Pentic
Difficulty: Medium
Players: 2–4
Age: 10+
Time: About 10–30 minutes
Scoring: Yes
Style: Tactical placement / common grid
Before playing, make sure everyone understands TIC card Commonness: a Single means two cards have one property in common, a Tic means they have two properties in common, and a Nic means they have nothing in common.
Objective
Score as many points as possible by playing cards onto a shared 3 × 3 grid.
Each play is scored according to:
- how the new card interacts with the cards beside it, and
- how it interacts with the card directly underneath it.
Before starting, choose a target score, such as 250 points.
The player with the highest score after someone reaches the target and all players have had an equal number of turns wins.
Setup
Lay 9 cards face-up in the centre of the table in a 3 × 3 square.
Deal 5 cards to each player.
Place the remaining deck face-down beside the grid.
Choose a starting player. Play continues clockwise.
How to Play
On your turn, choose 1 card from your hand and place it face-up directly on top of any one of the 9 positions in the grid. The new card becomes the top card in that position.
The 3 × 3 grid therefore stays the same size throughout the game, but the cards showing on top continually change.
After playing your card:
- Calculate your edge score.
- Apply the underneath multiplier.
- Record your points.
- Draw 1 card from the deck so that you return to a hand of 5 cards.
Edge Interactions
Only cards that touch the played card edge-to-edge count. Diagonal or corner-to-corner cards do not count.
Depending on where you play:
- a corner position has 2 neighbouring edges,
- a side position has 3 neighbouring edges,
- the centre position has 4 neighbouring edges.
Compare your played card with each neighbouring card.
Edge Scoring
Singles
- 1 Single = 1 point
- 2 Singles = 2 points
- 3 Singles = 5 points
- 4 Singles = 8 points
Tics
- 1 Tic = 2 points “A Tic for two”
- 2 Tics = 8 points
- 3 Tics = 15 points
- 4 Tics = 25 points
If a play creates a mixture of Singles and Tics, add the appropriate values together.
Special Nic Score
Normally, Nics score nothing. However, if you play in the centre position and create 4 Nics with the four surrounding cards, score:
4 Nics = 25 points
This is a special Pentic play.
The Card Underneath
After calculating the edge score, compare your played card with the card directly underneath it.
The underneath card acts as a multiplier.
If the cards Nic
Multiply the edge score by ×1 (no score enhancement)
If the cards Single
Multiply the edge score by ×1 (no score enhancement)
If the cards Tic
Multiply the edge score by ×2
Special All-Nic Play
If your card creates:
- 4 Nics around the edges, and
- a Nic with the card underneath,
multiply the 25-point Nic score by ×3
So the maximum special Nic play is:
25 × 3 = 75 points
Extreme Card Bonus
The two Extreme TIC cards earn a special bonus when played onto the grid.
If the card you play is:
- 1-circle-violet: +5 points
- 5-star-red: +10 points
Calculate the play normally, including the edge score and underneath multiplier, and then add the Extreme Card bonus.
The Extreme Card bonus itself is not multiplied by the card underneath.
Example 1
A card played in the centre creates:
- 3 Tics around the edges
- 1 Single around the edges
Edge score:
15 + 1 = 16
The played card Singles with the card underneath:
16 × 1 = 16 points
Example 2
A card creates:
- 2 Tics
- 2 Singles
Edge score:
8 + 2 = 10
The played card Tics with the card underneath:
10 × 2 = 20 points
Winning
Keep a running score for each player.
Once a player reaches or exceeds the agreed target score, finish the current round so that every player has had the same number of turns.
The player with the highest total score then wins.
