Gomoku
Gomoku, also called Five in a Row, is an abstract strategy board game. It is traditionally played with Go pieces on a Go board.
Players alternate turns placing a stone of their color on an empty intersection. Black plays first. The winner is the first player to form an unbroken chain of five stones horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
Placing so that a line of more than five stones of the same color is created does not result in a win. These are called overlines.
However, in Caro, a variant also called Gomoku+, the winner must have an overline, or an unbroken row of five stones that is not blocked at either end.
Number of players: 2
Game duration: 4 mn
Complexity: 1 / 5
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Play Gomoku and 959 other games online.
No download necessary - play directly from your web browser.
With your friends and thousands of players from the whole world.
Free.
Rules summary
Gameplay
Gomoku, also called Five in a Row, is an abstract strategy board game. It is traditionally played with a Go board and stones.
Players alternate turns placing a stone of their colour on an empty intersection. Black plays first.
The winner is the first player to form a line of exactly five consecutive stones horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
Options
Board size
Variant
Winning conditions of a game are displayed above the game board.
- Align exactly 5 stones in a row horizontally, vertically, or diagonally that is not blocked at either end
- Align more than 5 stones in a row horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, regardless of blocked ends
Opening rule
The first three options are unavailable in ranked games due to first player advantage.
The first stone of the second player may be placed anywhere on the board.
The second stone of the first player must be placed at least three intersections away from the first stone.The first stone of the second player may be placed anywhere on the board.
The second stone of the first player must be placed at least four intersections away from the first stone.The second player then chooses which colour to play as.
Play proceeds from there as normal with white playing their second stone.The second player then has three options:
- choose to play as black
- choose to play as white and place a second white stone
- place two more stones, one white and one black, and pass the choice of which colour to play back to the first player.
Player preferences
Open the top-right menu from the game screen or use the 'Options' tab below the game board to access these preference options.
The player must confirm to complete their move.
Red buttons are irreversible.- swap: first three stones
- swap 2: first two stones and the fourth stone from the third choice
- see Opening rule
