How to Play Gomoku (Five in a Row)

1. Two players take turns, one plays X and the other plays O.
2. On your turn place one mark on any empty intersection of the grid.
3. The first player to line up five marks in a row — horizontally, vertically or diagonally — wins the round.
4. The winning line is circled, and a new round starts on the same sheet.
5. In Mopyon the match runs until a player has won five rounds.

Play near the centre. Marks in the middle of the board can grow in eight directions, while an edge mark loses half of its potential lines. A good first sequence is to build a compact cluster of three rather than a long thin chain: clusters create several threats at once, and your opponent can only block one per turn.

Almost every Gomoku game is decided by threat counting. Learn these three shapes:

• Open three — three in a row with empty points on both ends. It must be blocked immediately or it becomes an open four.
• Open four — four in a row with two empty ends. This is already a win: your opponent can only block one side.
• Double threat (fork) — one move that creates two separate threes or fours. Forks are how strong players actually win.

Before each move, scan your opponent's marks for any line of three. Block the end that also extends one of your own lines, so a defensive move doubles as an attack. If you are forced to block every turn, you have already lost the initiative — look for a move that both blocks and creates a three of your own.

Mopyon keeps the five-in-a-row core but adds the Haitian schoolyard match format: rounds are drawn on the same page, the winning line is looped with a pen, and the first player to five round wins takes the match. You can play against the computer, side by side on one phone, or live against a friend anywhere in the world.

Start a game of Mopyon →