Complete Gameplay Guide - Pinpoint | Rules, Scoring & Strategies

🎲 About the Game

Pinpoint is a strategic pin placement game played on a 10×10 grid, supporting 2 to 4 players. It is a digital adaptation of the classic Pin Point board game, originally published in 1993 by Oliver Games of England — a fast, challenging strategy game for 2–4 players using pill-shaped coloured pieces on a 10×10 grid. A review of the original physical game can be found on BoardGameGeek.

The digital version preserves all the core rules of the original while adding four AI difficulty levels, real-time cross-platform online multiplayer between web and Android, and a live global leaderboard.

                Goal: Score the most points by forming lines, squares, and crosses with coloured pins on the board. The player with the highest total score when the board is full wins.
            

🗺️ The Board

The game is played on a 10×10 grid divided into four equal 5×5 sections. Understanding the board layout is the foundation of good strategy.

100 cells total — each cell can hold exactly one pin.
Four sections — top-left, top-right, bottom-left, bottom-right. Each section is 5×5 cells.
Section centres — the intersection point at the centre of each section (cells 3,3 / 3,8 / 8,3 / 8,8 on a 10×10 grid) are special bonus positions. Squares and crosses centred on these points score double their normal value.
Blue grid lines — the dividing lines between sections are visually highlighted. Patterns that span these lines can be especially valuable.

💡 Quick tip: Treat the four section centres as the most contested positions on the board. A player who controls two or three of them typically has a significant scoring advantage.

📌 Pins & Your Hand

Pin Colours

There are four standard pin colours: Red, Green, Purple, and Yellow. Unlike traditional two-player alignment games, all players share the same four colours — meaning any player can extend another player's colour line, intentionally or otherwise.

There is also a special fifth type: the Joker pin (displayed in white/gold). Jokers are wildcards that can represent any colour when played.

Your Hand

Each player holds a hand of 4 pins at a time.
Each hand always contains one pin of each colour (Red, Green, Purple, Yellow), ensuring fairness — no player is ever stranded without a colour.
Occasionally, a hand may include a Joker pin in place of one of the standard colours.
Once you have played all 4 pins from your hand, you automatically receive a new hand of 4.
On your turn, you must play exactly one pin onto any empty cell.

Joker Pins

When you play a Joker, you choose which of the four colours it represents. Once placed, the Joker permanently takes that colour for all scoring — it appears as a black pin on the board to signal it is a played Joker. Jokers are powerful precisely because they are flexible: they can complete any pattern of any colour, block an opponent from any angle, or set up a 6-Line Reversal in any direction.

💡 Joker timing: Resist using a Joker to score 2–3 points early. The best Joker moves complete a section-centre cross (10 pts), prevent an opponent's 6-line, or simultaneously score and block.

💯 Scoring Patterns

Points are scored by forming patterns of same-colour pins. Patterns can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. Scores are calculated and awarded immediately when the pattern is formed by your move.

For a detailed mathematical analysis of scoring mechanics, expected value calculations, and optimization strategies, see our Scoring Mechanics Deep Dive.

Lines

A line is any sequence of same-colour pins in a straight row — horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. Your score is equal to the length of the longest line your placed pin is part of, up to 5 pins. At 6 or more, the special Reversal mechanic triggers (see below).

Line Length	Points	Notes
1 pin	1 pt	Any isolated pin placement
2 pins	2 pts	Two adjacent same-colour pins
3 pins	3 pts	Three in a row
4 pins	4 pts	Four in a row
5 pins	5 pts	Five in a row
6+ pins	10 pts + Reversal!	Triggers the 6-Line Reversal mechanic

Squares & Crosses

⬛

Regular Square — 4 pts

Four same-colour pins forming a 2×2 square anywhere on the board that is not on a section centre.

🟥

Section Centre Square — 8 pts

A 2×2 square centred on one of the four section intersection points. Double value — the most efficient 4-pin pattern.

➕

Regular Cross — 5 pts

Five same-colour pins in a plus-sign shape (one centre, four orthogonal neighbours). Valid anywhere on the board.

❎

Section Centre Cross — 10 pts

A plus-sign cross centred exactly on a blue section grid line. The highest single-move score in the game.

💡 Combo scoring: A single pin can complete multiple patterns at once. A pin that simultaneously completes a 4-line and contributes to a square scores both — the game always awards the highest applicable pattern for each direction.

🔄 The 6-Line Reversal (Blackout)

This is Pinpoint's signature mechanic and the most important rule to master. When any player places a pin that creates a connected line of 6 or more same-colour pins in any direction, a Reversal occurs:

The triggering player scores 10 points.
All pins in that line are turned black — they are now neutralised and no longer count for any colour's patterns.
Black pins remain on the board, occupying cells, but score nothing for anyone.

                Why this matters: A well-timed reversal can wipe out an opponent's long line they spent many turns building, while simultaneously scoring 10 points for you. It is the primary comeback mechanic — a trailing player who engineers a reversal chain can dramatically close a score gap in a single round.
            

Strategic Use of Reversals

Offensive reversal: Build a 5-line of your colour, then complete it to score 10 pts and neutralise any opponent colours that were benefiting from those cells.
Defensive reversal: If an opponent has a 5-line ready, you can place a pin to extend their line to 6 from the opposite end — triggering the reversal yourself and stealing the 10 points before they can.
Chain reversals: Expert players set up positions where triggering one reversal creates a new 5-line opportunity in another colour, enabling back-to-back reversals in consecutive turns.

For a deep dive into reversal tactics, see the 6-Line Reversal Tactics guide.

🎮 Game Modes

Online Multiplayer

Create or join a room and play in real time against 1–3 other players over the internet. Cross-platform: web browser players and Android app players can compete in the same game room. Scores from completed online games count toward the global Leaderboard.

Local Multiplayer (Pass & Play)

Play on a single device with 2–4 players passing it between turns. The screen clears between turns so each player only sees their own hand. AI players can be mixed in with human players — useful if you have 3 humans and want a 4-player game without a fourth device.

vs AI Opponents

Practice solo against four AI difficulty levels:

Easy: Makes largely random moves. Good for learning the board and scoring patterns.
Medium: Applies basic scoring heuristics — prefers longer lines and avoids obviously bad moves.
Hard: Balances offensive scoring with defensive blocking. Will interrupt your lines when the opportunity is clear.
Expert: Uses a minimax search tree with alpha-beta pruning, looking up to three turns ahead. Plans for reversals, saves Jokers, and targets section-centre bonuses. This is a genuinely challenging opponent.

🏆 Core Strategy Principles

Pinpoint rewards players who think two to three turns ahead. These principles form the foundation of strong play at any level:

Contest section centres early. The centre squares and crosses score double. Getting to a section centre position in the first few turns of a game is almost always worth doing, even if it temporarily costs you a smaller score opportunity.
Build multi-directional threats. Place pins so that your current line can extend in more than one direction. An opponent can only block one threat per turn — two simultaneous threats guarantee you score on at least one.
Track all four colours, not just yours. Because colours are shared, you need to know which colours are close to reversals across the whole board, not just in your own patterns.
Never waste a Joker below 5 points. Jokers should complete high-value patterns: section-centre crosses (10 pts), 5-lines about to become 6-line reversals, or critical defensive blocks.
Diagonals are consistently undervalued. Most players focus on horizontal and vertical patterns. Diagonal lines are just as valuable but much harder for opponents to notice and block in time.
Plan your reversals before you need them. The best reversal triggers are set up 3–4 turns in advance, not improvised. Identify a colour where you can build a 5-line without opponents realising what you're doing.

For a full breakdown of beginner to expert techniques, see the Strategy Tips page. For the mathematical foundations of scoring and probability, see The Mathematics of Pinpoint. If you're starting your Pinpoint journey, check our Beginner to Expert Progression Guide for a structured learning path with clear milestones at each skill level.

📋 Quick Reference Card

Pattern	Score
1-pin placement	1 pt
2-pin line	2 pts
3-pin line	3 pts
4-pin line	4 pts
5-pin line	5 pts
6+ pin line (Reversal)	10 pts
2×2 Square	4 pts
2×2 Square on section centre	8 pts
Cross (plus shape)	5 pts
Cross on section centre	10 pts

A single move can trigger multiple patterns — the game scores the best applicable pattern for each direction.