Pente

[Simon Keegan]

I'm a complete beginner so please be gentle with me.

I played a game called Pente about 15 years ago which seemed very similar to Go. Is anybody familiar with this game? Is it derived from Go?

Thanks
Simon

[DavidPotesta]

I would say Go had a very strong influence on whomever created Pente. I used to play Pente in college, its quite fun and many times easier to play.

[cguzik]

Pente is a simplified variation of Go Moku. It was created by Gary Gabrel in Stillwater, OK in the late 1970's. There is an Oklahoma pizza chain called Hideaway Pizza, where he worked at the time he developed it. I believe he is still involved with Hideaway.

In these parts it has achieved and maintained a certain cult following, and continues to be popular amongst college kids and a certain segment of gamers and the SF fandom crowd.

In the early 1990's I adapted the heuristic rules I employ during play and wrote a software version for Windows 3, which I called Pentet, in which one would play against the computer. I have never bothered to port it but did get some nice compliments on the program at the time. I published it as shareware on Compuserv and actually received something like $60 from various people who liked it enough to send me money.

However, it turned out not to be that hard to beat. ...Apparently I was not as good at it as I thought.

Anyway, Pente is definitely a great game of strategy while still simple enough to learn in about five minutes. You can buy it online from www.winning-moves.com, the company that holds the license to the game at present.

Chris

[cguzik]

Well, it looks like Pentet actually runs on XP.

If you want to give it a try, you can download it Here (http://www.elegraph.com/download/smart.zip).

(Don't worry about the shareware terms, I am not looking for any payment for the use of the software at this point).

Chris

[Simon Keegan]

Thanks for the info guys. It was a great game. I think it used red and yellow glass beads and the game board was designed to look sort of ancient greek from what I recall.

[Brian Owens]

...It was a great game. I think it used red and yellow glass beads...
IIRC, there were four colors of stones, so that you could play a two- to four-man game.

Red, yellow, blue, and green maybe? I'm kind of thinking there was a set of clear stones though. I don't recall exactly.

[Brian Owens]

IIRC, there were four colors of stones, so that you could play a two- to four-man game.
I must be thinking of some other game.

I just searched, and found this eBay auction of a 1987 version of the game -- complete with two bags of stones; green and yellow.

eBay Pente auction (http://cgi.ebay.com/Red-Tube-Pente-Game-of-stategy-Complete-unplayed_W0QQitemZ140089467305QQihZ004QQcategoryZ2530QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

http://egg38.tripod.com/ebay/pente3.jpg

[Simon Keegan]

Yes that's exactly the same board I had. I remembered the Greek-looking pictures. I may see if can get hold of a copy or maybe even just try to get hold of a game of Go.
Thanks guys
Simon

[Dull Blade]

My wife and I actually just made our own Pente board. We used a flooring tile from Home Depot and just drew in our own grid on top. Then my wife found some glass beads at a craft shop. Cost us about $4.
Great game! Good for some quick fun.

[cguzik]

They sell additional colors of stones separately. I believe the game has always come with two, but more are available to increase the number of players.

[Brian Owens]

They sell additional colors of stones separately. I believe the game has always come with two, but more are available to increase the number of players.
Whew, that's a relief. I'm glad to learn that I wasn't imagining things regarding more than two players.