Pente board game

by Ashley

(Arkansas, USA)

Game:
Pente
Board game manufacturer:
Winning Moves
Number of players:
2-4 recommended, 5 or 6 possible

Quick verdict

The Pente board game is an amazing game that anyone from 5 to 50 can grasp. It has great playability and replay ability!

The game and gameplay

Pente is modified from an ancient Japanese game called gomoku. Pente is a board game created in 1978 by Gary Gabrel. It was played on a GO board of 19 x 19 intersections, similar to the chinese version of chess.

The object of the game is to get five beads in a row (vertically, hortionzally or diagonally). The opposing player may surround any two beads of the other player’s that are touching with his own beads and “capture them”.The first player to have five beads in a row wins. Think of it as a mixture of chinese checkers, chess, and regular checkers.

Pros and cons

The game itself is simple, a board with small squares, a starting point in the middle and beads. The game can go on for a long time with good players and it’s fun to play over and over again.The only con I can think of is that if a child is very small, they may try and eat the beads. If you lose beads, they are very inexpensive to replace.

The verdict

The Pente board game is one that will grow with your child. Any child can play it, but it really starts to get interesting when they grow up and begin to understand the concept of strategy. It also teaches strategy and the ability to think ahead and plan. There are no dice and it’s not a game of chance, so it’s a good game to teach things like fair play and sportmanship.