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Connect6

Connect6

Connect6 is five-in-a-row rebalanced: after Black's first stone, every turn places two stones, and the goal is an unbroken line of six. Because both players always add two stones, the first-move advantage almost disappears. Four in a line is a threat the computer will always block, so the game is about building three threats at once.

How to play

You play Black and the computer plays White on a 15×15 grid. Black opens with a single stone. After that every turn places exactly two stones, alternating White, Black, White and so on. Stones go on the intersections of the lines and never move once placed.

The first player to make an unbroken line of six or more of their own stones horizontally, vertically or diagonally wins. If the board fills up first, the game is a draw.

The board is small on a phone, so placing takes two taps: the first tap shows a preview ring on the point, and a second tap on the same point puts the stone down. Tapping a different point moves the preview. Before you place your second stone you can tap the first one again to take it back. The status line under the board tells you which stone of the turn you are placing, and the computer's two latest stones are ringed in red.

A win adds one to your streak and starts the next game; a draw keeps your streak; a loss ends the run, and you can save your streak to the Hall of Fame. The computer plays more sharply as your streak grows.

Tips & strategy

In Connect6 a line of four of your stones inside an open stretch of six is a real threat: next turn you could add the last two. The computer never ignores one. A single threat therefore wins nothing — it just forces the computer to spend a stone. The winning idea is to make three threats with one pair of stones, because two blocking stones cannot cover three separate lines.

Build quietly first. Twos and threes that share stones in several directions are worth more than a long line in one direction, because a pair of new stones can then turn several of them into fours at once. Stones placed a knight's move or two points apart often connect to more future lines than stones placed side by side.

Watch the computer's shape as closely as your own. If it has two separate lines of three with open space, it may be able to create a double threat of its own; spend one of your stones to break one of those lines even when you are attacking.

The opening single stone matters less than it looks. Spend the first few turns claiming the centre and keeping your stones flexible, and avoid pushing lines into the edge of the board, where a six-long window no longer fits.