Gomoku Onlineplay connect 5 — five in a row — free

Gomoku is a two-player strategy board game in which Black and White take turns placing stones on a 15×15 grid. The first player to get five stones in an unbroken line — horizontally, vertically, or diagonally — wins. It is also called connect 5, five in a row, gobang, and in Chinese wuziqi (五子棋). The name comes from Japanese: “go” means five and “moku” is a counter for pieces.

Start with an empty 15×15 board. Black places one stone on any intersection, then White does the same, and turns alternate. Stones never move and are never captured. Make lines of your colour while blocking your opponent’s. The first to complete five in a row wins; if the board fills up with no five, it is a draw.

Yes. playgomoku.app is completely free and runs entirely in your browser. There is nothing to buy, download, or install, no account to create, and no video ads between games. Open the page, pick an opponent, and play.

Yes — choose 2 Players on the setup screen to play pass-and-play on one device. Black moves first and the turn indicator shows whose move it is. Online matchmaking against strangers is not offered; the game is fully client-side with no servers or accounts.

On this site, yes. It uses freestyle rules, where five or more stones in a row wins. Some rule sets — “standard” gomoku and Black’s side in Renju — do not count an overline of six or more as a win, which is worth knowing if you play in tournaments.

Yes. Moving first is a large advantage: in 1994 computer scientist Victor Allis proved that with perfect play Black can always force a win in freestyle gomoku on a 15×15 board. That is why tournament play uses Renju restrictions or swap openings. In casual play the advantage is real but far from decisive, and choosing White against the computer is a good way to practise defence.

Build toward a double threat. Block every open three as soon as it appears, keep your stones near the centre and connected, and look for a single move that creates a four and an open three at the same time — the computer can only block one. Undo lets you take a move back and try a different line.

Renju is the professional form of gomoku, named in 1899 in Japan. It is played on the same 15×15 board but restricts Black: Black may not make a double three, a double four, or an overline, and loses if forced into one. These rules, plus special opening procedures, offset Black’s first-move advantage. White has no restrictions.

No. Gomoku uses Go equipment — the board and black and white stones — but Go is a territory game with captures, while gomoku is a pure five-in-a-row race. Connect Four is a vertical game with gravity on a 7×6 grid that needs only four; in gomoku you can place a stone on any empty point of a much larger board.

Your record against the computer (wins, losses, draws, current and best streak, fastest win) and your two-player tally are saved locally in your browser, along with your sound setting and preferred mode and colour. Nothing is sent to a server and there is no account, so a different device, a new browser profile, or cleared site data starts fresh. A game in progress is not saved if you close the tab.

Yes. The board scales to fit your screen so the full 15×15 grid, the turn indicator, and the controls fit in portrait without scrolling. Tap an intersection to place a stone. Starting a new game is instant, with no page reload.