How to play Gomoku.

Swap2: our primary Gomoku format

Play on a 15 × 15 board. Swap2 balances the opening by choosing colours after the first stones are placed.

1. The opening player places three stones anywhere: Black, White, Black.
2. The other player chooses Black or White, or places two more stones: White, then Black.
3. If two stones were added, the opening player chooses their final colour.
4. White moves next. Players then alternate on empty intersections.
5. Exactly five stones horizontally, vertically or diagonally wins. Six or more does not win. There are no forbidden moves.
6. A full board without a winning line is a draw.

Quick Search, friend challenges and Daily Arena use Swap2 by default. Freestyle and the other variants remain available.

Three beginner tips

For board examples and a practice routine, read our Gomoku strategy guide.

Look for an immediate win or block

Before building your own pattern, check whether either player can complete a line on the next move. Take a winning move when you have one; otherwise block an immediate threat.

Keep both ends open

A line of four with an empty intersection at each end gives you two possible winning moves. Your opponent normally has only one move to respond. Look for ways to build toward this shape.

Connect your threats

Stones near one another can support horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines at the same time. Avoid scattering isolated stones, and check all directions after every move. Tactical puzzles are a useful way to practise recognising these patterns.

Seven rulesets to explore

Swap2 comes first. Choose another ruleset when you want a different game:

Swap2

Our primary format: a balanced opening with colour choice, followed by exact-five play.

Renju

Black cannot make double-threes, double-fours, or a line of six or more. Black needs exactly five to win; White can win with exactly five.

Taraguchi-10

A Renju opening with centre-based placement, colour choices and a fifth-move candidate procedure. Follow the in-game guide for each decision.

Freestyle

Alternate from the first move. Exactly five in a row wins.

Pente

Capture an opponent’s pair by bracketing it. Win with five in a row or five captured pairs.

Ninuki-renju

A capture variant that combines line-building with extra tactical conditions. Read the in-game rules before your first match.

Caro

A five blocked at both ends does not win.

Play Gomoku online with friends

Open the free browser game and start as a guest or sign in. No app download is needed. Use Party Host to create a private room and share its code with a friend, or find an opponent through online matchmaking.

Gomoku Party supports play across web, iPhone, iPad, and the Android test version. Online matches need an internet connection. To play face to face, create local players and take turns on the same device.

For a competitive session, try ranked games with ELO ratings and leaderboards, or Daily Arena tournaments. For a shorter practice session, try the Daily Puzzle, difficulty-based practice, 3- or 5-minute Rush, and Survival, or challenge another player in Puzzle Battle.

Your table. Your country. Your season.

Winner Stays tables · beta

Stay at one table to play, watch and chat. The winner keeps a seat, the next challenger steps in, and the other player rejoins the queue. Draws keep the defender; with two players, both stay. Open Winner Stays in the game to join a table; guests can join too. Explore Winner Stays.

Nations Cup · beta

Sign in and earn points for your automatically assigned country in eligible rated games against registered human players from a different known country. Both players must be eligible; same-country games earn no Cup points. Scoring is 1 for a loss, 2 for a draw, 3 for a win, or 5 for beating a higher-rated opponent. Tournament games add 2 more. Up to 20 games count per UTC day, with at most 3 against the same opponent. Explore the world map, shared missions and country chat; guests can look around too.

Season 2026 and the final

Two 11-round Swap2 Swiss tournaments each Sunday from 21:10 Europe/Bucharest: 1+0 and 1+1, with at least 11 players per event. Game points and placement bonuses count towards monthly and annual standings. Each month qualifies the highest eligible player who has not qualified yet. Annual standings fill the remaining invitations, up to 12.

The final is scheduled for 17 January 2027 at 21:10 Europe/Bucharest, with at least 4 confirmed entrants. The game displays local start times. Season competition standings are separate from Nations Cup country rankings.

Practice, review and learn together

Rapfi offers six private, unrated practice levels: Novice, Beginner, Casual, Intermediate, Strong and Expert. Choose Freestyle, Renju or Swap2 and build confidence at your own pace. After a finished game, signed-in players can explore replays, engine review and variations; analysis is unavailable during a live game.

Coaching is a beta workspace for registered players. Save private studies, invite players, explore variations and annotate the shared board with arrows and circles. Vision can import a board position from a screenshot or photo when enabled; daily limits apply. On the web, choose an image, drag it onto the board or paste it. Check the imported position before continuing.

Choose your screen

Download the free iPhone and iPad app, or play on the web. Android players can join Google Play testing; Android is a test version before public release. Features and appearance may vary by platform and store version.

Desktop players can also download Gomoku Party for macOS and Linux.

The game includes English and Hungarian. For screenshots and an interactive preview, visit the Gomoku Party homepage. Need help with access or your account? Visit support.

Common questions