Vectrexagon - Hints, Tips, Tricks - Advice!By:
Vectronic &
vectorgirlThis game has been our addiction since we received our copy. We currently have the 1st & 3rd Highest Scores (known currently as of this post in
EASY Mode -
Vectronic -
275:06!!! [World Record!] and a score I am still working on in
HARD Mode (Currently in 2nd place) 134:96. 1st place goes to:
jbrodack -
139:08!! (
EASY Mode is hard enough!
HARD Mode is Hell!) 2nd place (
EASY Mode - 228.03!!) currently goes to
Christer Zigfrids: video here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2YrLuW03k4&feature=youtu.be and 3rd place goes to
vectorgirl - 208:68!!) (All 3 on
EASY Mode, except the
HARD Mode scores as noted). So we wanted to post some
Hints, Tips, and Advice (No Tricks!) on how to improve your game and get those
Hi-Scores! (Or at least how we do it). We hope this will help you. If you manage to beat one of our
Hi-Scores please PM
Vectronic with a link to your screenshot or video, and we will update this post accordingly.
*Figure out how to best hold your controller in a way that is comfortable and works best for you. We each hold our controller (original Vectrex controller) in
Completely Different Ways:
vectorgirl plays
Vectrexagon with her right hand on buttons 2 & 3 with the controller flat on a table, held steady with her left hand.
Vectronic plays
Vectrexagon with the controller in his lap, tilted so the joystick is pointed toward the Vectrex (90° tilt forward), with left-hand index finger on button 2 and right-hand index finger on button 3. This seems to combat and fix slight moments of dyslexia if that might affect you when playing this game. Right hand moves you to the right, Left hand moves you to the left. Alternately, the Joystick can be used for turning but we have both found that at longer game times, this just is not a feasible way to play the game. The controls are very smooth, but after awhile the Joystick seems "floaty" and the buttons seem more precise.
*Try to limit your game-play sessions to 30 minutes or less. We know this is pretty difficult to do when you first get the game and realize how awesome it is, but giving your eyes and brain a break will only help you. Stop playing as soon as you start to see a general decrease in your score; odds are you won't improve once it starts dropping repeatedly. A lot of our
Hi-Scores are set in the first few fresh play-throughs, then eventually drop off. Plus, by 30 minutes your eyes really start to dry-out and that works against you too; especially in this game. When your scores are constantly decreasing, you are past the point where you are focusing completely. Take the advice of the
Lord Humongous and "
Just walk away".
*Don't look at your score while playing! Ever! No really - Don't! This is really just a distraction, especially the further you go. The music itself will let you know how far you have gotten; new music means new
Hi-Score! Unless you listen to it ALL in the "About" section of the game -
Don't do that! Let new sections of the music track be it's own reward. That motivated us as we wondered how long the music would run for without repeating, and if & when the awesome music would ever repeat itself. Just go with the flow as long as you can and don't get too excited when you hear something new. Only look at the score and celebrate
after your game is finished. Both of us have actually gotten to the point where we know, within seconds, based on when the music stops, what the others' score was. (It's become like a sort of meta-game for us to do this and shout out estimated times from across the house and see how close we were). (And we play with the Volume cranked-up
LOUD because this game deserves it!!!)
*Reversals (180° turns) are tricky! The hardest move you can make in
Vectrexagon is a
180° turn/spin. The best option is to try to always set yourself up to avoid this move.
But it's not always possible! Sometimes the randomly generated lines/walls throw this move one after another at you! When that happens you have to act quick and know how long to hold that button press, or get pinched. To overcome those, you need to see them ahead of time and plan accordingly, or you will not have enough time to get out.
*The music is the key: Although the lines/walls are randomly generated (yes, there is no sequential order to memorize), the music track and line/wall-to-center points are constant. This means that while no two games will generate the same line/walls, the point where the line/walls touch the center to the music, remains the same. So, knowing this, and knowing the music, you will know exactly where the game (based on music cues) will start pulsating, switch the rotation direction left or right, or constantly spin. Knowing this helps you prepare for the next move and not get pinched.
*"Practice makes perfect" Ah, the old adage. This one holds true with this game however.
"The more you play, the better you get™" has been a stone-cold fact for both of us, with
Hi-Scores that seem to increase daily; well initially, but we have hit a sort of plateau recently with our
Hi-Scores. Just remember to limit your game-play sessions to 30 minutes or less, just like 1980's
Domino's Pizza Delivery.
*Peripheral vision is key. You need to see what's coming up before it's there. Playing from almost your peripheral vision helps a lot of the time (except for when you start to lose focus or things get blurry - then you need to re-focus quickly)! BUT, when you are distracted by an outside source through your peripheral vision (off screen), it is
So distracting, it's almost an instant Game-Over. So try to avoid distractions like this. (Like someone entering the room and/or watching and moving around).
*Relax your eyes after every productive game session. If you had a good run, don't immediately start another run-through... take a little break in between attempts to give your eyes/brain time to moisturize/recover, so you can be at your best for the next run-through.
*BLINK!!! (This is NOT a joke!) A good session can last 2-4 minutes + !!! If you try to do this without blinking your eyes (because maybe you think this will help), you're crazy! (or completely masochistic). (See
vectorgirl quote below) Yes, you may need to
Force yourself to Blink at times when playing this game, especially at higher "Difficulties" (play-times).
*Don't think it'll get easier,.. it doesn't. The game only
increases in difficulty (speed), so don't expect any reprieves. (No slow-down points/sections in the game).
*Don't Panic! If you start making minor mistakes, (like getting super close to the escape edges), you will most likely make these slight mistakes multiple times in a row with very close calls. If you stay calm, you may recover,.. but once you see you are making these slight errors, you're probably finished. When we watch each other play, we can both see 2 or so moves
BEFORE the other will "
Game Over". We then talk about it and both agree on this 100% of the time. It's uncanny.
** Fun Stuff - Observations - Suggestions ***WARNING: Always play in a Dark Room and sit no more than 2 feet (61cm) from the screen! What?! This contradicts everything you've heard recently regarding video games?! Well
F***-that!!! We're talkin' about
Hi-Scores here! That's like telling a Race Car Driver to "Be Safe and Slow Down", or a Fire Fighter to "Conserve Water", or a Vegetarian to "Eat More Meat".
Seriously: we have found that we play better when we are in a dark room with
bright Vectors! ^__^ Damn These Eyes! 
*Overlays?!! - We
Strongly Believe that overlays contribute greatly to to the overall
Vectrexagon experience in that colors add a lot to the game-play experience. Although we have obtained
Hi-Scores with no overlay at all, we both find the over-all experience to be more fun and enjoyable when we use overlays. Basic Overlays like:
Minestorm, Blitz,
Vectoblox, and
Protector are single-color overlays that do a great job at bringing
Vectrexagon to life. But if you have access to overlays like:
Vector Pilot 3b (the green one with the magenta center),
StarCastle, or
RIPOFF - Those work beautifully with
Vectrexagon and really add to the experience; great for showing off the game! The
StarCastle overlay seems to work the
Best in a dark room where you cannot see the colored circles. There is something I cannot put my finger on about how the color
Red subconsciously warns your brain of impending danger, but I (
Vectronic), seem to do a lot better when using this overlay for some reason. Try this overlay by all means if you have it! Ok,
RIPOFF can be a little trippy/mess with your mind for some people (reminds me of a circus tent, but I like it); but if you really want to mess with your brain, or are just looking for an added challenge, or are just plain masochistic, then try the
Vector Pilot 3 overlay (green/blue/red/magenta).
It will surely lead you straight to insanity. 
*You'll always blame yourself when you lose. The game-play is so tight, you will never feel like the game was being cheap, or cheating. When you die/lose you will always know exactly why and what you did wrong. Vectrex to Vectrex calibration resulting in slightly-off collision detection aside, I don't think you could ever fault this game when you lose. You know what you did wrong right away. It is a great and well crafted game because of this. Immediately starting over after a loss is common in this game because of all of this.
*The Tetris Effect - This game has what I like to call
"The Magic". Very few games have this gift, but they are the games that you can/will play in your sleep, or while day-dreaming. They are usually simple games that are very well done and rather addictive, like
Tetris and
Diablo II - games you can't stop playing for decades. We're pretty convinced this game has it!
*"Oww, My Eyes! They Burn!!!" --vectorgirl (after nearing the then highest score then known).
*"I just beat the [known] World's Record and I want to try to beat it again!" --vectorgirl (MAR 23rd '16)
--Well, now you get that chance vectorgirl:
*"I'm shaking SO bad right now. I don't think this can ever be beaten!" --Vectronic (after just shattering vectorgirl's Hi-Score and former World Record). (MAR 28th '16).
Well, we hope to help you get better
Hi-Scores with the advice we provided here. We are interested to see what
Hi-Scores can be achieved now that the Unlimited
Packrat Video Games (
www.packratvg.com/vvgon.html ) release of
Vectrexagon is out. We're both ready for a new challenge!!! Like we said before: If you manage to beat one of our Hi-Scores please PM
Vectronic with a link to your screenshot or video, and we will update this post accordingly. Also, please send a picture or video of your Hi-Score to the Vectrex
Hi-Score Board at: (
www.vectrex.co.uk/hiscore.htm ). Thanks! Good Luck!! ^_~
--Vectronic & vectorgirl
