Pentris

Pentris, much like it sounds, is a board game that is a combination of Tetris and Pentominos. This game is all about fitting shapes and matching symbols, trying to score more points than your opponents over the course of three rounds.

Was this game sent for review or self-purchased?: This title was kindly sent for review by Flat River Games and is published by Pendragon Game Studio.

In two sentences, what do you do in the game: For each turn, you choose one of the available pieces to add to your vertical board (secret to other players) and slide it into place. You want to match like colors into groups, and at the round end, will score that color, but each color can only be scored once!

Have we played any other titles by this publisher?: Yes, we have played some others by this publisher as well!

What was surprising about this title: It was surprising that the tiles on your secret board remain for the entire game. This was interesting as it upped the difficulty on placement. This was a good way to make the game slightly more complex and interesting.

How likely is this to return to the game table?: Not very likely, but maybe with a younger audience. This game has a very classic feel which we enjoyed but didn’t provide a lot of challenge for us. However we think this would be a nice title to bring out for a casual family game night.

Game length: 30-40 minutes in total with three rounds.

Language Barrier Playability: Good. This game relies on shapes and symbols which don’t require language once you know the rules. This is the ideal type of game for playing across languages.

Artwork: Cute and retro. It has a colorful appeal and app-like icons printed on the pieces. The design is bold, flashy, and clean. This is apparent not only in the cover art but with the fun shaped pieces and fold-out boards. Everything is crisp and appealing and has a nice consistency across all components.

Quality: Great. The pieces and boards were sturdy. Especially the foldable boards that can be constructed for gameplay and then laid flat afterward in the box. These were unique components that worked very well also.

Strategy: Light. It depends on the luck of the pieces available sometimes but you do have to figure out the best direction to face the piece to get the most of one icon color that you want to score. You also have to strategize in a way where the pieces don’t go over the top of the player board.

Instruction Manual: Good. A nice mixture of image examples and clear text. They also feature simple and advanced rules to shake up gameplay. There’s not much more you can ask from an instruction manual!

Organization: Great. There are slots for the different shaped pieces, which we really appreciate. The boards fit nicely in their own spot, and everything closes smoothly.

Final thoughts: Pentris has a flashy appeal and a classic gameplay style. It is very casual and light. The artwork is what really shines with this game, and the textile feel of bringing a tetris-like into the board game world is appealing aesthetically also.