Interview with Douglas Jones – developer of Pentoggle

Douglas Jones

Dear friends of boardgameking and the whole board-gaming community! Today we have Douglas Jones and his project called Pentoggle. This game is based on the abstract tile mechanics and it is absolutely great for children. Why? Because it helps to develop the mathematical and creative potential! So, here’s our little conversation:

BoardGameKing: Who is the artist and designer of this project?

Douglas Jones: I am the designer.

BoardGameKing: As we can see, Pentoggle is for friends and family but will this game suit to big and noisy parties? Or it’s just for quite evenings among closest friends and relatives?

Douglas Jones: I guess I don’t think of it as a party game, but I suppose it could be played at a party.

Pentogle Cover

BoardGameKing: Is there something special to know about the rules and scoring? Are there any special tiles?

Douglas Jones: Yes there are Wild tiles which represent any color/number combination. These can be used to help complete a series. The total points earned between all players in an average between 900 and 1000. If 2 players play, each will have roughly 450-500 points. If 6 players play, each will earn about 150-170 points on average. For comparison, the total points scored are roughly double of what one could expect to earn in Qwirkle. This gives the players additional practice adding. This is why the game is also educational and I think will appeal to parents looking for something fun yet also educational based.

BoardGameKing: Do you want to transfer this game on the digital version? (iOS or Android)

Douglas Jones: No plans at this time but perhaps in the future.

Pentoggle game

BoardGameKing: What inspired you to create this game and what are your favorite board games?

Douglas Jones: Inspiration came from a desire to create a better abstract tile matching game. All tile matching games you will on the market are played in a single plane (2D space). For example, Qwirkle and Rumikkub are great examples of this. Pontoggle plays in 3D space which means players get to think more abstractly and score more points. A unique attribute of this game is players can score vertically and horizontally at the same time. This raises the level of fun significantly. I really like Carcassonne and Settlers of Catan.

Pentoggle

BoardGameKing: Say some wishes to our readers and subscribers.

Douglas Jones: I am hopeful to have a successful kickstarter campaign to be able to raise enough money to manufacture and sell this game. I would appreciate the support of those in the board game community to help make my campaign successful.

We hope that this project will be successful because there are not so many games which can be educational and entertaining at the same time. We say our best wishes to Doug and we really hope that he will make his dreams come true!