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Pente
Pente is an abstract strategy board game for two or more players, created in 1977 by Gary Gabrel. A member of the m,n,k game family, Pente stands out for its custodial capture mechanic, which allows players to "sandwich" pairs of stones and capture them by flanking them on either side. This changes the overall tactical assessments players face when compared to pure placement m,n,k games such as Gomoku.
Pente is played on a 19x19 grid of intersections similar to a Go board. Players alternate placing stones of their color on empty intersections, with White always assuming the opening move. The goal of the game is to either align five or more stones of the same color in a row in any vertical, horizontal or diagonal direction or to make five captures.
Stones are captured by custodial capture (flanking an adjacent pair of an opponent's stones directly on either side with your own stones). Captures consist of exactly two stones; flanking a single stone or three or more stones does not result in a capture. As an example, if the stones are ⚫⚪⚪▁ and Black places their stone so it becomes ⚫⚪⚪⚫, then White's pair is removed from the board, leaving ⚫▁▁⚫.
A stone may legally be placed on any empty intersection, even if it forms a pair between two enemy stones. If the stones are placed ⚫⚪▁⚫, then White may place their stone so it becomes ⚫⚪⚪⚫. The pair is not captured in this case.
A player wins if they capture ten or more stones.
Gary Gabrel invented Pente while working as a dishwasher at Hideaway Pizza, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He took the job while in college at Oklahoma State University to pay room and board, and would play games there with his coworkers, such as Go, Checkers, and the Gomoku family of games. The latter in particular stood out to him, and he noted that it had all the qualities necessary to make a great product. Gabrel, taking the features that appealed to him, used them to invent Pente, increasing the board size,[further explanation needed] reducing the complexity, and speeding up the game to "fit the western lifestyle."
Ninuki-Renju, the variant from the Gomoku family of games most similar to Pente, is played on the intersections of a 15x15 board with black and white stones. It allows captures of pairs like Pente but has complex opening rules and first player restrictions, such as requiring exactly five stones in a row to win, and restricting the first player from forming open double threes.
Hoping to secure publisher backing, Gabrel sent his new ruleset to ten different companies but was rejected by all of them. Gabrel describes the experience of approaching prospective partners:
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Pente AI simulator
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Pente
Pente is an abstract strategy board game for two or more players, created in 1977 by Gary Gabrel. A member of the m,n,k game family, Pente stands out for its custodial capture mechanic, which allows players to "sandwich" pairs of stones and capture them by flanking them on either side. This changes the overall tactical assessments players face when compared to pure placement m,n,k games such as Gomoku.
Pente is played on a 19x19 grid of intersections similar to a Go board. Players alternate placing stones of their color on empty intersections, with White always assuming the opening move. The goal of the game is to either align five or more stones of the same color in a row in any vertical, horizontal or diagonal direction or to make five captures.
Stones are captured by custodial capture (flanking an adjacent pair of an opponent's stones directly on either side with your own stones). Captures consist of exactly two stones; flanking a single stone or three or more stones does not result in a capture. As an example, if the stones are ⚫⚪⚪▁ and Black places their stone so it becomes ⚫⚪⚪⚫, then White's pair is removed from the board, leaving ⚫▁▁⚫.
A stone may legally be placed on any empty intersection, even if it forms a pair between two enemy stones. If the stones are placed ⚫⚪▁⚫, then White may place their stone so it becomes ⚫⚪⚪⚫. The pair is not captured in this case.
A player wins if they capture ten or more stones.
Gary Gabrel invented Pente while working as a dishwasher at Hideaway Pizza, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He took the job while in college at Oklahoma State University to pay room and board, and would play games there with his coworkers, such as Go, Checkers, and the Gomoku family of games. The latter in particular stood out to him, and he noted that it had all the qualities necessary to make a great product. Gabrel, taking the features that appealed to him, used them to invent Pente, increasing the board size,[further explanation needed] reducing the complexity, and speeding up the game to "fit the western lifestyle."
Ninuki-Renju, the variant from the Gomoku family of games most similar to Pente, is played on the intersections of a 15x15 board with black and white stones. It allows captures of pairs like Pente but has complex opening rules and first player restrictions, such as requiring exactly five stones in a row to win, and restricting the first player from forming open double threes.
Hoping to secure publisher backing, Gabrel sent his new ruleset to ten different companies but was rejected by all of them. Gabrel describes the experience of approaching prospective partners: