MESH:Hero's Hearts is a puzzle game, no quick reflexes are needed (or useful), only quick thinking. It's your challenge to move the Hero around the playfield and pick up all of the Hearts, then reach the Exit. (But don't get trapped or killed along the way!) Each time the Hero is moved, other objects on the playfield may (or may not) move also. Watch out for Rocks, Arrows, Creepers, Worms, Fire, and other objects potentially hazardous to the Hero's health. Learn to use Rafts, Bridges, Balls, Rollers, Balloons, LandPlugs, and many other objects to help you solve the puzzles.

MESH:Hero's Hearts is the Windows version of the DOS Hero Gold game, and it contains most of the puzzles (levels) from the DOS game and all four DOS Accessory Disks (over 1,000 levels). But it's also much more. MESH is the name of the game "engine" on which Hero's Hearts is implemented, and it's a "programmable" game engine allowing you to create new levels and puzzle sets, and (for the advanced computer user) the ability to add your own new objects with whole new behaviors.

MESH:Hero Defiant is a sequel, or companion product, to MESH:Hero's Hearts with many new objects and over 100 all new levels). New objects include Lasers, Mirrors, Lava, Directional Blocks, Pushers, Pullers, Rotators, Potion of Stealth, Gift Boxes, Green Hearts, etc, over 25 new objects.

MESH:Falling Hero is the third game in the MESH:Hero series. This time, all of the "old objects" have been thrown out (except for a couple, like Hearts and Rocks) and a whole new set of objects have been implemented. Additionally, gravity nows pulls all objects DOWN the playfield. So, in order to move around, the Hero must climb ladders, jump off of ledges, ride elevators and flying platforms, all in the quest for Hearts.

Each level of the game is a self-contained puzzle, carefully constructed so as to present you with serious challenges and lots of fun. There are 102 levels in the licensed version of the game (15 in the shareware version), and complete solutions to all levels (just in case you get stuck).

MESH:Hero's Friends is not available as shareware.

MESH:Hero's Friends is a collection of puzzle sets from users of the MESH:Hero game. It includes two puzzle sets in the Hero's Hearts and Hero Defiant style containing a total of 110 new levels, two Sokoban puzzle sets with different graphical appearances (one has a 3-D look to it) and each one has the same 85 Sokoban levels, and an entirely new game called Monster Mesh containing 87 levels! Complete solutions are included for all puzzles.

The puzzle sets are:

In the Monster Mesh game, the Hero's job is to clean up the marsh of monsters. There are four types of monsters plus Lily Pads, Rocks, Teleports, and Mutators. The monsters come in two different colors. You must push two monsters together of the same type but different colors, then they transform into a single monster of a lesser type. A very fun game!

This collection is not available as shareware, but if you like Hero, give this game a try and you'll probably find something you like!

PRINTABLE HELP FILE

MESH is the name of the game "engine" on which Hero's Hearts is implemented, and it's a "programmable" game engine allowing you to create new levels and puzzle sets, and (for the advanced computer user) the ability to add your own new objects with whole new behaviors. All of this is documented in the MeshHelp.DOC file that is included with the game. It's an MS-Word document.

BEST MOVES

To see lists of the best known moves for the levels in different puzzle sets, click on one of the links below. If you'd like to contribute shorter solutions to any of these levels, you must send your .MV file (from your player.DIR directory) so that the best solution may be added to the downloadable file. Claims of better solutions without supporting evidence (the .MV file) are rapidly, soundly, and quite enthusiastically ignored. :-)

If you wish to download the moves and see them yourself, you must download the ZIP file from the appropriate page. Then, it's recommended that you run MESH:Hero and create a new player ("Best" perhaps?), which will create the appropriate player subdirectory ("BEST.DIR" in this case). Then, exit the game and unZIP the downloaded file into that subdirectory (BEST.DIR). Now when you run the game, the "best" moves will be the "Best" player's moves, and you can use the F1, F2, F3, and F4 keys or the 1, 10, 100, 1000 buttons to replay the moves for any given level.

EXTRA PUZZLE SETS

The following puzzle sets were created by users of the MESH:Hero programs. To use them you must have the licensed version of one of the MESH:Hero games, as the shareware games will not load these puzzle sets. Download the puzzle set and unZIP it into your Hero directory (unless you changed the install path, it will be something like C:\EKS\xx where "xx" is HH, HD, FH, or HF). Then, run your Hero game, and from the Player menu, click on "Select puzzle set..." and choose the new puzzle set. NOTE: Some of the sets are "self-extracting archives" (ZIP files that have been turned into .EXE files), and they have a default installation path of MESH_HH or MESH_HD, etc. Be sure to change those to what matches YOUR installation (which currently should be C:\EKS\HH, C:\EKS\HD, etc.)

HHTUTOR - A tutorial for Hero's Hearts, containing 166 levels, designed and created by Sandy McCauley and Kris Pixton to help you learn how to solve Hero's Hearts puzzles. Includes step-by-step tutorial levels, taking you from introduction to intermediate to challenging levels for each of the objects included in the game. (Added June 7, 2002)
HDTUTOR - A tutorial for Hero Defiant, containing 144 levels, designed by Sandy McCauley to help you learn how to solve Hero Defiant puzzles. Includes step-by-step tutorial levels, taking you from introduction to intermediate to challenging levels for each of the new objects in Hero Defiant. (Added June 7, 2002)
EKS2007A - A set of 3 new levels that require the 3.0 version of one of the MESH:Hero games.  Will NOT run on earlier versions! (Added Nov 25, 2008)
INTRIGUE - A set with 33 challenging new puzzles, from David, Jonathan, and Lydia Mead. (Updated Mar 26, 2007 - 5 new levels and a change to the old level # 28.)
VITTFA3 - A set of 3 new Falling Hero puzzles, from Vittorio of Italy. (requires Falling Hero or Hero's Friends) (Added Dec 12, 2003)
UHUACI - A set of 72 new puzzles, with LOTS of new types of objects. (Added Dec 12, 2003)
ANDY2001 - A set of 27 puzzles created by Andy Pittman (Added May 22, 2003)
SUMMER02 - A set of 52 puzzles by Sandy McCauley and Kris Pixton, telling the story of Hero's adventures during a Summer 2002 vacation. (Added May 22, 2003)
EASYPUZZ - A set of 50 easier, introductory levels associated with SUMMER02, created by Kris Pixton and Sandy McCauley. (Added May 22, 2003)
HARDPUZZ - A set of 80 harder, more challenging puzzles by Sandy McCauley and Kris Pixton. (Added May 22, 2003)
EVENMORE - 27 puzzles created by Samuel Shemitz. Beware of level #8, the moves take a L-O-N-G time (you may think the game is hung, but be patient, or just skip number 8!) (Added May 22, 2003)
FRAN1 - 30 puzzles created by Fran Anderson. (Added May 22, 2003)
JIMS - this ZIP file contains 3 puzzle sets, JIM (100 levels), GEM (100 levels), and SHZ (55 levels). These sets will work with any of the licensed MESH:Hero games, and together comprise a wonderful addition to the Hero puzzles! (Added September 16, 2002) Richard Schiveley, a rabid ...er... um... avid fan and connoisseur of the MESH:Hero puzzles, says this about JIMS:

Jim Schuetz suffered a stroke three years ago, and he spent much of his rehabilitation time creating Hero's Hearts puzzles ... 255 of them! And what puzzles they are. They are lovely to look at ... most are symmetrical, or nearly so. That's because Jim is a retired architect, so symmetry comes natural to him, but there's another reason, as well. He believes that many non-symmetrical puzzles tend to "give away" their solution by the type and placement of the various objects on the playfield ... especially arrows. Symmetrical layouts tend to minimize this.

Jim's puzzles are tough! In fact, they are probably the most difficult, on average, of all the puzzles available. They range in difficulty from, well, "difficult" to "horrendous," and none of them is easy. Some of them are so hard that they take an entire day to solve ... and part of the next day, too ... and they're so complex and tightly constructed that you might just sit staring at them (like I often did) for half an hour or more before making your first tentative step. Most of the furnished solutions are over 1000 steps long, many are over 2000 steps, and two or three are nearly 10,000 steps! If you're an experienced solver, you may be able to complete most of them in fewer steps ... many by 25% or more ... so don't be too intimidated by the length of the default solutions.

There are a couple of things about Jim's puzzles you will soon start to notice: He likes to use a lot of ice and a lot of water, often in the same puzzle. He also places blue hearts where they are difficult to get bugs to, and he rarely gives you more objects like rafts, sods, and white hearts than you need to solve each one. Finally, I'm sure you will marvel at the many amazing constructions, often asking yourself, "How did he ever figure that out?"

Jim sent me an advance copy of the first 52 puzzles in his "SHZ" puzzle set, and I have solved them all. I guarantee you will find each one a challenge, requiring all of your solving skills ... and these are his easy ones, so you may wish to start with that set. The last three puzzles in that set, plus the 200 puzzles in his other two sets are, according to Schuetz himself, even harder!

HEROXTRA - five small puzzle sets with a total of 38 new levels amongst them. Be sure to read the README.TXT file that is included in the ZIP file.
BATTLE - 20 levels with a couple of new objects by Samuel Dashiell Shemitz.
NETGEMS - 50 levels with a few new objects by Samuel Dashiell Shemitz (and his brother...).
LUKE - 5 new puzzle sets from Luke, some based on DESERT, some on Hero Defiant, some on Sokoban, almost all include lots of new objects as well as new levels. Requires Hero Falling or Hero's Friends in order to use.
BRETT01 - 14 new levels of Hero's Hearts style puzzles from Brett Bydairk.
EVELYN - 7 new levels from Evelyn Tillinghast.
DESERT3 - 37 new levels based upon DESERT, but with some new objects and a bunch of new levels, from Samuel Dashiell Shemitz.
SOLITAIR - 12 "jumping peg" puzzles from Sam Shemitz (Added Aug 28, 2008)
SUPERHRO - I'll let the creators of this amazing set speak for themselves:
"Super Hero is the ultimate in Hero adventures. With 450 levels and over 50 new objects, there are hours of fun loaded in this set. For fans of the original Hero's Hearts and Hero Defiant games, this new set starts with 36 new Hero's Hearts levels and 70 new Hero Defiant levels. The next 296 puzzles contain all the new objects and are introduced a few at a time with tutorials to teach solvers the tricks. For player convenience, every puzzle in the set has a difficulty rating from 1 to 6 stars. There are also special sections of easy Brain Rester puzzles, Super Hard puzzles, puzzles with hidden objects, and even a section of 17 puzzles from early Hero's Hearts sets that now have a clock ticking, forcing solvers to optimize or lose! This set is the brainchild of Luke Muehlhauser, who programmed all the new objects. Luke and the following people created the puzzles for this set and spent months testing, revising, and rearranging in an effort to bring you the best in Hero entertainment! Luke's co-creators and testers include Sandy McCauley, Kris Pixton, Sam & Arthur Shemitz, Aaron Pixton, Max & Jay McCauley, Harli Rice, and Richard Schiveley. Download now because we know you'll love these new puzzles." (NOTE: this file is 1.1 Mbyte, so be patient as it downloads!)
HALLOWEEN - A sneak preview of a new MESH:Hero set being developed by Sam Shemitz!
THNKSGVN - A puzzle set with ONE level, just for Thanksgiving (Nov 23, 2000), by Sam Shemitz.
AMEN - A set of 10 new Hero's Hearts levels by Bert Menalda. (Added May 22, 2001)
MENALDA - Contains 3 puzzle sets: AMEN2, AMEN3, and DISTANCE, all by Bert Menalda. Includes a few new ingenious objects (Worm Eggs and Hero/Hera pairs), and about 17 fun levels! (Added Feb 26, 2002) The DISTANCE set is a special one-level set that's not a puzzle, but more of an "experiment". Bert has this to say about it:

DISTANCE is a bit of a joke that arose from an attempt to elegantly get out of an infinite loop (excuse the split infinitive). The idea is to end the game if for any moving object the distance variable becomes too large, with the message "Hero died from dizzyness" or "Hero died from boredom", depending on whether it is Hero himself or any other object that is in the loop. The question arose what would be a safe choice for the size of the distance variable, hence I attempted to create a one move level where "distance" would become as large as possible. The present attempt results in a distance of 2587 if Hero steps to the left. I feel sure it can be bettered. I leave it to you whether you want to put it on your home page with a challenge to improve upon it. Any level created in the set will automatically record the distance reached.

ZZO38_08 - A set of 11 new levels, using all new objects (ie, a totally new game), from aaronb@dccnet.com. No instructions included, but I've figured out that you have to push the colored circles together to make them disappear, and you have to kill the roving "tombstones" by pushing things onto them. Once all of the colored circles and "tombstones" are gone, you've finished the level. His website is http://zzo38computer.cjb.net/.
ZZO38_11 - A set of 25 new levels for Hero, including some new objects, from aaronb@dccnet.com. (Added March 21, 2002)
ZZO38_07 - A set of 50 new levels for Hero, made with objects from Hero's Hearts, Hero Defiant, Falling Hero, as well as new and modified objects, from aaronb@dccnet.com. (Added June 7, 2002)
ZZO38_12 - A set of 13 new levels for Hero, made with new and modified objects, from aaronb@dccnet.com (Added July 8, 2002)
DESCARTE - A set of 6 new levels for Hero, in the form of Descartes Rainbow puzzles, from Sam Shemitz. The Hero puzzles aren't large or challenging, but this is a fascinating implementation of the Descartes games INSIDE the Hero game! (Added April 19, 2017)
MarksSet - A set of 81 new levels for Hero, from Mark Moehle. (Added April 19, 2017)