Comparison

Pente Live vs Pente for iMessage

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Pente Live

Engage in strategic board game battles on a 19x19 grid. Compete globally in turn-based or live matches, test your skills against AI, and join tournaments. Explore various Pente and Gomoku variants with unique rules and capture mechanics.

Highlights
  • Turn-based and real-time online play
  • Play against computer opponents
  • Participate in tournaments
  • King of the Hill mode
  • Game database search
  • Multiple Pente and Gomoku variants
Features
Read full description

Pente is a board game that is easy to learn, difficult to master. Compete with players all over the world on a 19x19 board. There is - turn-based play, - realtime (live) play, - play against 2 different computer players, - participate in tournaments, - play King of the Hill and earn a crown, - search the game database by position for the most popular or best move! Gomoku: To win, place 5 (not more) of your stones in a straight continuous line (either horizontally, vertically or diagonally). Pente is like Gomoku but you can win by getting more than 5 in a row. In Pente you can capture stones by enclosing a pair of your opponent's stones. For example, if the stones are like this XOO and you place your stone so it becomes XOOX, then your opponents' stones are removed from the board, leaving X__X. You can also win at Pente by capturing 10 or more of your opponents stones. You can't play into a capture. Rated games have a "Tournament Rule". It restricts player 1's second move so that player 1's second move must be at least 3 intersections away from the center of the board. Keryo-Pente is like Pente but you can also capture 3 stones in a row. G-Pente restricts player 1's second move, like the tournament rule. It additionally prohibits playing on the 4th and 5th intersections away from the center of the board that are one the same horizontal or vertical line as player 1's first move. (These are the most common 2nd moves for white). D-Pente: Player 1 places 2 white and 2 black stones as a first move. Then player 2 decides to play as player 2, or decides to swap seats and take over as player 1! Afterwards, play continues like regular Pente. Poof-Pente: The main difference is that you can play into a capture! (e.g., from XO_X player plays XOOX) then the stones are "poofed" (removed from the board and counted as captures). Normal captures are still allowed and the number of captures to win remains at 10 stones. Up to 5 stones could be poofed in one move! Also note that my current implementation performs the following actions in sequence after a move: Check if move captured any opponents stones, if so remove stones from the board. Check if move creates a poof position, if so remove stones from the board. Check if player has a 5-in-a-row, if so the player wins. A player could capture and be poofed in the same move and the capture count could end up as 10-10. The game keeps going until one player has an advantage (i.e., gets more captured stones or gets five-in-a-row). There are no draws. Boat-Pente differs in the end game. Once a Pente is made (5 stones in a row), the game continues as long as the opponent is able to capture across the Pente! Capturing 5 pairs is still a win like in Pente and the tournament rule is used for rated games. Connect6: The goal is to be the first player to get 6 pieces in a row, either vertically, horizontally or diagonally. Player one plays one stone at the center of the board. After that each player gets to place two stones on the board at a time. DK-Pente is D-Pente with Keryo-Pente rules. O-Pente combines Keryo, Poof, and Boat Pente Go is also available on 3 different board sizes: 19x19, 13x13, and 9x9. Swap2-Pente is Pente with Swap2 rules. Swap2-Keryo is Keryo-Pente with Swap2 rules. ------ This app offers a 1 year auto-renewable subscription for $4.99 USD/year. Payment will be charged to your iTunes account, and your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Auto-renewal may be turned off at any time by going to your settings in the iTunes Store after purchase. Prices may vary in countries other than the U.S. and are subject to change without notice. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during the active subscription period. If you don’t choose to purchase a subscription you can simply continue playing for free. The privacy policy and TOS can be found at https://pente.org/help/helpWindow.jsp?file=privacyPolicy

About

Pente for iMessage

Engage in a classic strategy board game directly within your messaging app. Challenge friends and family by placing stones to form five in a row or capture opponent pieces. Enjoy simple rules with deep strategic possibilities, all without leaving your conversations.

Highlights
  • Play directly in iMessage
  • Classic Pente gameplay
  • Five-in-a-row objective
  • Stone capture mechanics
  • Automatic move validation
  • Game state saved in history
Features
Read full description

Bring the excitement of Pente to your conversations! This classic strategy board game lets you challenge friends and family right in Messages. HOW TO PLAY: • Place stones on the board to get five in a row • Capture opponent pairs by surrounding them • Win by getting five in a row OR capturing 10 stones • Simple rules, deep strategy FEATURES: • Play directly in iMessage conversations • Beautiful, clean game board • Automatic move validation • Game state saved in message history • Works on iPhone and iPad Perfect for quick games during conversations or longer strategic battles. No separate app needed - everything happens right in Messages! Pente combines the simplicity of tic-tac-toe with the depth of Go. Easy to learn, challenging to master.

Screenshots

Pente Live3 screens
Pente for iMessage3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Pente for iMessage at 100% against Pente Live's 50%. Pente for iMessage also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.3) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). Pente Live's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (338 vs 5). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Pente Live sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per year. Pente for iMessage asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pente for iMessage holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pente Live has 338 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Pente Live's written reviews are positive against 100% of Pente for iMessage's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pente Live ships an update weekly, Pente for iMessage every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Pente Live versus Pente for iMessage: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPente LivePente for iMessage
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (338 ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings338 — better5
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.5
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB1 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperWalied OthmanCole Bart Madden

Customer experience

Pente Live

All ratings338 ratings
Positive84.0%
Neutral5.0%
Negative10.9%
Written reviews44 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral4.5%
Negative45.5%

Pente for iMessage

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Pente Live

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Drops stone in wrong spot
  • Move ends up in different position
  • Changes last location
  • Freezes
  • Bumps out of a game
Show 7 more
  • App down
  • Screen frozen
  • App freezes
  • App keeps crashing intermittently
  • Crashes after every game
  • App quits every time to start a game
  • Game froze

Requested features

9 requests
  • Replay button
  • Landscape mode on iPad
  • Slower AI response time
  • Improved UI
  • Take back move option
Show 4 more
  • Pinch to zoom and separate 'finish move' button
  • Dark mode
  • Option to disable ads
  • Sign in with AppleID or Google

Pente for iMessage

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Pente Live

Subscriptions1
  • Pente.org subscription$4.991 Year
None

Pente for iMessage

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pente Live free?
Pente Live is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pente for iMessage free?
Pente for iMessage is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pente Live or Pente for iMessage?
Pente for iMessage is rated higher. Pente Live averages 4.3 out of 5 from 338 ratings, while Pente for iMessage averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do Pente Live or Pente for iMessage have ads?
Neither Pente Live nor Pente for iMessage shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pente Live or Pente for iMessage?
Pente Live ships an update weekly, and Pente for iMessage every 2 months. Most recently, Pente Live was updated on October 14, 2026 and Pente for iMessage on October 2, 2026.

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