When comparing Gateways vs Hexcells Infinite, the Slant community recommends Hexcells Infinite for most people. In the question“What are the best Puzzle games on Steam?” Hexcells Infinite is ranked 17th while Gateways is ranked 32nd. The most important reason people chose Hexcells Infinite is:
The game has a random level generator to create a near infinite supply of levels, and the built in level solver makes sure that every level is beatable.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Just the right amount of content
The game is long enough that the player gets to master each of the unique mechanics, but not so long that you get bored of any of them.
Pro Portal x 4
Gateways has the same formula as the great Portal, except that it's in 2D, BUT, they introduce 3 new types of portal guns, a gun that makes you smaller/bigger, a gun that shifts gravity 90 or 180 degrees, and the best one, a time travelling gun. The last part of the game lets you used all the 4 guns together for mind bending puzzles.
Pro Level generates infinite solvable puzzles
The game has a random level generator to create a near infinite supply of levels, and the built in level solver makes sure that every level is beatable.
Pro Clever twist on minesweeper
Hexcells Infinite is like minesweeper mixed with picross on a hexagon grid with clever layouts and hints to keep the puzzles interesting.
Pro Resizable window
You can change the window dimensions arbitrarily after the game has started which is great if you're playing a game on the side of doing something else. The game board also resizes to fit the height of the window. Only problem is that some HUD elements don't re-position based on the width.
Pro Features challenging handmade puzzles
The game also features a "campaign" mode with different worlds and hand made levels that provide some challenging and interesting puzzles.
Pro Can be solved with pure logic
In games like minesweeper, sometimes you run into a 50/50 chance situation where you have no choice but to guess at the solution. The generator in Hexcells runs every puzzle through a solver to make sure that all puzzles can be solved with logic alone without any guessing or brute forcing a solution.
Pro Ambient noise soundtrack
The music in Hexcells is slow and relaxing for a great zen puzzle session so you can zone out if you're on a break or traveling. The sound effects also procedurally match with the music in tempo, so they aren't distracting, and they actually add to the music.
Pro Layered logic
The clues provided in Hexcells come in a variety of forms. They can be based around number of active cells around an inactive one, the row, or the number of active cells up to two spaces away from an active cell, and all these have potential modifiers on top of it. The game introduces you to the concepts slowly so it isn't too overwhelming, but all the different possible mechanics help keep the puzzles fresh and interesting, and makes you think in more ways than games like minesweeper will.
Cons
Con Lacks clean or clever puzzles
Unlike Portal, a game with high polish that shows in its puzzle designs Gateways has a clear lack of polish to its puzzles which makes for a subpar experience as it the games design can lead to problems interpreting the puzzles appropriately.
Con Randomly generated levels are not as intricate as main levels
While the randomly generated levels are fun, they are not as involved as the main levels designed by the developer.