What the Difficulty, Width, Height, and Black Holes Settings Mean in PROXX

In PROXX, the start screen settings define the board you are about to scan: Width and Height set the grid size, Black holes sets how many hazards are hidden in that grid, and Difficulty adjusts the overall challenge of the round. You choose these before starting, so they determine both how much space you must clear and how densely dangerous it is.

The four settings at a glance

The start screen presents these as the inputs you set before launching a round, alongside the control to begin.

Width and height: the size of the space you scan

Width and height together define the grid your crew navigates. Width is the horizontal extent (columns), height is the vertical extent (rows). A larger width or height gives you more cells to mark and more room to move, while a smaller board compresses the same decisions into less space. Because the two are set separately, you can make a wide, short board or a narrow, tall one — the shape of the space changes, not just its total size.

Black holes: the hazard count

The Black holes setting controls how many black holes are placed on the board. Black holes are the hazards your proximity scanner is designed to help you locate and avoid — the game's description frames your job as helping your crew navigate space by marking out the black holes with the scanner. Raising this number puts more hazards into the same grid; lowering it leaves more safe space.

Difficulty: the overall challenge

Difficulty affects the overall challenge of the round rather than one specific dimension. Treat it as the setting that tunes how demanding the round feels, while width, height, and black holes describe the concrete board you are working with. If you want a precise, self-designed challenge, set the board dimensions and hazard count directly; if you want a quicker adjustment to the general challenge, use difficulty.

How the settings interact

The settings are not independent in effect. The same number of black holes feels very different on a small grid than on a large one:

• Small width/height + many black holes → a cramped, hazard-dense board where safe cells are scarce.
• Large width/height + few black holes → an open board where hazards are sparse and scanning is more forgiving.
• Changing difficulty shifts the overall challenge on top of whatever board shape and hazard count you have chosen.

So when you adjust one setting, consider the others: adding black holes without enlarging the grid raises the danger density, and enlarging the grid without adding black holes lowers it.

A practical way to choose your settings

1. Decide the board size first. Pick a width and height that match how long and how large a round you want.
2. Set the black holes relative to that size. More cells generally support more hazards; keep the ratio in mind rather than the raw count alone.
3. Use difficulty for the final adjustment. If the round still feels too easy or too hard, change difficulty rather than reshaping the board.
4. Start the round and observe. The scanner feedback during play is how you judge whether your combination was right; adjust and start again if needed.

Common points of confusion

• Width and height are separate. They are not a single "size" value — a board can be wide and short or narrow and tall.
• Black holes is a count, not a difficulty label. It tells you how many hazards are placed; difficulty is the separate overall-challenge setting.
• These are start settings. They are chosen before the round begins, so plan the board you want rather than expecting to change it mid-round.

Once you know that width and height shape the space, black holes set the hazard count, and difficulty tunes the overall challenge, you can build the exact kind of round you want before you start scanning.