Place one stone per turn. Black begins. The first player to connect five or more stones wins.
Board and turns
The board has 15 rows and 15 columns. Click or tap an empty intersection to place a stone. On a keyboard, focus the board, move with the arrow keys, and press Enter. Black moves first, then White; occupied intersections cannot be used again.
Winning lines
Five or more stones of one color in an unbroken horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line win immediately. The game highlights every stone in the winning line and reports its direction and endpoints. If all 225 intersections are filled without a winning line, the game is a draw.
Choose a game mode
- Computer: You play Black. The computer plays White after a brief thinking pause. This is a casual opponent, not a tournament-strength engine.
- Same-screen friend: Two people alternate turns on one device.
- Online: Choose a nickname, then select Find opponent to meet another waiting player. Black and White are assigned randomly. Cancel search before a match is assigned to leave the queue. After a game, select Find next opponent. Each turn has a 90-second limit, including while a player is disconnected. Refreshing resumes the active match; leaving or resigning counts as a loss.
Streaks and the leaderboard
Only random online matches count. A win adds one to your current streak; a loss or draw resets it to zero. Your best streak is saved separately. The top 50 players are ordered by best streak, then total wins, then fewer losses. Computer, same-screen, and older private-room games do not affect rankings. Your nickname and record are linked to this browser: clearing site data loses access, and there is no account-based recovery.
Strategy for beginners
Look for open lines of three and four stones. Block an opponent's immediate five before building your own line. A line open at both ends can be more threatening than one blocked at an end. Watch diagonals as closely as rows and columns.
Which rule set is used?
This site uses freestyle Gomoku. Six or more in a row also win. It does not apply Renju restrictions such as the Black overline, double-three, or double-four prohibition, and it does not enforce tournament opening rules. If you play under another rule set, agree on that before starting.
Play Gomoku ↗