Being a bit slow on the draw, I completely ignored Pentago when it was given its many awards during 2005. For the Christmas 2006 shopping spree, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake 🙂
The beauty of the game is, as it usually is, in its simplicity. You’ll no doubt think “hey, I could have invented this!”
Looking at it, you see four movable squares or quads. On each square there are 3×3 holes, making for nine playable positions on each square. The object of the game is to get “five in a row” before your opponent, much like tic-tac-toe. Sounds pretty simple and straightforward, doesn’t it? Only, once a square is no longer considered a “neutral square”, you can twist it one step clockwise or counter-clockwise after placing one of your marbles in a free space. This opens up another dimension of mind twisting.
The game has received quite a few rewards since it was invented 2003. Pentago has won the prestigious awards of “Game of the Year” in Sweden, Finland and France. Since then, Pentago has received rave reviews in the European and US press and the toy&game industry publications. In 2006, Pentago won the much revered Mensa Select Award in the United States, along with several other awards of excellence.
It’ll take you ten minutes to learn and get you hooked, you’ve been warned 🙂 Alexander (soon to be seven) and I both enjoy it, although it’s a bit hard for him to keep all the possibilities in his head.
Some Pentago-related links:
www.pentago.com, official site(s)
ThinkGeek.com, get the game here
CoiledSpringOnline.co.uk, or get the came here
Gerrys Pentago, for MacOS 10.3 or later
Pentago online, play Pentago online (Swedish texts)