Gomoku for Android
Five in a row.
Easy to learn,
hard to master.
The classic strategy game, made calm and beautiful. Play a real search engine at five levels, or a friend on the same phone. No ads, no account, no internet.
Free. Android 8.0 and up. About 1.3 MB.
How to play
One rule. Endless depth.
Gomoku has been played for centuries on Go boards across Japan, China and Korea. The rule fits in a sentence. The strategy takes a lifetime.
Take turns
Black moves first. Place one stone on any empty square.
Build and block
Grow your lines. Stop theirs before they reach four.
Five in a row wins
Across, down or diagonal. The first unbroken line of five takes the game.
What's inside
Everything a board game needs. Nothing it doesn't.
A real engine
Searches ahead within a strict time budget. It never freezes your screen while it thinks.
Five levels
Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert and Master, each described in plain words rather than numbers.
Your board, your rules
9×9, 13×13, 15×15 or 19×19. Play four, five, six or seven in a row.
Play a friend
Pass-and-play two-player mode on one phone. Or let the computer move first.
Undo, hint, resign
Take a move back, ask for a suggestion, or start over with one tap.
Never lose a game
Leave mid-game and it's waiting for you, even if your phone closes the app.
Stats and streaks
Wins, losses and draws by level, plus your current and longest winning streaks.
Light and dark
One quiet greyscale design that follows your phone, or set it yourself.
Sound and haptics
Soft feedback as stones land. Sound has its own volume; both switch off.
The engine
Not a random bot.
A real opponent.
Most Gomoku apps either play randomly or can't be beaten. This one was built the way chess engines are built, then tuned in engine-versus-engine tournaments.
- Thinks aheadAlpha-beta search with iterative deepening, move ordering and a transposition table.
- Hunts forced winsThreat-space search finds chains of fours that can't be stopped, and spots yours before you play them.
- Proven on small boardsOn every board small enough to solve completely, it has been checked against perfect play and never loses a game it could have saved.
- Always on timeEvery search has a deadline. It runs off the main thread, so the board never stutters.
Honest about its limits. On a full 15×15 board, Gomoku is mathematically a win for the first player (Allis, 1993). No engine can promise never to lose moving second. Master is very strong, not unbeatable.
Five levels
Start gentle. Climb when you're ready.
Easy
Sees one move ahead and sometimes looks away.
Medium
Blocks what you threaten.
Hard
Searches five moves deep and defends threats.
Expert
Hunts forced wins and checks its own moves are safe.
Master
The strongest setting. Deeper threat search, more caution.
Screens
Quiet by design.
No wood grain, no fake shadows, no flashing banners. Just the board, made to be read at a glance.
Privacy
Your games stay on your phone.
Gomoku doesn't ask for a single permission. It can't reach the internet, so nothing you do in it can leave your device. Read the privacy policy.
Roadmap
Where Gomoku is going.
Version 1 is the foundation: a strong engine and a calm board. Here's what's planned next, shaped by what players ask for.
Version 1
- Engine with five levels
- Board sizes 9×9 to 19×19
- Four to seven in a row
- Two-player pass-and-play
- Undo, hint, resign, rematch
- Auto-saved games
- Stats and streaks
- Light and dark themes
- Sound and haptics
Polish
- Replay any finished game, move by move
- Full TalkBack support, so the board can be played by ear
- Larger text and tablet layouts
- Watch the engine play itself
Learn from the engine
- Post-game analysis: where the game turned
- "Why this move?" explanations
- An opening book for sharper starts
- Difficulty that adapts to you
- Daily and weekly challenges
Play the world
- Private online matches
- Challenge a friend with a link
- Matchmaking and ratings
- Leaderboards and seasonal tournaments
- Share and spectate games
- Web version and Wear OS
Planned, not promised. Online features will only arrive with a clear, updated privacy policy.
Questions
Good to know.
Is it really free?
Yes. No ads, no in-app purchases, no subscriptions, no "premium" levels. Every feature is in the free download.
Does it need the internet?
No. The engine runs entirely on your phone, so it works on a plane, underground, anywhere. The app doesn't even have permission to go online.
Is Gomoku the same as Five in a Row?
Yes. Gomoku (五目並べ, "five pieces in a row") is the traditional name. The default here is freestyle Gomoku on a 15×15 board: the first unbroken line of five or more wins.
How strong is Master?
Strong enough to punish loose play. It searches deeply and hunts forced wins. Because Gomoku favours the player who moves first, you'll have the best chances playing Black. Try beating it from White.
Can I play against a friend?
Yes, on the same phone: choose "Two players" in Settings. Online play with friends is on the roadmap.
Which phones does it run on?
Any Android phone running Android 8.0 or newer. The download is about 1.3 MB.
How do I delete my data?
Your stats and saved game live only on your phone. Reset stats in Settings, or uninstall the app to remove everything.
Your move.
Gomoku is coming to Google Play. Questions, ideas, or want to help test it before launch? Get in touch.
Email us