⚪ Gomoku (Five in a Row)
🎲 Board · 0 playsGomoku (Five in a Row)
Five stones in an unbroken line, on a board large enough to hide the threat.
About Gomoku (Five in a Row)
Gomoku gives both players a limitless-feeling grid and one objective: five stones in a row, in any direction. Its depth comes from the open three — a line of three with both ends free, which threatens a four that cannot be blocked on both sides and therefore forces an immediate response. Strong play consists of stringing such forcing moves together until two threats appear at once, while reading your opponent's stones for the same pattern forming quietly on a diagonal. Because every stone both attacks and defends, a move spent purely on defence usually loses ground, and the game is often decided several turns before the winning line is visible.
How to Play
Place a stone on any empty intersection; the computer answers with one of its own. Five in an unbroken row wins, counted horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Watch for a line of three with both ends open — left alone, it usually wins the game.
💡 Tips & Strategy
Play the double threat. A single open line of three is easy to block; two threats created by one stone cannot both be answered, and nearly every win comes from engineering that fork.
Open threes matter more than closed fours. A three with both ends free forces a response, while a four already blocked at one end is answered with a single stone and gains nothing. Count the open ends, not the stones.
Watch your opponent's shape as carefully as your own. Because the first player has a strong advantage, defending one move too late is the usual way a game is lost — block a developing open three immediately rather than racing.
Keep your stones connected but not rigid. A tight line is predictable and easy to contain; stones a knight's move apart create several potential lines at once and are far harder to answer.