# Pentaline: 5 in a Row — user reviews > 47 indexed App Store user reviews of Pentaline by Vlad Feinstein, rated 4.30/5 from 129 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pentaline-5-in-a-row/id6747093331/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pentaline-5-in-a-row/id6747093331.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 93 · 4★ 10 · 3★ 9 · 2★ 2 · 1★ 15 ## What do users think of Pentaline? Overall sentiment: neutral **Pros** - 👍 Great game - 💡 Enjoyable gameplay **Cons** - 🐛 Inconsistent sequence registration - 🤖 AI opponent too strong - 🤔 Unclear mechanics **Commonly reported bugs** - Game locks up when AI is losing - Double sequence not registering correctly **Most requested features** - Improve visual accessibility (bolder cards, chips, hints) - Add a dedicated hint button ## Newest reviews (10 of 47) ### 3/5 — Suggestion *2026-08-28* Guys - this game is not challenging or fun because it is programmed for AI to win QUICKLY almost every game. Most people like Sequence for the challenge! I don’t care if AI wins but at least let the game go on for awhile and make it challenging for the player. I am not going to play anymore until the programmers make it more challenging for the player. **Developer response:** Thank you very much for your feedback! My "AI" implements my proprietary scoring system, looking for the best move given a hand it has. Please note that there are three levels: Casual, Pro and Master. They differ in how many aspects of the position they evaluate. May I suggest to start with Casual? If you are winning consistently (you simply can't win all games, as luck plays a big role), advance to Pro. For the real challenge, try Master. Not sure how I can delay anyone's win without cheating, and I don't do that. I am currently working on a Trainer mode that might help some players. Please DO let me know what do you mean by "make it challenging for the player". Please tell me you DIDN'T mean "more favorable". ### 3/5 — Best *2026-08-26* It’s the best, but I want to play with friends not AI **Developer response:** Thank you for your review! There is a two player mode in Settings. You would have to share one device, passing it to each other. Are you interested in online play? I don’t do it yet, no one asked for it in more than a year. ### 3/5 — Probability *2026-06-23* I agree with previous reviewer. Much to love about the app, but tthe number of games where bot has a sequence in the first 5 out of 6-8 cards dealt is not statistically possible. **Developer response:** Thank you for your feedback. I would like to extend the same offer to you as I made to other complaints: send me a game ID (available in the About box), and I will send you the entire deck, in order, with the function that shuffles it using that random seed. dev@feingames.com UPDATE: 7/4/2026 While I am waiting for your email, here is some info on probability: Your (or your opponent's) chances to get a complete sequence of 5 cards in the 7 card hand is 1 in 4,000. After first draw - 1:2,000, second - 1:1,100. Not that great, but considering that 10,000 people are playing - someone got to get that lucky! And judging by my 1-2 stars ratings, it's about two dozens in a year... I would just start a new game. How do you like my game otherwise, in general? ### 3/5 — Game Freezes *2026-04-09* When playing against AI, if I complete a row of 6 or more, the entire game freezes. I can access the menu, but cannot move. The only fix is to close the app which ends the game. **Developer response:** Thank you for your report. I can't reproduce this issue. When your newly built sequence is longer than 5, you should see a prompt (on top, black on yellow) to declare which chips you want to be counted as a sequence. If you want to make this game better, please contact me directly at dev@feingames.com with more details. Thank you! ### 2/5 — AI *2026-03-07* It’s a really frustrating game because AI seems to always get the free spaces, even at the beginner level it’s very challenging. **Developer response:** I am sorry that you feel frustrated. As I said dozens of times - I use a random shuffle. A new version 5.0 was just released that allows you to play against your friends. Please let me know if they too get an upper hand. ### 2/5 — New update isn’t good *2026-02-14* Update: The new version still hasn’t rolled out, and you still can’t tell if a Jack is one or two eyed. Also, I just played two games in a row where the CPU got 4 cards in a row, in order, to make a sequence off the corner, and I didn’t one card that could’ve blocked it. It’s almost statistically impossible for that to happen twice in a row. **Developer response:** I apologize for this oversight. These dots were lost in conversion to custom design. I have submitted release 4.10 with the fix to Apple on Sunday. Should be available in the App Store today. Not sure what is taking them so long. Please note that you can undo an accidental tap by swiping left within a grace period (1 or 3 seconds, depending on your settings). Thank you for reporting this issue! UPDATE 2/18/26 - version 4.10 was finally approved yesterday. As for statistical improbability - I am using a seeded random generator to shuffle the deck. The random seed for the current game is displayed in the About box. Please send it to me, and I will reply with the complete shuffled deck for your inspection. ### 4/5 — I love the challenge *2026-02-11* Love everything about this challenging game! I have tried to make the cards large, but it doesn’t work. **Developer response:** Thank you very much for your review, and for playing! Could you please help me understand what exactly are you trying to achieve? I am trying to fully utilize the available screen space, not sure if I can make the cards any bigger. If you are talking about the design, please refer to the "How To..." doc, "Card Designer" page. You are welcome to contact me directly with any questions at dev@feingames.com ### 3/5 — New update isn’t good *2026-02-02* After the update on 2/1, you can no longer tell if a Jack is one eyed or two eyed unless you tap it, at which point, you have to play it. Terrible. Please fix. **Developer response:** I apologize for this oversight. These dots were lost in conversion to custom design. I have submitted release 4.10 with the fix to Apple on Sunday. Should be available in the App Store today. Not sure what is taking them so long. Please note that you can undo an accidental tap by swiping left within a grace period (1 or 3 seconds, depending on your settings). Thank you for reporting this issue! ### 4/5 — Fun game but not sure fair against AI *2026-01-20* I really enjoy playing this game but something is off with the AI. The AI player always has jacks and very often also cards to block plays. I don’t think the game play is quite balanced or fair. It would be 5 stars if this was fixed. **Developer response:** Thank you for your review! I would LOVE to earn your 5-star rating! But there is NOTHING, literally, I can improve in a random shuffle, short of trying to cheat in your favor. Random shuffle is random. It doesn't mean that you and AI get the same number of Jacks. Some games you get less, some others - more. Could you please elaborate on how I can make it more balanced? You don't suggest that I should look ahead to see if AI got too many jacks and remove them? ### 2/5 — Could be great *2025-12-20* 1. AI needs work. Not sure how I’m expected to win in less than 5 - 7 moves. 2. Needs a multiplayer. **Developer response:** Thank you very much for playing and for your review! 1. Could you please elaborate on what exactly needs to be worked on in AI? Not sure why you think you are expected to win in less than 5 - 7 moves. What do you mean? 2. I am actually working on multiplayer version, as was requested by other players. What else can I do to make it great? ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — AI wins *2026-08-16* I saw your response to a negative review and you criticized the person at not being intelligent. I have two university degrees and play this as a board game often. AI always wins in this game. Do better. *Any* time I have four in a row, AI either has the card to block me or has a two eyed jack. Every. Time. This isn’t about skill. Your game needs to be improved. **Developer response:** Thank you for your feedback! Please, help me understand what are you accusing me of? That I sneak a Jack to the AI hand? Would you propose a hypothetical reason for me to do that? As an improvement, are you suggesting that I need to look into AI's hand and remove any Jacks? ### 1/5 — Can’t play two player and it’s very confusing *2026-08-02* Can’t play two player and it’s very confusing **Developer response:** 2-players mode is a premium feature and requires subscription. There is a 7 days free trial, but you do have to subscribe; cancel at any time. When 2-players mode is selected, you pass the device between players when prompted with: "Next move: [player] Tap when ready". During this hand-off, all hand cards are hidden. Please contact me at dev@feingames.com if you need additional help. ### 1/5 — Can’t see *2026-06-29* We should be able to make the board bigger if we can’t see it I’d love Sequence. I play it all the time with other people on the regular game, but I can see all the tiles. You can’t tell a a club from a spade. It’s really hard to see if I could make the board bigger. I’d be really happy I’d give you five. **Developer response:** Thank you for your feedback. Could you please help me fix this issue? What device are you playing on? It would help a lot if you can send me a screenshot, by email dev@feingames.com UPDATE 7/31/2026 I haven't heard from you in a month. Leaving this note for the benefits of other readers. I request (from iOS) to run my game in full screen mode. That option is being deprecated, and users can freely resize any app down. Could you have accidentally done that? You can restore it to full size by dragging a corner, or tapping green "Full Screen" button in the top-left corner. ### 1/5 — AI cheats pretty bad *2026-02-12* The AI always has the upper hand. It’s as if they taught it to play strategically by just magically having the cards they need to win. **Developer response:** Thank you for your review, and for playing. As for " magically having the cards they need to win" - I am using a seeded random generator to shuffle the deck. The random seed for the current game is displayed in the About box. Please send it to me, and I will reply with the complete shuffled deck for your inspection. ### 1/5 — Unplayable *2026-02-04, version 4.9* The new card editor has made the game unplayable as it no longer shows jacks as 1 or 2 eyed. Please fix it. ### 1/5 — AI is unfair *2026-01-22, version 4.8* All the games I played against the “AI” NPC and it always wins. Also in response to the developer. Game still sucks. If the Go Fish games anything like this it will suck too. Way to be a prick. I don’t see my review being hurtful to you, but it’s my review of your game and you don’t have to agree or get sentimental about it either. Man up. If you’re a woman, man up. ### 1/5 — AI cheat *2026-01-15* First of all this review is not unfair, the developer keeps complaining about people writing reviews about this game not being fair in the AI winning all the time. Well it’s true. And the reviews are not unfair. We really like the board game when we play it a lot. I wish I could put screenshots on here. First 4-5 moves the AI already has one sequence and it always just happens to have the right ones to block the player. Whoever made this game needs to go back and redo it and update it. The computer always gets what it needs and even if it’s not designed that way, it’s happening. I read other comments about the same issue and the developer gets mad and insults other people. So my message to the developer is whatever you’re using it’s not working and stop insulting other people. This is a game. It’s supposed to be fun and if you’re going to have an attitude like that, stop because it’s not helping issues at all **Developer response:** Thank you for your feedback, and for playing. You sound sincere, and I do want to make sure that your concerns are answered. As I mentioned earlier, I use an industry-standard shuffle algorithm. It uses random seed, which I display at the end of a game, or at any time in the About box. Given this number, I can send you a shuffled deck for your inspection, to see that would you be making different moves - the outcome could be different. Are you implying that my AI algorithm pulls cards out of the deck out of order? PLEASE, take my word - I don't do that! Why would I? The game is free. I am trying to get paid for my time and experience with YOUR tips. Why would I cheat against you? If anything, I should probably throw a game to your favor. (I don't do that either). Could you PLEASE suggest any reason for me to cheat? If I sound defensive in my other responses - just look at the number of those unfounded accusations. PLESE go to the Game Center Leaderboard - there are more than 9,000 people playing (and winning). Three of the top players have over 2,000 wins! 25 - more than 1,000! Almost a 100 - over 500 wins! You can contact me personally by email: dev@feingames.com, where you can send a screenshot of the game you suspect is rigged. Please include a game # from the About box - I will send the complete shuffled deck that matches that #. Is there ANYTHING I can say here to convince you? What kind of proof would you like? This is a game of chance, largely. I am afraid it is in a human nature to blame something if the luck was not on their side. Tell me honestly, when you win - do you praise your skills? Or just think that you got lucky? Would you please try the "Casual" level (available in the Settings). The shuffle will be exactly the same, but the AI algorithm is dialed down. Can you win? Does this change your mind? ### 1/5 — AI cheats *2026-01-04, version 4.6* This game is rigged with the algorithms. Sometime it lets you win but definitely not true fair game ### 1/5 — AI is unfair *2025-12-25* All the games I played against the “AI” NPC and it always wins. **Developer response:** What is unfair - to throw unfounded accusation like this. I am using industry-standard random shuffling, based on the random seed. Please go to About box and post the ID of the games you can't win here. What level of AI are you playing against? Try the lowest to see if you can beat it. If not - I also have a "Go Fish" game published. Look it up, might fit your skills better. ### 1/5 — Buggy *2025-11-25* I had two separate sequences on the same diagonal. Computer didn’t recognize them as two separate sequences so that’s a bug. There was no overlap between them either (using the same end chip). On another note, it’s an enjoyable but the master level isn’t a better player who knows how to box out spots on the board. It just literally gives the computer more jacks and stacked decks. Always has the exact card it needs to complete one early, ruin your sequence, or force you to deplete jacks. The real issue is it’ll throw out a sequence in first 4-5 moves, no joke, consistently which is statistically unlikely. It will also match pace suddenly if you get ahead. You will not blow it out of the water, even if you get 4+ jacks off the start. I was the global leader in wins in master. So I’ve got a good sample size. Not once could I get a hot start on it. The master level the developer is so proud of needs A LOT of work. I don’t think stats would defend the dev’s argument. I think they’d reinforce the negative feedback rightfully given. In all my years of playing sequence OTB with real people of varying skills, I’ve never seen as consistently just the right card to ruin or complete a sequence so frequently. It’s actually predictable. Don’t play a card because you want to wait a round? don’t worry, the computer will suddenly have that card. One of the worst “AIs” I’ve come across. There’s a reason this is free and ad free. **Developer response:** Thank you for reporting an issue with my game. I was in fact missing the second winning sequence that was inline with the first one. Fixed in ver. 4.6, should be available 12/19/25. As for your other imaginary concerns, I've added a game ID (random seed used to shuffle the deck) to the Win Alert. It is also available during the game in About box. If you would bother to send me that number, I can re-generate the same deck for you to see. Your perception that "the computer will suddenly have that card" can be explained by the algorithm favoring the move that it holds cards to complete. THAT is not random. Would appreciate if you elaborate on your "There’s a reason this is free and ad free." I will then post my reason, just to compare. Thank you again for playing! ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Sandi *2026-08-16* You need a way to get rid of dead cards in your hand **Developer response:** Thank you very much for your review! There is a way, actually. Just tap the dead card, it will be discarded. Additionally, if you ask for hint (swipe right), the dead card(s) will be outlined in red. Please let me know if this doesn't work for you. Thank you for playing! ### 5/5 — Love this game! It’s addictive! *2026-07-29* I am really thankful to the developer of this game. It’s a great game to play with no ads and different levels. I like to play the beginner level because I like to win! I do play the actual board game with my husband but I also really enjoy this game as an app. There are different options, and you can change the size of the chips, etc in the settings. I’m warning you though, it is addictive! **Developer response:** Thank you very much for your review! I'm glad that you enjoy it! Could you please help me understand - what is the difference, to you, between buying a game and tipping the developer? I went the "tips" route because of the "No tax on tips" policy. Joke on me - it doesn't apply to software developers :) The bigger reason is a lack of support from Apple for an old "try before you buy" paradigm. I thought tips are kinda like that: get a free game, try it, if you like it - say "thank you" with a tip. Will let you know when I get rich on that. ### 5/5 — New update isn’t good *2026-02-20* Edit: Review updated and 5 stars given to reflect app has been fixed. Thank you. Update: The new version still hasn’t rolled out, and you still can’t tell if a Jack is one or two eyed. Also, I just played two games in a row where the CPU got 4 cards in a row, in order, to make a sequence off the corner, and I didn’t one card that could’ve blocked it. It’s almost statistically impossible for that to happen twice in a row. **Developer response:** I apologize for this oversight. These dots were lost in conversion to custom design. I have submitted release 4.10 with the fix to Apple on Sunday. Should be available in the App Store today. Not sure what is taking them so long. Please note that you can undo an accidental tap by swiping left within a grace period (1 or 3 seconds, depending on your settings). Thank you for reporting this issue! UPDATE 2/18/26 - version 4.10 was finally approved yesterday. As for statistical improbability - I am using a seeded random generator to shuffle the deck. The random seed for the current game is displayed in the About box. Please send it to me, and I will reply with the complete shuffled deck for your inspection. ### 5/5 — Great Game! *2026-02-18* I really love the board game Sequence, and this is a great digital version! I was happy to see it ad free as well. The recent update allows you to customize the cards and table, which is really cool. This is a game of chance, with a little strategy involved. I’m really enjoying it! Thank you so much! **Developer response:** Thank you very much for your feedback and for the kind words. Also thank you for pointing out the issue. The game was not in fact checking if your move completes more than one sequence. This is fixed in v 4.1 and submitted to Apple for approval, should be available shortly. Thank you for playing! ### 5/5 — Perfect *2026-02-04* This sequence game pretty much replicates the board game perfectly. Thanks Vlad! **Developer response:** Thank you ver much for your review, and for playing! ### 5/5 — Can’t tell between one eyed and two eyed Jacks *2026-02-02* Not happy with the update. Can’t tell the difference between the Jacks. How to fix that? It’s a good game other wise **Developer response:** Thank you very much for your review, and for playing! These dots were lost in conversion to custom card design. I have submitted release 4.10 with the fix to Apple on Sunday, Feb 1. Should be available in the App Store shortly. Not sure what is taking them so long. UPDATE 2/18/26 - version 4.10 was finally approved yesterday. Sorry for the long wait. ### 5/5 — Sequence *2026-01-17* Can you make this game were I can win please. Because each time i play it I can’t win at all. So please make it easier to win? 🙏😭 and also make it a little faster it’s also kinda slow. And same goes for goldfish game to also very hard to win, can you make it were I can win also. 😭🙏 **Developer response:** Thank you very much for your feedback! Have you tried “Use large cards” option in the Settings page? What device are you playing this on? I will try to create even larger print cards. Certainly can make the chips bigger too. Have you used the Hint (swipe right)? I will outline all the cards on the board that match the cards in your hand. Or are you suggesting strategic hints? You can always leave feedback on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563624710165 or email info@feingames.com Updated on August 7, 2025 I would like to let you know that a new version 2.3 was just released. It has three different card size options, and the chips are littler bigger, too. I hope it will make this game more enjoyable for you! ### 5/5 — Great game! *2026-01-13, version 4.7* I actually think this version is quite good. If I set the game to casual I win a lot! If I set it to pro I lose a lot! So I switch it up between pro and casual. Casual for when I want to win and pro when I get tired of winning and back to casual when I get frustrated at losing! 😂. But right now I am addicted to this. They ask for a tip and if I feel I use it enough I will. But would like the option to buy it. ### 5/5 — Sequence *2025-12-12* The game is slow to move the chips and it’s still hard to see it highlighted either. And it’s hard for me to win also. Can you please make the chips look bolder as well? Sorry to bother you again. 🙏 **Developer response:** Thank you very much for your feedback! Have you tried “Use large cards” option in the Settings page? What device are you playing this on? I will try to create even larger print cards. Certainly can make the chips bigger too. Have you used the Hint (swipe right)? I will outline all the cards on the board that match the cards in your hand. Or are you suggesting strategic hints? You can always leave feedback on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563624710165 or email info@feingames.com Updated on August 7, 2025 I would like to let you know that a new version 2.3 was just released. It has three different card size options, and the chips are littler bigger, too. I hope it will make this game more enjoyable for you! ### 5/5 — Best Game of All Time! *2025-12-06* Please add local Multiplayer function at all costs!! **Developer response:** Thank you for your feedback and for playing! I’m working on two player version now. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-04.*