Pentad is a letter and word game. Pentad can, in theory, be played by any number of players, but this version is for two to four players playing against each other, or for one player to practise or pass the time.

The basic idea of Pentad is that 25 letters are selected at random, one at a time, and you must place a tile displaying that letter on one of the empty squares on the board.   The objective is to place the tiles so that they form words of two or more letters - either horizontally from left-to-right or vertically from top-to-bottom.  The skill comes in how you use these letters to form words and to maximize the points scored.

After the initial phase of placing the tiles on the board as the letters are selected, you then have an opportunity to make some minor adjustments to the layout of the board.  You can select two pairs of tiles, in turn, and swap the two tiles in the pair.   This phase not only provides you with an opportunity to increase your score - it also gives you something else to consider and to optimize during the initial positioning phase.

Scoring

Pentad scoring is simple, and is based on each of the words formed:

  • one point is scored for each letter in the word;
  • a 5-point bonus is scored for a five-letter word (i.e. 10 points in total);
  • the score for the word is doubled if the word includes the tile on the centre square (marked with a green spot).  So, a 4-letter word on the central row or column scores 8 points, while a 5-letter word scores 20 (2 x (5 + 5 bonus)).

The letters in a given row or column can only be used for one word - you can't have overlapping words.  So, for example, a line with the letters WARTH would score 4 for WART;  you could not also claim 3 for WAR and 3 for ART.  It is important to note that selecting the longest word doesn't necessarily give the best score;  for example, the line WARTO is best scored as 3 for WAR and 2 for TO (total 5), rather than just 4 for WART.

You can, however, use the same letter for a word in a column and a word in a row.  

Playing the game

The 1 - 4 players choose one of the four colours - red, yellow, green or blue - to be their colour. At the top of the screen, there are four boxes, or tabs, one for each of these colours. These display the progress or total score for each player, so that all players can see all scores, even though only one board is visible at a time.

Pentad has been designed so that you do not need to specify how many players there are. Initally, red's board is shown, so if one player only is playing, the red board would normally be used. To select and see another player's board, simply press on that player's coloured tab. Note: the coloured tab takes on a deeper shade of the colour when selected.

When the game first opens, or after a new game is started by pressing the New button, boards are cleared, each player's score is set to 0, each player's tab shows +0 (0 tiles added and positioned), and a series of 25 letters is set up. The first of these is shown beneath each of the four 5x5 boards.

The following instructions are for one player of the game. After these, some options for how two or more players might play are given.

Positioning phase

During this phase, the player must position the letter shown beneath the 5x5 board on an unoccupied square by pressing on that square. The letter will then be displayed in this position. The next letter in the series will then be displayed beneath the board ready for positioning. This continues until all 25 letters have been positioned by the player.

The player's tab displays a '+' followed by the number of tiles already added and positioned.

Swapping phase

Once all 25 letters have been positioned on the board in this way, the swapping phase takes place, in which the player may swap the positions of two pairs of letter tiles.  This phase starts off with the 'swap' icon

being displayed under the board.  The player must then press on 4 squares (2 pairs of squares) on their board.  The letters on the first pair pressed will be swapped over, and then the letters on the second pair will be swapped over. (Note: once the first square of a pair has been pressed, the letter on that square is placed underneath the board, and the 'swap' icon is displayed on the square). 

The player's tab displays an 'S' followed by the number of tiles already selected for swapping (1-4).

Q. I'm so happy with my layouts that I don't want to swap the letters over on two pairs.  How do I achieve this?

A. To avoid swapping over two letters, just press any square once, then press it again.  It will just be swapped with itself.

After placing a letter or selecting a letter for swapping, a < button is displayed. This can be used to undo the last placement or selection if the wrong square has accidentally been pressed.

Scoring phase

The last phase is the scoring phase.  During this phase, the player must identify words on the board for scoring.  This is done by selecting the first and last letter of the word within any row or column (always select the first before the last - see below for what happens if the selection is reversed).

The system shows which it is expecting next by displaying either the 'first letter' icon

or the 'last letter' icon

below the board.  So, at the beginning of this phase, the board will have the 'first letter' icon displayed beneath it.

Once the first and last letters of a word have been selected, the word and its score will be added on to the scorecard, and added on to the total, which will be displayed in the player's tab. 

Notes about scoring:

If a player selects a word that overlaps with an existing word on that row or column, the earlier word selected will be removed from the scorecard. No notification is given about this.

If a player has scored a word, but this is erroneous, the word and score may be removed by making a reverse selection in the relevant row or column; that is, the first square of the pair selected is to the right of the second square selected in a row, or below it in a column.  All word scores in that row or column will be removed (not just any overlapped by the selection).  Notification will be given that this has occurred.

If a player makes an invalid selection, i.e. the first and second squares are in different rows and columns, or the same square is selected twice, notification is given about this and selection of the two squares must begin again.

There is no definite end point to scoring. 

Two or more players

Each player can play totally independently of the other players, although, importantly, each player makes use of the same series of 25 letters, so the competition is a fair test of skill - of how these letters are used in the positioning, swapping and scoring phases.

Because of the independent nature of play, the players may decide between them exactly how they should play. Some options to consider are:

  • The players take turns to place individual letters and to swap pairs, then take turns to score.
  • The players take turns to place 5 letters and then take turns to swap pairs and to score.
  • One player completes the game then passes over to the next player, and so on.

Players should also agree on a dictionary to use to resolve any challenges to words.

When first beginning the game, positioning of the pieces should be hidden from the other players. Pressing the Hide button hides all boards. However, once more than about 10 have been positioned, it probably makes little difference whether other boards are kept hidden or not, as the states of the board are likely to be very different.

The game is over when all players agree that they have finished scoring and all boards have been checked and any adjustments made following resolution of any challenges concerning valid words. The winner is, of course, the player with the highest score.

New game

A new game may be started at any time by pressing on the New button.

Distribution

When creating the series of 25 letters to be placed on the board, the system mimics the idea of having a shuffled set of letter cards, from which it takes the top 25. You can see how many of each letter are available by pressing on the More button. To return to the main playing board, press on the Back button

Pentad is an original game devised by Dr. David Wolstenholme

Terms of use

This software may be used for personal purposes only.  It may not be used for commercial purposes.

The software, code and script of this application may not be copied or be distributed to others.

The software, code and script may not be altered in any way.

Copyright of the software, code and script, and its help documentation, is held by TopAccolades Limited.  No part of the software, code, script or documentation may be copied or used in another application or document.

Although every effort has been made to ensure that this software functions as intended, TopAccolades Limited provides no warranty of merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose, in relation to this application or its support.

TopAccolades Limited shall not be liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of the use of or inability to use this application or the provision of or failure to provide support.

Copyright TopAccolades Limited
www.topaccolades.com

Version: 3.0 (20170327)
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