Five in a Row
Controls
About this game
Five in a Row is the timeless Gomoku duel between black and white stones on a 15-by-15 board. You always play Black and move first. Your goal is simple: get five of your stones in a row - horizontally, vertically or diagonally - before the AI does. We use the friendly free rule set, meaning no forbidden-move restrictions for Black, so you can focus on the joy of attack-and-defence rather than memorising rule lists. Three AI personalities give you the right level of fight: Easy adds a healthy dose of random imperfection, Medium consistently picks the strongest attack-defence balance from a pruned shortlist, and Hard adds a one-ply lookahead so it anticipates your reply before committing. The AI runs a heuristic evaluator that recognises classic shapes - five, open four, closed four, open three and more - and trades off offence against defence. Hover over the board to preview your move, undo a pair of moves at any time, and chase a win streak that is saved across sessions.
Tips & tricks
- Build threats in pairs (double three, three-four). A single line is easily blocked; two simultaneous threats win games.
- Watch for an open three from the AI - if you don't block, it becomes an open four next turn and the game is over.
- Centre is power. Early moves near the centre give you four directions of attack; corners give you fewer.
- The Undo button takes back your last pair of moves, perfect for trying alternate plans without restarting.
- On Hard the AI looks one move ahead. Setting up a fork now is more reliable than chasing a single threatening line.
