Pentago

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Pentago
a winning situation for White at the Pentago
a winning situation for White at the Pentago
Game data
author Tomas / Michael Flodén
publishing company Mindtwister,
Giseh Verlag ,
Kosmos
Publishing year 2005
Art Strategy game
Teammates 2
Duration 30 minutes
Age from 10 years on

Awards

Game of the year in Sweden 2005
Game of the year in Finland 2006
Mensa Select 2006
"Spiel gut" award 2007 in Germany

Pentago is a two-person strategy game with the aim of being the first to line up five of your own pieces. The game was invented by Tomas / Michael Flodén in Sweden in 2003 and published by Mindtwister in 2005. In 2007 a version with a plastic playing field was released by Kosmos .

regulate

The board game consists of four quadrants with three by three fields each. Each quadrant can be rotated individually. Each player takes turns placing a piece of his own color on the board. After each bet, the respective player must then turn any quadrant by a quarter in any direction; if rotation-neutral quadrants exist, rotation can also be dispensed with (for example, if in a quadrant only the middle trough is occupied).

The winner is the player who is the first to line up five of his pieces horizontally, vertically or diagonally. The game ends in a draw if both players get five pieces in a row by turning a quadrant, or if the game board is completely filled without either player having won.

If a winning situation arises by placing a stone, the game ends without having to turn a quadrant afterwards.

Strategy and tactics

The game must be played defensively and offensively at the same time. Above all, it is important to deprive the opponent of the opportunity to place three pieces in a row in a quadrant . Only in the case of a diagonal can this threat be neutralized by placing a stone diagonally on the other quadrant in the middle.

Moves that occupy spaces 2, 4 and 6 of a quadrant are also dangerous.

Pentago is one of the most powerfully solved games: it was shown with computer help that the first player always wins with a perfect game and there is a computer program that can find an optimal move for every position.

Awards

Pentago
  • Game of the year 2005 in Sweden
  • Game of the year 2006 in Finland
  • Canteen Select 2006
  • "Spiel gut" award 2007 in Germany

variants

Pentago XL is an extended Pentago for two to four players with nine quadrants of three by three fields each. Pentago Arena is the normal Pentago as a large table version (44 × 44 cm).

Similar games

Web links

Commons : Pentago  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Geoffrey Irving: Pentago is a first player win. Retrieved January 30, 2014 .