GOMOKU(6) | Games Manual | GOMOKU(6)

# NAME

`gomoku` — game of 5 in a row

# SYNOPSIS

`gomoku` | [`-bcdu`] [`-D` debugfile] [inputfile]

# DESCRIPTION

`gomoku` is a two player game where the object is to get 5 in a row horizontally, vertically or diagonally on a 19 by 19 grid. By convention, black always moves first. With no arguments, `gomoku` will display a playing board and prompt for moves from the user. The interface is visual and straightforward; you move to a spot using the hack(6) motion keys hjklyubn and select it with either ‘space’ or ‘return’. The game will beep if you select a location that is already occupied. To save the game, type ‘S’ and to quit, type ‘Q’. The optional file inputfile can be used to restore a saved game.

The options are:

`-b`
  This option sets background mode. Input moves are read from standard input, the computer picks a move, and prints it to standard output. The first input line should be either “black” or “white” to specify whether `gomoku` has the first move or not respectively. This option was intended for game tournaments where a referee program handles the board display and pits one program against another.
`-c`
  Computer versus computer. `gomoku` will play a game against itself. This is mostly used for testing.
`-D` debugfile
  Print the debug information to debugfile instead of to the standard output.
`-d`
  Print debugging information. Repeating this option more than once yields more detailed information.
`-u`
  User versus user. This is mostly used for testing.

# AUTHORS

Ralph Campbell

# BUGS

The program is far too slow and uses far too much memory for the quality of game it provides.

# ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The board display routines were based on the `goref` program written by Peter Langston. The user interface was based on Eric S. Raymond's interface to bs(6).

September 8, 2014 | Debian