How to Play Gomoku | Complete Rules & Guide
Gomoku takes one minute to learn: place stones, make five in a row. This one page covers the rules, the rule families, and winning against someone who fights back.
Gomoku, also called Five in a Row, may be the fastest board game to learn in the world. If you have ever played tic-tac-toe, you already understand the goal — Gomoku just gives it a real board, real depth, and real bragging rights. The word “Gomoku” still covers several rule families, so this guide also states exactly which rules the playable Paofuqi game uses and how the others differ. Eight short steps and you are ready to play.
Step 1: Meet the board and stones
Paofuqi Gomoku is played on a 15 by 15 grid — 225 intersections in total. One player takes black stones, the other white, and the board starts completely empty.
One detail matters from the very first move: stones are placed on the intersections where the lines cross, not inside the squares. Once a stone is placed, it never moves and is never removed. The board only fills up.
Step 2: Take turns — Black goes first
Players alternate, one stone per turn, on any empty intersection. Black always plays first in local and computer games. In online rooms, Paofuqi rolls dice to decide who takes Black, so the room creator does not always get the first-move advantage.
There is no passing and no stacking: every turn you place exactly one stone on an empty point. That is the entire mechanical rulebook — everything else is reading the board.
Step 3: Make five in a row to win
You win the instant five (or more) of your stones form an unbroken line — horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Paofuqi plays freestyle rules: a line of six or longer counts too, and there are no forbidden moves for either player.
If the entire board somehow fills with no five-in-a-row, the game is a draw — rare in practice, because open boards give attackers plenty of room.
Steps 5 and 6 below spell out exactly what Paofuqi uses — and what the other rule families change.
Step 4: Spot threats before they land
Almost every Gomoku game is decided by one skill: seeing dangerous shapes one move early. The two shapes to burn into memory are the open three — three in a row with both ends empty — and the four, which needs only one more stone to finish.
An open three must be answered immediately; ignore it and it becomes an open four, which cannot be stopped because it can complete on either end. When you attack, aim to create two threats at once — your opponent can only block one.
Threat-reading is a skill you can train fast. The Gomoku strategy guide walks through the key shapes with more examples.
Step 5: Know the exact Paofuqi ruleset
Paofuqi plays freestyle Gomoku: a line of five or more wins, there are no forbidden moves, and there is no special opening procedure. Because freestyle counts five or more, an overline of six or longer also wins. This is the simplest and most common casual ruleset.
First-move advantage is real in freestyle play — strong first play builds initiative on an empty board, which is exactly why competitive families add restrictions. Paofuqi keeps the casual rules and balances online games with the dice roll instead; for local play, simply swap colors between games.
- No forbidden moves: double-threes, double-fours, and overlines are all legal for both players.
- No exactly-five restriction: six or more in a row still wins.
- No Swap2 or other opening-swap procedure.
- No stone removal, capturing, or movement after a stone is placed.
Step 6: Know the other rule families
Some Gomoku rules require exactly five, so an overline of six or more does not win. Competitive Gomoku also uses opening systems such as Swap2, where the initial placement and color-choice procedure gives both players influence over who receives Black. Opening rules are part of a ruleset, not optional etiquette.
Renju is the formal tournament game derived from five-in-a-row: played on 15 × 15, it restricts Black with forbidden moves — double-threes, double-fours, and overlines — plus approved opening procedures, all designed to tame the first-player advantage. Calling every Gomoku game Renju is misleading; they are different rule families.
When you play somewhere else, confirm three things before the first stone: the board size, whether an overline wins, and whether any forbidden moves apply.
Step 7: Play online — rooms, dice, and the move timer
Everything runs free in the browser with no account or download: two players on one device, versus the computer, or online with a friend in a private room.
- Open Paofuqi Gomoku and choose the online mode to create a room.
- Copy the room link or code and send it to your friend.
- When they join, a dice roll assigns Black — so the first move is not always the room creator's.
- Take turns placing stones until someone makes five or more in a row.
Online games add a short per-move timer so a game cannot stall forever; a player who runs out of time on a move loses that game. Brief disconnections trigger a reconnect attempt, and when a game ends either player can ask for a rematch without creating a new room.
You never have to play online: local two-player and the computer opponent use the same board and rules, work without a second device, and need no link.
Step 8: Practice — play your first real game
That is genuinely all of it: intersections, alternate turns, five in a row, watch the threes and fours. Gomoku rewards playing far more than reading, so jump in.
Start near the center, answer every open three, and hunt for double threats. A good training habit: after each opponent move, mark every point where either side could complete five next turn — first spot the immediate wins and blocks, then look for moves that create two future threats.
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