Pentago

By Mindtwister USA
Price $19.95
Age 6 & Up

This two-player game from Mindtwister is great fun. Start playing after eyeballing the instructions for just 30 seconds or so, then gain a deeper understanding as you go. The concept is simple, and very clever. Be the first player to get five same-colored marbles in a row. The twist is, in this case, literally a twist: Each move consists of placing a marble (one player is black, the other white) on one of the four quadrants of the brilliantly designed board and then twisting any of the four quadrants ninety degrees. This means players have two direct ways to disrupt their opponent's progress and advance their own - marble placement and quadrant rotation. And the latter can make it challenging to see just what curve ball is coming your way, including hearing the words, 'I won,' just as you were planning your victory dance.