Activities & Days Out / 17 May, 2021 / Nanny Anita

Pentalpha Puzzle Brain Teaser

The Pentalpha puzzle apparently comes from Crete, although I haven’t been able to find any information on it. This game is similar to solitaire but instead of trying to end up with only one piece (which I have never been able to do), you are trying to add counters to the pentagram. Of course there are rules to the game, it isn’t as easy as it sounds! I’ve still not managed to solve it so I am afraid that I won’t be showing any answers.

Make sure you follow my homemade toys board on Pinterest for more ideas, and don’t forget to save the pin for later.

To make your own pentalpha puzzle you will need:

• Paper
• Pen
• 9 counters

To play you will need a 5-sided star. Make sure that you leave the lines connecting the different sections in, as you will need them.

For counters you can either take them out of other games or even use some small coins.

How to Play Pentalpha

The object of the game is to place all 9 counters on 10 intersections of the pentagram. Obviously one space will be spare.

However there rules to the game:

1. You can only place one counter on at a time.
2. The counter has to hit 2 spaces before coming to rest on the 3^rd.
3. The 3 spaces all need to be next to each other.
4. You can only travel in a straight line.
5. The 1^st and 3^rd space must be free. The 2^nd space can already have a counter on it or it can be empty.

EC really likes to play solitaire, so this game was really up his street. Neither he nor myself could get all 9 counters on, but EC did manage to get 8. Which was better than my 7.

If you enjoyed this game make sure you check out some of my other games like five field kono or my top 10 brain teasers.

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