which made that storyline more memorable.
Standard choices aren’t a letdown by any means, though! The heroic moments simply feel more… Individual?
They’re tied to story paragraphs that feel crafted for each character, which I enjoyed and even chuckled over a bit!
Sona’s Perfect Roll
Dice rolls are common and persistent during play. At one point, I gave up the cautious movement option and started covering more ground. Would this pair accidentally wander?
Not this time! In a truly exciting moment, Sona managed to roll the HEX on all 3 of her dice, resulting in a critical success across all of her checks. That was amazing!
Although I kept track of the days and the dice rolls, combat eventually started to weigh on me. So much to track.
And there were bonuses to remember, marked in various locations. The mental work felt just like that… Actual work.
Lead Me to… Right Here
What made this play amazing? The actual narrative! Since a lot of the elements are random or happen in a non-specific order, all sorts of unexpected storylines might emerge.
Take Tiama, for instance. My characters stumbled across him, got cracked across the head by accident, and agreed to escort him to the Shrine of the Knights. Simple, right?
Do you know where I found Tiama? Through an unlikely twist of events, Tiama was already at the Shrine of Knights.
Ha ha! He needed to walk a few steps to reach his destination, which matched up with his personality. Cool!
“That Moment” or That TIme I Ended a Campaign
Abandoning a solo campaign is never something I feel good about, nor a topic I touch on a lot. I’ll often think to myself, or even write, “I’ll come back to this someday and I’m excited to do so!” Realistically, though, those are the times when I’m simply ending a campaign early. Whether intentionally or not, rarely do I come back to pick it back up from where I left it.
Instead, if I do return to a solo campaign that was partially completed, it’s often a time for me to restart it. And that’s not always a good thing, because I know exactly what I do… Time to abandon the campaign again! Ha ha! It’s not exactly a problem, but something I’m trying to get better at identifying. Campaigns require a lot of time and energy, often at once.
In this case, I loved a lot about the campaign! It was just clear that the constant counting was too much. The wet-erase markers worked well enough, yet I wasn’t a fan of the ink that always ended up on my hands. That little bit of stress might have been the final reason why I decided that I had a good enough time with a partial campaign. No sense forcing the rest.
Hiding in Plain Sight
Another particularly fun moment came when Grean and Sona approached a questionable location. I had no idea what to expect, and felt completely unprepared for anything.
Luckily, there were some very fun choices to make! Sona, the human kind automaton, ended up qualifying for a heroic moment that had her sneak around in full view.
The story was amazing in terms of letting my imagination take hold so I could “see” these scenes play out in real time.
It was excellent! But tracking everything was a burden, and I eventually abandoned all the math just to read the story.
Danger in the City
Despite me automatically winning battles and doing away with most of the game elements, I still tracked the passage of time and rolled dice for most other situations.
Indeed, reaching Dragon’s Port before the timer deck ran out came down to the wire. My characters traveled a lot!
It was a wonderfully crafted chapter, and I loved the engaging story. To feel like I was part of the action, making important choices, was both fun and satisfying.
But it feels like a far cry from the intended game design, so here I shall end the campaign on a relatively good note!
Session Overview
Play Number: 2
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game (Cooperative)
Play Details: Chapter 1
Outcome: Complete
Grean and Sona made it to the end of the chapter, content in their choices that seemed to protect the world… For now! I know I could continue on with a sort of modified play style, yet I feel good about my choice to stop. Not all campaigns can be finished, and if I’m overwhelmed, that’s a reflection of myself, rather than any sort of criticism. I may be curious enough to just read the book at some point, though!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
8
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
7
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
7
+ Pros (Positives)
- The writing is excellent, painting scenes that come alive and place the characters front and center in the narrative.
- Utilizing the main game components is a clever way to expand the ways to enjoy the first game and expansions.
- Heroic moments are available based on the party’s characteristics, which help keep the focus on thematic options.
- Choices feel meaningful, often taking the story in an unexpected direction or showcasing a decision’s ripple effects.
- Randomness and a different order of events create surprising storylines that may be unrelated to the main narrative.
- There is a real sense of tension when the timer deck starts to run out, ensuring time feels like its own resource.
– Cons (Negatives)
- A lot of continuous math equations and bookkeeping require constant attention, which can seem like a distraction.
- Keeping track of everything is a lot of work between multiple pages, sheets, placards, cards, and even dice.
- The story is amazing, yet the size of the campaign book can be daunting and difficult to find a place for on the table.
- Pausing play is easy, although dedicating time to complete the campaign over multiple sessions may be challenging.
Victory Conditions
Complete the Chapter
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Complete the prequel chapter.
Complete chapter 1.
Continue the Conversation
What are some of your favorite moments from the HEXplore It: Klik’s Madness Campaign? Did you encounter any heroic moments that felt like they put you right in the action? I loved so much about this story, and although I don’t expect to continue on in a game sense, it was an excellent adventure for me! Grean and Sona will always be tied to Dragon’s Port.
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