Gomoku
Gomoku: Quick Guide and Game Info
Gomoku is a two-player strategy game with one simple objective: be the first to place five stones in a row. Choose a 9×9, 13×13 or 15×15 board, decide whether you want to play as Black or White and take on one of three computer opponents: Marty, Sensei or Shodan. Black always makes the first move. From there, you and your opponent take turns placing one stone on any empty intersection. Connect five horizontally, vertically or diagonally and you win the game.
The rules are simple. Convincing Shodan to let you make that fifth connection is another matter.
About Our Gomoku
Our Gomoku gives you three board sizes and three computer opponents with very different levels of ability. Choose Marty for a relaxed game, move up to Sensei when you want an opponent who pays attention to your threats, or challenge Shodan when you’re ready for a much tougher match. You can play as either Black or White. Black always starts, so choosing White means your computer opponent gets the opening move. There are no forbidden-move rules or special restrictions to worry about. If an intersection is empty, you can place your stone there. The first player to connect five stones in a straight line horizontally, vertically or diagonally wins immediately. Your wins are tracked as you play, so try different opponents and board sizes and see which combination gives you the most trouble.
Choose Your Opponent
The three difficulty levels don’t simply change a number behind the scenes. Marty, Sensei and Shodan approach the board differently.
Easy – Marty is the opponent to choose when you’re learning Gomoku or just want a relaxed game. He occasionally notices an obvious opportunity to win or block you, but he doesn’t consistently recognize developing patterns on the board. Give yourself enough time to build a couple of threats and Marty will often leave you an opening. He’s unpredictable enough that you still need to pay attention, but patient players should usually be able to outmaneuver him.
Medium – Sensei takes the game much more seriously. He watches for immediate winning moves, blocks dangerous lines and tries to build combinations of his own. When there isn’t an obvious attack or defence to make, he generally prefers strong positions toward the centre of the board. His main limitation is that he’s better at dealing with the threat directly in front of him than anticipating complicated plans several moves into the future. Create two dangerous problems at once and even Sensei may struggle to deal with both.
Hard – Shodan is the strongest Gomoku opponent on Evergreen Arcade. He evaluates potential moves from both an attacking and defensive point of view, recognizes promising formations and pays attention to dangerous lines you’re building. He also likes creating pressure of his own rather than spending the entire game reacting to you. Shodan is a genuine challenge for casual players, but he isn’t unbeatable. Players who learn to create multiple threats several moves in advance can still catch him out.
Choose Your Board Size
You can play on three different board sizes.
9×9
The smallest board creates compact games where the action develops quickly. There isn’t as much room to spread out, so attacks and defensive moves tend to collide early. It’s a good choice when you want a faster game.
13×13
The 13×13 board provides a middle ground. There’s more room to develop patterns and attack from different directions without the game becoming as spread out as it can on the largest board.
15×15
The largest board gives both players considerably more space to work with. Threats can develop in different areas, and concentrating too heavily on one part of the board may allow your opponent to quietly build something dangerous elsewhere.
Whichever board you choose, the objective remains exactly the same: connect five stones before your opponent does.
Game Layout and Setup
Before the game begins:
- Choose a 9×9, 13×13 or 15×15 board.
- Select Marty, Sensei or Shodan as your opponent.
- Choose whether you want to play as Black or White.
Black always makes the first move.
If you choose Black, you start the game. If you choose White, your opponent places the opening stone.
Players then alternate turns, placing one stone at a time on any empty intersection.
There are no captures and stones don’t move after they’ve been placed. Every move stays on the board for the rest of the game.
The game ends immediately when either player creates a line of five stones horizontally, vertically or diagonally.
How to Play Gomoku
On your turn, choose any empty intersection and place your stone. Then your opponent does the same.
Your goal is to gradually create a line of five connected stones while preventing your opponent from completing one first.
A winning line can run:
- Horizontally
- Vertically
- Diagonally
Because stones cannot be moved or removed, every placement matters.
A move can help your own attack, block your opponent or sometimes accomplish both at once.
The first player to complete five in a row wins.
How to Improve Your Gomoku Strategy
The basic rules of Gomoku take only a moment to learn, but stronger play requires thinking beyond your next stone.
Don’t Focus Only on Making Five
If you wait until you already have four stones in a row before thinking about your attack, your opponent will usually see it coming. Strong positions are built gradually. Look for moves that allow your stones to develop in several directions rather than concentrating everything into one obvious line.
Keep Your Lines Open
A developing line that can be extended from both ends is more dangerous than one that’s already blocked at one end. If your opponent can stop an entire attack with a single defensive stone, you’ve made their job relatively easy. Try to create formations that give you more than one way to continue.
Pay Attention to Threes and Fours
You don’t have to wait until your opponent has four stones in a row before becoming concerned. A well positioned group of three can quickly turn into a serious threat, particularly if there is room to extend it from both sides. Likewise, don’t concentrate so heavily on blocking your opponent that you overlook opportunities to create pressure of your own.
Learn to Create Two Threats at Once
One of the most powerful ideas in Gomoku is the fork: a move that creates two dangerous threats at the same time. Your opponent only gets one move in response. If both threats require an immediate block, they may not be able to stop both of them. This becomes particularly important against Sensei and Shodan, where simple one-direction attacks are much easier for them to recognize.
More Gomoku Strategy Tips
Use Different Directions
Don’t think only horizontally and vertically. Diagonal lines can be easy to overlook, particularly once the board becomes crowded. A strong position may also allow one stone to contribute to more than one developing line at the same time. Those intersections can become extremely valuable.
Don’t Forget About the Rest of the Board
This matters increasingly as the board gets larger. It’s easy to become focused on one local battle while your opponent quietly develops another line several spaces away. Take a moment before each move to scan the entire board, especially on 13×13 and 15×15.
Adjust Your Strategy to Your Opponent
The same approach won’t necessarily work equally well against all three opponents.
Against Marty: Take your time and build useful patterns. Marty will often give you opportunities that Sensei and Shodan won’t, but don’t assume he’ll ignore an obvious winning move forever. Use games against Marty to practice recognizing open lines, forks and developing threats.
Against Sensei: Sensei is much better at recognizing obvious danger. Simple attacks are more likely to be blocked, so look for moves that create more than one problem at the same time. If you can force Sensei to respond to one threat while you’re developing another, you can start to gain the advantage.
Against Shodan: Don’t expect obvious three- and four-stone attacks to go unnoticed. Shodan evaluates both his own attacking possibilities and the threats you’re creating, so straightforward plans are much harder to complete. Think several moves ahead. Rather than asking only, “What happens if I place a stone here?”, consider what the board might look like after your opponent responds.
The best opportunities often come from positions where defending one threat creates another somewhere else.
A Little Bit of Gomoku History
Gomoku is an old strategy game traditionally associated with East Asia that became particularly well established in Japan.
The name Gomoku is derived from Japanese terminology referring to five pieces or stones, reflecting the game’s central objective of creating a line of five.
The game is traditionally played with black and white stones on a grid, which can make it look similar to Go at first glance. Despite the visual resemblance, the two games have very different objectives.
Go revolves around surrounding territory and capturing opposing stones. Gomoku is much more direct: make a line of five before your opponent does.
Different Gomoku rules and competitive variants have developed over time. Some introduce restrictions intended to reduce the advantage of the first player, while others use different board sizes or opening rules.
Our version keeps things deliberately simple. There are no forbidden moves or special opening restrictions: choose your board, choose your colour and try to connect five before Marty, Sensei or Shodan does.
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