The Problem
Board game designers need hex maps. Designing them manually is tedious. Dozens or hundreds of hexes, each with terrain assignments, each needing visual consistency. Sharing maps means exporting images or proprietary file formats. Collaborating means sending files back and forth. There was no tool where a map could be a URL.
Architecture
The framework treats hex maps as deterministic functions of their parameters. A seed string plus a configuration (ring count, game, orientation) always produces the same map. This makes maps shareable as URLs, reproducible across devices, and embeddable without hosting. Native ESM throughout with a Consumer SDK for iframe-free embedding.
- Consumer SDK (v0.8.1) —
HexApp.createMapController(container, opts)for iframe-free embedding with render hooks, event system, and programmatic control. Multiple instances per page. - Seeded RNG — same seed always produces the same terrain distribution. Share a map by sharing its URL
- 6 games — Nukes (volcanic), Talisman Worlds (55 terrain types), Twilight Imperium (7 galaxy layouts), Colony (Seafarers-style), Planet Mongo (faction biomes), Endless Skies (4X galaxy with wormholes)
- Canvas rendering — flat-top or pointy-top orientation, configurable ring count, four distinct visual styles (artistic, classic, kenney, realistic)
- Click-to-edit — override any hex's terrain after generation for manual refinement
- Multi-format export — 2x PNG, A4 PDF (JPEG-compressed), annotated SVG (highlights, tokens, arrows, legends), JSON state
- Hex metadata — game-config-driven descriptions with hover info per hex (e.g. all 55 Talisman terrain types with names and action text)
- MCP tools — 6 AI-callable tools at tools.moddable.games for generating and analysing hex maps programmatically
Try It
A procedurally generated map below. Switch games and styles, or click any hex to cycle its terrain.
Live embed: same seed always produces the same map
URL Parameter API
Every aspect of the map is controllable via URL parameters, making it trivially embeddable:
?game=nukes— select terrain palette?size=4— set board size (ring count)?seed=volcano— deterministic generation from this seed?boardonly=1— minimal chrome for iframe embedding
Use Cases
The framework supports six games in the Moddable Games ecosystem: Nukes (area control), Talisman Worlds (adventure with 55 terrain types), Twilight Imperium (4X strategy with 7 galaxy layouts), Colony (resource management with Seafarers-style boards), Planet Mongo (faction-clustered biomes for 2-8 players), and Endless Skies (4X galaxy generation with wormholes, nebulae, and asteroids). Each uses the same hex engine with different terrain definitions, generation rules, and visual themes.
Because maps are URLs, game sessions can be set up by sharing a link. Tournament organisers can publish map seeds in advance. AI agents can generate maps via MCP tools without any UI. Players can create custom maps and export them as JSON, PNG, PDF, or annotated SVG for inclusion in community map packs or print-ready rulebooks.