Five in a Row with Captures — Free Strategy Game for Kids 7–12
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The pente game is five in a row — stones on the crossings of a 15×15 board — with one extra rule that changes everything: capture. Sandwich exactly two enemy stones between two of yours and both of them are lifted off the board.
Two ways to win, and they pull against each other
You win by lining up five stones, or by capturing five pairs — ten enemy stones in all. That second path is what makes this different from plain five in a row: a player who only builds lines loses stones from the middle of them, and a player who only hunts pairs never threatens anything. Every move has to answer both questions.
Exactly two stones — never one, never three
The capture rule is precise and children pick it up in one demonstration. Two of your stones on either side of exactly two enemy stones in a straight line: those two are captured. A single stone caught between two enemies is perfectly safe. Three in a row are safe too. And you may play into a gap between two enemy stones without being taken — walking into the sandwich yourself is legal and sometimes clever.
The rules are taught before the first move
The game opens with four short spoken steps: whose turn it is and why the first stone goes in the centre, what five in a row looks like, how a pair is captured and why one and three are safe, and what the pair counter beside the board is for. Nothing has to be read to start playing.
Nothing scolds a child here
The board has a couple of rules about where the opening moves may go, and if you reach for a square that is not allowed the spot pulses softly and the voice explains why. No error sound, no lost turn, nothing taken away. You simply put the stone somewhere else.
How to play
Click or tap a crossing of the lines — stones sit on the intersections, not inside the squares, the way they do in go. The first stone of the game goes in the centre. After that, place a stone, and if your move traps exactly two enemy stones between two of yours in any straight line, they vanish and your pair counter goes up. Get five in a row, or five pairs, and the game is over. The computer plays the other colour and understands captures — it will take your pairs and defend its own.
What your child learns
Planning against an opponent who is planning back. Because a line of five can be broken by a capture from the side, a child quickly learns to look at their own shapes the way the other player sees them — the first real step out of playing purely for oneself. Pattern recognition gets a workout too: spotting an open three that must be blocked now, noticing that two of your stones have quietly become capturable, seeing the same threat in four different directions. It is strategy rather than arithmetic; nothing here is counted except pairs.
The science behind the games
Every Dad4Kids game is built on one simple truth: children want to play, not study — so we turn learning into a game worth replaying. The method draws on peer-reviewed research in game-based learning, motivation, and how memory works.
- Prins et al. (2013). “Braingame Brian”: toward an executive function training program with game elements. Games for Health Journal.
- Tokac et al. (2019). Effects of game-based learning on students' mathematics achievement: A meta-analysis. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning.
- Alotaibi (2024). Game-based learning in early childhood education: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology.
- Lampropoulos & Sidiropoulos (2024). Impact of gamification on students' learning outcomes and academic performance: a meta-analysis. Education Sciences.
- Taylor & Boyer (2019). Play-based learning: evidence-based research to improve children's learning experiences. Early Childhood Education Journal.
- Gottfried (1990). Academic intrinsic motivation in young elementary school children. Journal of Educational Psychology.
FAQ
How do you play five in a row?
Two players take turns putting stones on a board, and the first to get five of their own colour in an unbroken line — across, down or diagonally — wins. In this version there is a second way to win as well: capture five pairs of your opponent's stones.
What is five in a row called?
The plain version has many names around the world — gomoku in Japan, omok in Korea, gobang in older English books. The version with capturing is a twentieth-century American development, sold on shop shelves under a registered name we do not use here; the rules themselves are free for anyone to play.
How do you capture stones?
Place a stone so that exactly two enemy stones are caught between it and another stone of your colour in a straight line. Both captured stones leave the board and count as one pair for you. Exactly two — a lone stone in the middle is safe, and so is a group of three.
Does capturing break a line of five?
Yes, and that is the heart of the game. A line of five that has a capturable pair in it is not a win yet; the opponent can take two of its stones out from the side. Good players build lines whose stones are not sitting in pairs.
Can I play against the computer?
Yes — the computer takes the other colour and plays with the capture rule in mind, both taking pairs and protecting its own. It is the standard way to play this game here.
Does it work on a tablet?
Yes. Tapping a crossing works well on a touch screen and the 15×15 board is sized so that lines stay readable in both orientations.
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By Evgeny Arsentiev, PhD · Last updated: September 2026