Gomoku vs Connect Four: Same Idea, Completely Different Game
If you grew up in the West, there's a good chance Connect Four was one of your first "serious" board games. Drop a disc, try to get four in a row, block your sibling from doing the same. Simple, satisfying, and — let's be honest — not that hard to win once you figure out the basic tactics.
So when people discover Gomoku for the first time, the reaction is usually: "Oh, it's like Connect Four on a bigger board."
Well, yes and no. They share DNA. But the difference between Connect Four and Gomoku is a bit like the difference between checkers and chess. One is a great family game; the other will occupy your brain for years.
What's the same (and what's not)
Both games share the core goal: get five (or four) of your pieces in a row, in any direction. Both let you play on a grid. Both are easy to learn and impossible to master.
But that's roughly where the similarity ends.
| Feature | Connect Four | Gomoku |
|---|---|---|
| Board size | 6 × 7 | 15 × 15 |
| Pieces | Droped from top, gravity | Placed anywhere empty |
| Win condition | 4 in a row | 5 in a row |
| First-player advantage | Strong (solved: first player wins) | Very strong (balanced by rules in Renju) |
| Strategy depth | Moderate (solved by computers) | Extremely deep (not fully solved) |
The gravity thing changes everything
In Connect Four, you can only drop a disc into a column. It falls to the lowest available spot. That constraint massively limits your options — which is part of why the game is solvable. If you know the right opening sequence, you can force a win as the first player every single time.
Gomoku has no gravity. You can place your stone on any empty intersection on the board. That freedom is what makes the game so much deeper. On turn three, you already have hundreds of meaningful moves to consider. By turn ten, the branching factor is enormous.
It also means you can't just "build from the bottom up." You have to think about the whole board, all at once. A threat can come from anywhere, not just from pieces that happen to be sitting at the bottom of a column.
Five in a row is harder than four
This sounds obvious, but it's worth spelling out. Needing five in a row instead of four makes the game less about quick tactical wins and more about building multiple threats that your opponent can't all block.
In Connect Four, if you have three in a row with an open end, you're in great shape — your opponent has to block immediately. In Gomoku, three in a row (a "live three") is useful, but it's not instantly winning. You need to build two live threes, or a live three plus a live four, or some other combination that creates a "double threat" your opponent can't answer.
That's where the real strategy lives. Not in spotting the obvious win, but in setting up position where your next move will create two ways to win at once.
Which one should you play?
Connect Four is the better game for young kids or a quick five-minute break. It's tactile, it's fast, and the physical version has that satisfying clack-clack-clack-dunk sound.
But if you want a game that will keep you up at night thinking about that one move you missed, Gomoku is the one. The 15×15 board means no two games ever play out the same way twice. And unlike Connect Four, we still don't fully understand the optimal strategy — which means there's always more to learn.
Want to see the difference for yourself? Give Gomoku a try against our AI. Start with the Easy level if you're new to the game — and don't worry if it feels overwhelming at first. That's exactly the point.