Pentis
A downloadable game for Windows
Hello gamers, artists and coders :)
Pentis is entertainly playable and uses a nearly similar game engine as Tetris, but instead of tetrominoes(4), pentominoes(5) are falling from the top of the screen. Those five-block shapes offer a more complex and advanced level of gameplay (some may call it a Tetris-Clone ;) )
Pentis is in developement, but playable. And fun. And free !
Special thanks to: (in chronological order)
fensteroffen, SamyG17, Willem Default, Maria.M (a.k.a M-M), ShadowGames, Konstrukteur, Alex O., Frothy, Dappercat, bunbun(a.k.a xylo), Sammi, Burnout, Varron, Furiosa, TFKIA, goatloard999, Hepta, aptiz712 and sock
-> you are not in the list - please let me know in the comments ;)
You choose your own username and you can compete over the #PentisRankings visible directly in the game.
And you can follow them on Mastodon!
https://mstdn.jp/tags/PentisRankings
For the FUN-Gineers Pentis Tournament:
https://mstdn.jp/tags/PentisTOURNAMENT
****************************************Conception****************************************
The idea for the game came to me during a documentary about the game Tetris. It mentioned that Alexey Pajitnov used pentominoes as template for Tetris, but switched to tetrominoes in favor of playability. I was surprised that this game was not playable with pentominoes. After a Python course, I spontaneously started coding Pentis on February 23rd 2023 out of a Youtube tutorial from "Gravitar". In fact, some pentominoes were noxious for the gameflow. I removed them.
From that point on, the game started to make fun. It takes more time to cope with the more complex game difficulty. But from this level on, an algorithmic individual accommodation of the removed "more difficult" pentominoes would be possible(in development) and challenges the player to another level. This level is not reachable with tetrominoes, but the secret and decisive advantage of Pentis.
Give it a try ^^
Any kind of feedback is welcome! :)
****************************************Comments****************************************
Additionally some player comments from the last weeks:
"They make a Tetris style game with pieces that are 5 pieces instead of 4
- and obviously very addicting" (Frothy - 3rd)
"She's been at it for hours
- Im never getting my wife (bunbun - 2nd) back" (Binkohazard - 8th)
************************************Soundtrack ************************************
Soundtrack by fensteroffen (my brother) available on bandcamp. This is a link to the gametrack:
https://fensteroffen.bandcamp.com/track/k-nigstropfen
By the way: He is generally interested in publishing his music in games ! ;)
Link to the Tetris tutorial in german
Download
Install instructions
Windows: Just start the exe file :)
Linux(coming soon):
After downloading the file, change its permissions to executable:
chmod +x /path/to/pentis_081
Alternative: Right mouse on file pentis_081 > Properties > Permissions => Set checkmark to "Allow executing file as program"
...and enter your personal username for the online scoreboard before your first game please :)
Development log
- Gameplay Pentis 0.6.9.7 TNM - Hepta score 33,278May 11, 2024
- Pentis 0.8 beta with Options releasedApr 24, 2024
- Pentis 0.8 in developmentNov 05, 2023
- 日本語版が進行中です - Pentis Japanese Version is in progressSep 23, 2023
- FUN-Gineers Pentis Tournament in May 2023Sep 23, 2023
- Pentis 0.7.2.3 version Std / L / LuJul 21, 2023
Comments
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This is a pretty good game but I think it could be improved. There's some gripes I have with the game:
The DAS could be faster.
Some pentominoes don't exist in this game, at least the L shaped one which has a 3x1 bar connected to a 2x1 bar.
The pushdown feels wonky and stops if I move the piece horizontally. I can't find how the controls can be changed. The controls are weird: I can only find one rotation direction (counterclockwise) and two keys for it. The controls are the main reason I don't find the game so fun because tapping the right and left keys has my fingers so far that my hand is in an awkward stretched position.
I think having a piece preview or many of them would make the game feel better and I wish the game didn't speed up to such a fast speed. I like tetris games that can be theoretically be played infinitely by a human.
I wish there were a hard drop and that the game had SRS rotation system or something close to it to make it feel more modern. Also piece locking could be longer to make playing on higher speeds easier.
Also there are some bugs. Sometimes I have to press escape multiple times to leave the scoreboard. Also when I quit a game the whole application closes. I think it'd be better if it put you to the main menu. You can always just close the window to close the app.
Other first impressions: It was nice to get the highest score on the leaderboard. I like pentris so this was fun. I'm wondering how the piece RNG works. I think this game could be very good if improvements were made. Maybe my wants for this game are different from the developer(s) tho. Thanks anyway for this slightly unpolished gem <3
Thanks a lot for your feedback !
Pentis will definitely be further developed and hopefully improved. However, the missing pentominoes were removed on purpose, as they are disturbing for playability. However, there are considerations to reinsert some of them, if necessary for higher levels of difficulty.
Since this is only my second game, the development may take some time. But your suggestions will definitely be taken into account.
Congratulations to the first place on the FUN-GINEERS Pentis Tournament and your all time Pentis record !!
https://mstdn.jp/@luftlesen/110448457422037621
nice game :)
Thanks ^^;