
- BGG rating
- 8.5
Knee Deep in Hexes: God's Hand
- 2 players
- 15–90 min
- 2025

2024
Rules assistance for Knee Deep in Hexes
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 2 players

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Knee Deep in Hexes is a board game released in 2024 for 2 players, 45–60 minutes per game, and ages 14 and up. It was designed by Marcel Kraatz and its main mechanics are Area Majority / Influence, Hexagon Grid, and Card Play Conflict Resolution.
Knee Deep in Hexes is like deck building meets all your favorite 90's RTS games combined - but this time it's a board game. Knee Deep in Hexes is a 2-player strategy skirmisher. After the exodus from Earth, you fight on a distant desert planet for scarce resources, build extractors, factories and units - from fast construction vehicles to frightening Paloozas. Get knee-deep into intergalactic warfare: Choose your companions with their set of game-breaking skills, build your deck out of unique strategy cards and outsmart your enemy: Win by either destroying their headquarter or by sending their most valuable units to the scrapyard as quickly as possible. Each player chooses a faction first. Every faction consists of four companions - the General, who oversees the battlefield from the planetary orbit, the Commander, who draws on many years of experience in combat and adjusts tactics rapidly, the Tech, who supports the troops by steady innovations and the Trickster who is outsmarting the enemy. Each companion comes with a unique deck of action and war cards. Players can either use these predefined decks or, if they are advanced, engage in deckbuilding in search of ever unique combos. The same high variability applies to the map: Here you can either use a predefined casual variant for a quick match or build a world before the game starts by drafting planetary cards. We are already designing and playtesting new factions, companions and decks as well as worlds. In this action-packed game, you'll have very little time to secure your basic supplies - that is, build the first construction vehicles and build the first extractors to harvest materials and energy - before clashing with your opponent on the tight map. Play action cards during your turn to gain unique strategic advantages and take the initiative on the battlefield. Gather your tanks, carefully plan the use of your war cards, which will give you powerful bonuses in battle - and declare the war zone you want to attack. But beware, here comes the big twist: the battle in the war zone you declare will not take place directly at the end of your turn, but at the end of the turn of your opponent. Your enemies have a whole turn to react, to redeploy troops or to suddenly stab you in the back somewhere else. So be one hundred percent sure before you act! —description from the publisher
Knee Deep in Hexes supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for Knee Deep in Hexes is 45–60 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Knee Deep in Hexes for ages 14 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Knee Deep in Hexes has a complexity rating of 2.8 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Knee Deep in Hexes belongs to these categories: Wargame, Abstract Strategy, and Science Fiction. Its main mechanics are Area Majority / Influence, Hexagon Grid, and Card Play Conflict Resolution. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Knee Deep in Hexes are: Marcel Kraatz. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Knee Deep in Hexes as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.