J.D. Hodges

Pente is a fun board game created in the late seventies by a guy from Oklahoma. The object of the game is to get 5 pieces in a row  -or- to capture 10 of your opponents pieces. The game is surprisingly fun and very easy to learn, yet it has enough depth to keep things interesting.

We keep a Pente board and playing pieces in Colorado. My family has been playing the game for over 20 years. The past couple trips to CO Samantha and I have enjoyed playing the game:

One of our games - Pente is pretty

Pente on the computer

This year I also looked for a good computerized version of Pente to take to the cabin. It took more Googling than usual but eventually I found a good Windows version called WPente:

Here’s how to use the software:

1. download WPente.zip and extract the ZIP file to a location of your choice
2. run WPente.exe
3. Select Options/Games and choose your options. I usually deselect “tournament play” and leave it set at two players.
4. Select Options/Players. “H” stands for human (you) and the  1-9* basically stands for difficulty level.
   1. So to start with, leave “H” selected for Player 1, and select a fairly low number for the opposing Player 2
5. Finally, you click a spot on the board to place your first piece, then the computer will play, then it’s your turn again… etc.

*the software can take a while at higher levels (7-8-9) because it’s doing some serious number crunching while evaluating different moves…

I highly recommend you checkout Pente either in physical of virtual form. It’s a fun game to add to your repertoire.

If you try it out and have any questions, just post in the comments here! Enjoy 🙂