10 Games Like Gomoku to Play Free Online (2026)

Gomoku (also called Five in a Row; Renju is its rule-restricted tournament cousin) has been played in Japan for well over a century, and its roots in Go-board line games run older still. The objective is simple: place stones on a 15×15 grid; first to make 5 in a row wins. Black always plays first and has a winning advantage (proven by Victor Allis and colleagues in 1993–94). Here are 10 free browser games with the same line-up-stones strategic DNA.

Key takeaways

The closest games like Gomoku are other line-up games: Connect Four, Tic-Tac-Toe and Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe.
Hex and Reversi swap the five-in-a-row goal for connection and flipping, but reward the same long-range board reading.
Every game on this list runs free in a browser, and most offer both a CPU opponent and a 2-player mode on one device.
The skill that carries over between all of them is the double threat: make two winning threats at once and your opponent can only block one.

Games like Gomoku at a glance

Game	Board	How you win	How close to Gomoku
Gomoku	15×15 grid	Five in a row	The original
Connect Four	7 columns × 6 rows	Four in a row, discs drop with gravity	Very close
Tic-Tac-Toe	3×3	Three in a row	Close, but tiny
Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe	Nine 3×3 boards	Three mini-boards in a row	Close, with a twist
Reversi (Othello)	8×8	Most discs at the end	Same board feel, different goal
Checkers	8×8	Capture or block every enemy piece	Loose
Chess	8×8	Checkmate	Loose
Hex	Rhombus of hexagons (7×7 to 13×13 here)	Connect your two sides	Close in spirit
Dots and Boxes	Grid of dots	Claim the most boxes	Loose
Mastermind	Code rows	Crack the hidden code	Logic only

1. Gomoku

The 15×15 classic. Black and white stones. First to 5-in-a-row wins. Our AI uses threat detection and pattern scoring. Against the CPU you play Black and move first; Easy takes an immediate win or blocks yours, otherwise picking the best-scoring point; Medium also looks ahead to your best reply, and Hard checks its top candidate moves for double threats. There’s also a 2-player mode for a friend on the same screen, plus an Undo button for trying a line again. Play Gomoku.

2. Connect Four

Drop discs; line up 4. Different board (7×6), simpler depth. Gravity is the big change: you can only play the lowest empty cell in a column, so a threat often sits waiting for the square beneath it to fill. Like Gomoku, Connect Four has been solved as a first-player win with perfect play. Our version has a CPU with three levels and a 2-player mode, and our Connect Four strategy guide covers the openings. Play Connect Four.

3. Tic-Tac-Toe

3-in-a-row on 3×3. The simplest line-up game. It’s the best place to see the fork idea in miniature: two lines threatened at once, one block available. With perfect play it’s always a draw, and our Impossible CPU never loses. Play Tic-Tac-Toe.

4. Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe

Nested tic-tac-toe with meta-board. Strategic depth in the meta. Nine mini-boards make up one big board, and the square you play in decides which mini-board your opponent must play in next (if that board is finished, they can go anywhere). Win three mini-boards in a row to win the game. Rules and tactics are in our Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe guide. Play Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe.

5. Reversi (Othello)

Different mechanic (flip discs) but same long-range board strategy. Place a disc to trap a line of your opponent’s discs and flip them to your color; golden dots show your legal moves. Corners can never be flipped, which is why they’re so valuable. For quicker games, try Reversi 6×6, the same rules on a smaller board. Play Reversi (Othello).

6. Checkers

Move-and-capture board game with deep middle-game strategy. Jumps are mandatory and multi-jumps chain, so you can set up forced sequences the way a Gomoku player builds forcing fours. Play the CPU on three levels or a friend on one device. Play Checkers.

7. Chess

The benchmark for two-player abstract strategy. The pieces and goal are nothing like Gomoku, but the habit of calculating forcing moves (checks there, fours here) carries over directly. Our CPU has Easy, Medium and Hard levels. Play Chess.

8. Hex

Connect opposite sides with a chain of stones. Pure positional strategy. Red links top to bottom, Blue links left to right, and the board comes in 7×7, 9×9, 11×11 or 13×13. Hex was invented independently by Piet Hein and John Nash, and it can never end in a draw: one side always completes a chain. Of everything here, it feels most like Gomoku, since you place stones that never move and block by building. Play Hex.

9. Dots and Boxes

Connect dots to claim boxes. Endgame chain-counting. Finish a box and you score and move again, so the game turns on who is forced to open the long chains. Board sizes run from 4×4 to 7×7 dots, against the CPU or a friend. Play Dots and Boxes.

10. Mastermind

Different format but similar ‘narrow down possibilities’ logical thinking. Each guess earns black pegs (right color, right position) and white pegs (right color, wrong position); Easy gives you 6 colors and 10 tries, Hard 8 colors and 8 tries. Play Mastermind.

More five in a row variants (and how they differ)

If Gomoku online free play has you hooked, it helps to know the family tree. These variants are played around the world, though our site hosts only standard Gomoku.

Freestyle Gomoku. Five or more in a row wins. Our Gomoku plays this way: an overline of six also counts.
Standard Gomoku. Some rule sets require exactly five, so an overline of six or more doesn’t win.
Renju. Black is barred from certain double threats and overlines, and tournaments add opening rules on top.
Pente. A commercial variant that adds captures: flank a pair of enemy stones to remove them, and five captured pairs is a second way to win.
Connect6. After Black’s opening stone, each player places two stones per turn and needs six in a row. The two-stone rule is meant to balance out the first-move edge.

Is Gomoku really ‘solved’ for Black?

Yes — in free-style Gomoku on a 15×15 board (no restrictions), Black wins with perfect play. Victor Allis and colleagues proved this with computer search in 1993, and Allis covered it in his 1994 PhD thesis.

To restore balance, Renju restricts Black: ‘double-three’, ‘double-four’ and overline (six or more) formations are forbidden for Black. Those restrictions reduce Black’s edge, and Renju tournaments, run under the Renju International Federation, add special opening rules on top. Modern Gomoku tournaments use their own opening protocols, such as Swap2, for the same reason.

Strategic principles

Three key concepts. Threats — a four (or an open three) that could become 5 forces the opponent to block. Double threats — creating two threats at once (two fours, or a four plus an open three) means the opponent can block only one; you win with the other. Open threes — three stones in a row with both ends open. Opponent must block immediately or you’ll have an unblockable 4.

Practice creating double-threats. They’re the engine that wins games at intermediate level. When you need a break from the board, the Chrome Dino game on our homepage is one key and zero strategy.

A few habits help in every connect five game on this list:

Play near the center early. Lines through the middle can extend in every direction; stones on the edge can’t.
Check your opponent’s threats before your own plans. Most lost games come from missing an open three, not from a weak attack.
Use forcing moves to gain tempo. A four your opponent must block lets you place the next stone wherever you like.
Build shapes, not single lines. Stones that support two or three directions at once are what turn into double threats later.

For a full walk-through from first moves to Renju rules, read how to play Gomoku.

How to choose your next five in a row game

Want the same feel, faster? Connect Four and Tic-Tac-Toe keep the line-up goal with shorter games.
Want more depth? Hex and Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe both reward thinking several moves ahead.
Want a stones-on-a-grid game with a different goal? Reversi, or Go itself; our guide to Go explains the basics.
Want pure calculation? Nim is a take-away game where every position is either winning or losing, and it’s a good drill for thinking in forced sequences.

Our roundup of abstract strategy games covers the wider family.

Frequently asked questions

What games are similar to Gomoku?

Connect Four, Tic-Tac-Toe and Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe share Gomoku’s line-up goal. Hex and Reversi share its board-reading strategy. Renju, Pente and Connect6 are direct variants of five in a row.

Can I play Gomoku online free against a friend?

Yes. Our Gomoku has a 2 Players mode for two people on the same device, as well as a CPU opponent with Easy, Medium and Hard levels. There’s no sign-up or download.

What is the difference between Gomoku and Connect Four?

Gomoku needs five in a row on a 15×15 board, and you can place a stone on any empty point. Connect Four needs four in a row on a 7×6 grid, and discs fall to the lowest open cell in a column.

Is Gomoku the same as Five in a Row and Renju?

Five in a Row is another name for Gomoku. Renju is a related game that restricts Black’s moves to offset the first-move advantage, and it has its own tournament openings.

Is Gomoku played on a Go board?

Traditionally, yes: it uses Go stones and is often played on a Go board’s intersections. The goal is completely different, though. Go is about surrounding territory, while Gomoku is a race to five in a row.

10 Games Like Gomoku — Free 5-in-a-Row Board Games