How to play Gomoku
- Choose the computer (Easy, Medium or Hard) or a friend, and whether you play black or white. Black always moves first.
- Take turns placing a stone on an empty point where the lines cross. Stones never move once placed.
- The first player with five stones in an unbroken line, across, down or diagonally, wins. Five or more counts.
Tips for winning at Gomoku
- Play near the center. Stones in the middle can join rows in every direction; stones on the edge can’t.
- Make open threes. Three in a row with both ends free forces a block, which lets you choose where the game goes next.
- Look for double threats. A move that makes two threats at once, like two open threes or a four and an open three, can’t be fully blocked.
- Block early. An open three must be blocked at once, or it becomes an open four, which can’t be stopped.
- Watch the diagonals. Diagonal rows are the easiest to miss, for you and for your opponent.
About the game
Gomoku is a strategy game from Japan, played with black and white stones on a grid like a Go board. Players take turns placing stones, and the first to make an unbroken row of five wins. In freestyle play on a 15 by 15 board the first player can always force a win, as a computer search proved in 1994, and that edge is why tournament rules such as Renju limit black. This version uses a 15 by 15 board and freestyle rules, with the computer at three levels or a friend on the same device.