iPhone · iPad · Apple Vision Pro
Five in a row, on a board that won't hold still.
Place a marble. Twist a quadrant. Everything you just built moves. Pentago is a two-minute duel with hours of depth — every turn is two decisions, and the second one can hand the game to your opponent.
One turn, two decisions
The rule fits in a sentence. The game doesn't.
A 6×6 board split into four 3×3 quadrants. Get five of your marbles in a line — across, down or diagonally — before your opponent does.
Place a marble
Any empty hole on the board. That part is easy — it is the only quiet moment of the turn.
Twist a quadrant
Then you must rotate one of the four blocks, 90° either way — including the one you just played into.
Line up five
Five in a row wins — and a rotation counts. Half of Pentago is building the line; the other half is surviving the twist that answers it.
Ranked online
A ladder, not a lobby.
Quick match pairs you with a player near your rating and puts you straight into the game. Every result — win, loss or draw — moves your Elo.
Leaderboard
Everyone starts at 1200. The global board shows your rating, your rank and how close the next place is.
A search that widens as you wait
It starts within 100 Elo of you and opens by another 100 every ten seconds, up to 1000 — so a strong opponent first, and a game soon after either way.
30 seconds a move
A minute for the opening move, then thirty seconds each. Games stay sharp, and a 30-second grace period means a dropped signal doesn't cost you the win.
Sign in and play
Sign in with Apple or Google, pick a username that is yours alone, and you are in the queue in seconds.
Private rooms
Play exactly who you want.
Create a room and you get a six-letter code. Send it however you like — the person on the other end lands straight in the room.
Room created
NBWNN5
Show the QR code and let them scan it
Share the link — it opens the room in the app
Or just read the six letters out loud
Ranked or friendly, your call
A private room can count towards your Elo or leave it untouched — you decide when you create it. Same board, same clock, same rules; only the stakes change.
Invitation links are universal links: tap one on an iPhone with Pentago installed and the app opens on the room. Tap it anywhere else and you get the code and a link to the App Store.
Solo and side by side
No connection required.
Four AI levels, from an opening partner to something that punishes a loose rotation. Or hand the device over and play two-up — no account, no network.
- Easy
- Plays a legal move at random. A forgiving place to learn what a rotation actually does to a line.
- Medium
- Looks one move ahead. It will take a win it can see and block the one you have already built.
- Hard
- Searches two moves deep with alpha-beta pruning, so it reads the twist that follows your placement.
- Extreme
- The same depth with the full positional evaluation — it counts open lines and quadrant control, and it does not miss much.
Two players, one device
Pass-and-play on the same board. The fastest way to teach someone the game is to lose one to them.
Instant games
A round takes about two minutes. There is no session, no energy bar, nothing to come back for later.
English and French
Both languages ship in the app and follow your device setting. Nothing to choose, nothing to download.
What it costs
Free, and honest about why.
Pentago costs nothing and has no in-app purchases, no subscription and no paywalled level. Ads pay for it — a banner during play and an occasional full-screen one between games, served by Google AdMob.
Solo and two-player games run entirely on your device. Online play stores what a ladder needs: your username, your rating and the result of each game. Nothing is sold on, and the privacy policy says exactly who sees what.
- Price
- Free
- Requires
- iOS 16.0+
- Devices
- iPhone · iPad · Vision Pro
- Size
- 49 MB
- Age rating
- 4+
- Languages
- English · French
Questions
Before you download.
How do you play Pentago?
The board is 6×6, divided into four 3×3 quadrants that each rotate independently. On your turn you place one marble in any empty hole, then rotate one of the four quadrants a quarter turn in either direction. The first player to line up five marbles of their colour — horizontally, vertically or diagonally — wins. The rotation counts, which is why a position that looks safe can lose in a single turn.
Is Pentago free?
Yes. The game is a free download with no in-app purchases and no subscription. It is funded by ads: a banner while you play and an occasional full-screen ad between games, served by Google AdMob.
Can I play against a friend who isn't next to me?
Yes — create a private room and share the six-letter code, the invitation link or the QR code. Your friend enters the code or scans the QR and you are on the same board. You choose when you create the room whether the result counts towards your rating.
Do I need an account?
Only for online play. Solo games against the AI and two-player games on one device need no account and no connection. For ranked matches and private rooms you sign in with Apple or Google and pick a username, which takes a few seconds.
How does the ranking work?
It is a standard Elo ladder. Everyone starts at 1200, and each ranked result adjusts both players' ratings by up to 32 points depending on how far apart they were. Quick match looks for an opponent within 100 points of you and widens that window by 100 every ten seconds, up to 1000, so you never wait indefinitely for a perfect pairing.
What happens if I lose signal mid-game?
Each move has a 30-second clock — 60 seconds for the very first one — followed by a 30-second grace period before the timeout is claimed. A short interruption will not cost you a game you were winning.
Which devices does it run on?
iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision Pro, on iOS 16.0 or later. The download is about 49 MB and the app is rated 4+.
Is this the same game as the Pentago board game?
It plays by the same rules — place a marble, rotate a quadrant, five in a row wins — on the same 6×6 board of four rotating quadrants. Pentago® is a registered trademark of its owner; this app is an independent implementation and is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.