Gomoku — also called Five in a Row — is a pure, elegant game of pattern and threat: line up five of your stones before your opponent does. This free online Gomoku game plays in your browser against a computer opponent, with no download or sign-up.
The rules could not be simpler, but strong play is all about creating several threats at once and reading your opponent's lines before they complete. It is a fast, sharp game you can finish in minutes.
Gomoku's roots run deep in East Asia. The name is Japanese — go-moku means 'five pieces' — and the game has been played for centuries on the same grid used for Go, with Go stones. Versions appear across China (as wuziqi) and Korea (as omok), and it has long been a popular pastime precisely because the equipment is so simple.
Because the basic game gives a strong advantage to the first player, competitive versions add balancing rules — most famously Renju, the professional Japanese form, which restricts Black's moves to keep the game fair. Mathematically, free-style Gomoku on an unrestricted board is a proven first-player win, which is exactly why serious play uses these handicaps.
The goal is to be the first to place five of your stones in an unbroken line — horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Players alternate placing one stone on an empty intersection, and stones never move once placed. The first to make a row of five wins; if the board fills with no five-in-a-row, it is a draw.
That is the entire rulebook. All of the game's depth comes from the interaction of threats: because your opponent can block only one point per turn, the art is in building positions that threaten to make five in more than one way at the same time.
Click any empty intersection to place your stone. The most recent move is marked so you can follow the sequence, and play alternates automatically with the computer.
Gomoku is won by creating threats faster than your opponent can answer them. Because they block only one point per turn, forcing them to defend keeps the initiative firmly in your hands.
Understand the open four. Four stones in a row with both ends open is a winning threat: your opponent can block only one end, so you complete five at the other. Creating an open four is usually the finishing blow — everything before it is about setting one up.
Make the open three your main weapon. Three in a row with both ends open threatens to become an open four, so it forces your opponent to respond. Chaining open threes keeps them permanently on defence while you improve your position.
Win with a double threat. The core winning idea is a single move that creates two separate open-ended threats at once — a double three or, better, a four-and-three fork. Your opponent cannot block both, so your next move wins. Every plan should aim toward a fork.
Always keep the initiative. Whoever is attacking controls the game. Even a slightly weaker attacking line beats passive defence, because forcing moves dictate where your opponent must play. Only switch to defence when a real threat demands it.
Defend threats immediately and efficiently. When your opponent makes an open three or four, block it at once — but try to block in a way that also builds one of your own lines, turning defence straight back into attack.
Play close and use the centre. Stones work together only when they are near each other, so build a connected cluster rather than scattering. Starting near the centre gives your lines the most room to grow in every direction.
If you move first against the AI, press your advantage with constant threats; if you move second, defend accurately and wait for an overextension, then seize the initiative with a fork of your own.
How do you win at Gomoku?
You win by placing five of your stones in an unbroken row horizontally, vertically or diagonally. In practice you win by building a double threat — two ways to make five at once — that your opponent cannot block with a single move.
What is an open three and an open four?
An open three is three in a row with both ends free; it threatens to become an open four and usually must be answered. An open four is four in a row with both ends free, which wins immediately because only one end can be blocked.
Does the first player always win?
In unrestricted free-style Gomoku the first player has a proven winning strategy, which is why competitive rules add handicaps on Black. In a casual game the first-move advantage is real, but accurate defence can still hold.
Is this Gomoku game free?
Yes — play free in your browser against the computer, with no download and no sign-up.
More classic games: Gomoku (paper), Four in a Row, Tic-Tac-Toe, Go, Reversi, plus all 100 free games.