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Five in a Row
by Nebulark Studio · Board · v1.1.0
Line up five jade stones before rose does: the classic grid strategy game on a lantern-lit bamboo mat, against a three-tier computer, a Blockers twist with rock intersections, or a friend on one device.
How to play
- Make an unbroken line of five or more of your stones, across, down or diagonally, to win. A full board is a draw.
- Pick a mode and a board size, then press Play. You place jade stones and move first.
- Click an empty intersection to place a stone (hover shows a preview). On a touch screen, tap once to lift a preview stone over the point and tap the same spot again to place. On a keyboard, move the cursor with the arrows and press Enter or Space.
- Tips (T or the Tips button) mark the points where the opponent would complete five (red ✕) or make an open four (amber ring).
- Fewer stones mean a bigger score. In Blockers, grey rocks cannot be used by anyone. Resign (press twice) ends a game early; Duo has Undo.
- Runs save automatically after every move: choose Continue in the menu to pick up where you left off.
Controls
Keyboard
- Click an intersection — place a stone (hover previews it)
- Arrows — move the cursor
- Enter / Space — place at the cursor
- T — tips on/off
- U — undo (Duo)
- ? — how to play
- Esc — pause
- M — mute
Touch
- Tap an intersection — preview; tap it again — place
- Tips button — tips on/off
- Resign (tap twice) — end the game
- ? and pause buttons — help and pause
About Five in a Row
Take turns placing one stone on any empty intersection. The first to make an unbroken line of five or more, across, down or diagonally, wins; if the mat fills up it is a draw. You play jade and always move first. Rose, the computer, comes in three strengths: Easy sometimes misses your threats, Medium reads every open three and four on the board, and Hard looks several moves ahead. Choose the full 15×15 mat or a quick 11×11 that fits any phone. Wins are scored from difficulty and board size, with a speed bonus for every stone fewer you need, so a sharp ten-stone win is worth far more than a long scramble. Blockers is an original twist: a few seeded rocks sit on the mat and nobody can use them, so every game has new lines to fight for. Duo is relaxed pass-and-play for two people, with undo.
Features
- ✓ Easy, Medium and Hard computer opponents (threat-pattern evaluation, look-ahead search on Hard)
- ✓ 15×15 and phone-friendly 11×11 boards
- ✓ Blockers twist mode with seeded rock intersections
- ✓ Validated leaderboard: score from difficulty, board size and how few stones you needed
- ✓ Tips that mark the points you must block
- ✓ Per-mode win/draw/loss record and win streak
- ✓ Save and Continue: every move is saved automatically
- ✓ Local two-player Duo mode with undo
- ✓ Lit 3D bamboo mat and stones; mouse hover preview, keyboard cursor, tap-to-preview-then-confirm on touch
- Category
- Board
- Devices
- desktop, tablet, mobile
- Developer
- Nebulark Studio
- Last updated
- Nov 10, 2026
