Lines of Action is a classic abstract strategy board game played on an 8x8 grid, and you can play it free online here in your browser with no download or sign-up. You start with twelve indigo pieces lining the left and right edges while the gold AI fills the top and bottom. Every move follows one elegant rule: a piece travels in a straight line exactly as many squares as there are pieces (yours and your opponent's combined) standing on that same row, column, or diagonal.
What makes this free online Lines of Action game so addictive is the tension between offense and defense: you may leap over your own pieces but never over an enemy, and landing on an opponent captures it. Fewer pieces on the board means longer moves, so every capture reshapes the geometry of the battle. Play in browser against Easy, Medium, or Hard AI and learn to weave your scattered stones into one unbreakable cluster before your opponent does the same.
Lines of Action reached a wide audience through Sid Sackson's celebrated 1969 games anthology A Gamut of Games, and it has since become a fixture of abstract-strategy circles and the Computer Olympiad, where AI programs have battled over it for decades. Players prize it because it inverts the usual logic of capture games: taking enemy pieces actually helps your opponent, since fewer pieces are easier to unite into one connected group.
The movement rule also means the board's geometry is always shifting. Every capture changes how many pieces sit on each row, column and diagonal, which changes how far every remaining piece can travel. A position that looks safe can collapse after a single exchange — so counting lines carefully matters more than grabbing material.
Connect all of your own pieces into a single group touching orthogonally or diagonally.
Click a piece to select it, then click a highlighted destination to move; on mobile, tap the piece then tap the target square.
Win by connecting all your pieces into one group; a capture that connects your stones wins instantly.
Count every piece on a line before moving — captures shorten lines and can swing distances in your favor. Pull your edge pieces toward the center early, avoid stranding lone stones in corners, and watch for moves that split the opponent's group.
How do pieces move in Lines of Action?
A piece moves in a straight line exactly as many squares as there are pieces — yours and your opponent's — on that row, column or diagonal. You may jump over your own pieces but never over enemy pieces, and landing on an enemy piece captures it.
How do you win Lines of Action?
Connect all of your remaining pieces into a single group in which every piece touches another horizontally, vertically or diagonally. If a capture leaves your pieces connected, you win instantly.
Is Lines of Action free to play online?
Yes — play free in your browser against Easy, Medium or Hard AI, with no download or sign-up.
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