Customer Reviews

Pentago CE Game from Mindtwister USA travel version

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased Pentago: Travel Edition for my 18-year-old brother for Christmas because I thought it would provide the kind of mental challenge that he relishes. I was right. He very quickly grasped the many different ways that you can set up the marbles, and soon started surprising me by setting up dummy attempts, which I would try to block, and then twisting the board to set up 5 in a row some other way.

My real surprise came when the extended family got together later that day. EVERYONE loved the game, from my grandparents to my 7-year-old cousins. My aunt actually went out and bought it for her middle and elementary school children to play against each other.

This game reminds me of a cross between games like tic-tac-toe or Connect 4 and games like chess or the Chinese game Go. Because the premise is so simple (get 5 in a row), children and casual players can understand and enjoy it, but the twisting of the quadrants of the board can provide challenges for even the most advanced puzzle gamers. If you're playing against another player of your own skill level, it's just plain fun, but a master of this game will be thinking in multiple directions at once. I have definitely improved my spatial awareness in the weeks that I've been playing it. This is the same kind of advanced thinking necessary to succeed in more complex games like Go and chess, where you need to be able to anticipate your opponent's potential moves in a number of directions.

The board itself seems very durable. I personally am fascinated by the mechanism they use to allow the quadrants of the board to twist. It feels very sturdy when you hold it. I prefer the travel edition because it comes with a cover that holds the marbles and the board together. It snaps on and off easily, but stays firmly in place when you need it to. We dropped it once already and it survived intact. I would of course caution families with small children that there are small pieces in this game (the marbles) that could be ingested or lost, but I like that since the pieces are ordinary-sized marbles, they could easily be replaced with marbles from a craft store if you happen to lose one or two.

I would highly recommend this game to anyone. (and I have)

I finally beat my brother, too. :)

I bought this for my boyfriend, who is a Pentago pro. We love the swivel feature! It works great in the car and is easy to carry.

Pentago adds an amazingly fun twist to the classic connect 5 game, the board is very sturdy, and the carrying case is very useful and well designed. Really does make it easy to carry around, and I can see the attention to details of this product. Greatly recommended for anyone who likes to play connect 5. Definitely one of my favorite games now and very well worth the $20 bucks.

I really love this game. It's easy to learn and fun to play with anyone. I'm not so sure that the top will stay on if I were to travel with this game in a backpack. The lid doesn't snap on like you'd think it would. A rubber band will hold it on, but I was a little disappointed that the genius who designed this game couldn't design a better lid. Ha!

This is a cool game which is sort of like a cross between Chinese checkers and tic-tac-toe. I like it because you can play a game in 5 minutes or less and it's pretty simple to understand the basic concept. I've purchased two of these units and they arrived complete and intact. There's a pretty simple design here, so there's not much to get wrong.

We have noticed that some of the marbles are slightly bigger than the others. While this doesn't affect the game play, it does bring the quality control into question (so one less star for that).

Bought this game shortly before a family Thanksgiving, and I'm so glad I did! This game has very easy rules (get 5 marbles in a row), so it's very quick to learn. Everyone, including my 12-year-old cousin, played this game. However, Pentago is deceptively difficult!! Once you play a few games, you realize there is a lot of strategy involved. Sometimes the game is over in 2 minutes, sometimes it takes 30!

Everyone in my family enjoyed this game. We played it over and over throughout the holidays. As you learn new strategies, the game becomes more intriguing and addictive.

The game itself feels very sturdy. I love the travel case it comes in.

Overall, this game is the best of both worlds. It's very simple and easy to learn. At the same time, it's very challenging and interesting!

Pros:
Sturdy construction - The plastic the game is made of feels sturdy, and the turning mechanism for the squares is deceptively simple and definitely won't be wearing out for a while.
Fun to play - Brought it to a family reunion on Christmas: everybody enjoyed it very much. The family became extremely competitive over the game and had enormous fun.
Time - The average time per round is about 3 to 5 minutes - perhaps up to 10 minutes if the two competitors are both extremely good. This allows multiple people to quickly play, and allows each game to engage just the right amount of interest without quickly wearing dull.

Cons:
The marbles - This was marketed as a traveling game, and to be fair, both the case and the cover feel hard to break. However, the only thing that could hold the marbles appears to be the cover. This works, but the marbles could spill from the cover if the car jostles too much. A bag or two of some sort would have been nice, although this is a small quibble.

Overall - Good concept, sturdy construction, very fun.
I would definitely recommend purchasing this game.

Pentago is an incredibly sofisticated game, that can be played by 8 years olds to individuals in advanced adulthood.
The rules are very easy and can be mastered in 5 minutes. Adults should be careful about playing their young children,
as they may lose repeatedly. Pentago is not a game dependent on manual dexterity and speedy reflexes, but on
brain power alone.strategy game

I bought Pentago earlier this summer for rainy days and game time while my daughter was on summer break from school. As the box says, this game is so easy to learn (get five in a row), yet so difficult to master. I think it is in the vein of Connect Four - another family favorite - with the "twist" that you must move one part (quadrant) of the game board after each turn. This increases the spatial cognitive load of the game tremendously. It is very addictive, in fact we had friends over on Labor day weekend and while my wife and her friends gabbed, the dads played PENTAGO! Excellent game, well made too, feels like it will last...

I needed a gift for a bright 11-year-old who travels a lot and has a younger sister as her main companion. This game is easy enough for a little sister to learn and sophisticated enough to play into adulthood (or to play with adults now).Packs well and doesn't take much space in carry-on bag.