These terms apply to the Gomoku board, AI play, local mode, online rooms, and companion guides provided by Ply Yard. By accessing or continuing to use the site, you acknowledge that you have read and agreed to these terms. If you do not agree, stop using the site.
Eligibility and parental guidance
You must have the legal capacity required to agree to these terms. A parent or guardian should read these terms and provide appropriate guidance when a minor uses the site, especially when using the public lobby or contact email.
The site does not require an account or ask players to prove their age. You are responsible for ensuring that your use complies with applicable local law, school or workplace network rules, and any requirements set by your parent or guardian.
Limited license to use the site
Subject to these terms, the site grants you a limited, revocable, nonexclusive, nontransferable license for personal recreational games, practice, classroom or other noncommercial demonstrations, and sharing site pages or room invitations with friends. This license does not transfer ownership of the site's software, writing, images, or brands.
Without express permission, you may not copy or resell the service, scrape content in bulk, exploit nonpublic interfaces, bypass technical restrictions, mirror the entire site, or embed and present it as your own product. This paragraph does not restrict conduct that applicable law expressly permits and that these terms cannot exclude.
Online rooms and player conduct
You are responsible for rooms you create or join and for how you share invite links. Do not repeatedly enter or disrupt another person's game, impersonate a host, use room features to harass others, or attempt to gain control of a room that is not yours.
A private invite link acts as a temporary admission credential, so share it only with people you want to join. A public room may be joined or observed by anyone who can see it in the lobby. The site currently does not provide player nicknames or online chat.
Prohibited abuse
Do not use automation to create large numbers of rooms, flood requests, probe or attack the service, evade rate or permission limits, monopolize resources, disrupt connections, or attempt to control, close, or modify another person's room without authorization. Do not interfere with other users or the service infrastructure in any way.
To protect security and availability, the site may close anomalous rooms, reject malicious requests, limit access, or adjust technical safeguards. Taking these measures does not mean the site promises to actively monitor every game.
Rules, AI, and game results
The site uses a 15×15 board: Black moves first, and five or more connected stones horizontally, vertically, or diagonally win. These rules may differ from tournament Renju, another platform, or an in-person agreement, so review this site's rules before starting a game.
AI levels are practice settings, not official ranks or ratings. Hints, replay, and strategy diagrams are educational and do not guarantee a single best move. Online results are not official competition records, and the site does not provide gambling, prizes, professional officiating, cheat detection, or tournament-grade analysis.
Rooms, records, and service changes
Online rooms are temporary and may close because of a waiting timeout, a participant's extended disconnection, post-game inactivity, maintenance, or security concerns. Local preferences and results may also be lost when browser data is cleared, storage is constrained, private browsing is used, or you change devices. The site does not promise to preserve, recover, or export rooms, game records, or local history permanently.
We may add, change, suspend, or remove features; adjust the AI, interface, room time limits, or public lobby; and perform maintenance. If a change materially affects these terms or privacy practices, the relevant page will be updated.
Intellectual property and feedback
The site's software, original writing, diagrams, visual design, branding, and arrangement are protected by applicable intellectual-property law. General Gomoku rules and public-domain concepts do not become our property merely because the site explains them, but the site retains the applicable rights in its specific expression, original diagrams, code, and visual work.
You are welcome to link to the site or quote a small amount with clear attribution. Without permission, do not republish content in bulk, remove attribution, sell site content, register confusing brands, or repackage the site as your own service. Suggestions you send remain yours, but you allow us to use nonconfidential improvement ideas without an obligation to compensate you.
Third-party services and external links
The site relies on browsers, networks, hosting, and analytics services to deliver pages and online features. Third-party services may have their own terms and privacy policies. External links on the site are provided for convenience and do not mean that we control or endorse all content on those pages.
Any costs, restrictions, or risks arising from external websites or from your device, browser, internet connection, or network provider are governed by your relationship with the relevant provider.
Disclaimer
The site is provided “as is” and “as available.” We work to maintain the board and its content, but do not guarantee that the service will always be error-free, uninterrupted, or completely secure, or that every AI move, hint, rules explanation, or guide will suit your particular purpose. Network latency, browser differences, and device performance may affect the experience.
To the extent permitted by applicable law, the site makes no express or implied warranties beyond those expressly stated in these terms. Where a jurisdiction does not permit the exclusion of certain statutory warranties, this paragraph applies only to the maximum extent the law allows.
Limitation of liability
To the extent permitted by applicable law, Ply Yard is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, punitive, or consequential losses arising from unavailable access, room closure, interrupted connections, lost records, reliance on hints or guides, third-party services, or the conduct of other players.
These terms do not exclude or limit liability that cannot legally be excluded, and they do not affect rights you hold under mandatory consumer-protection law.
Suspension, termination, and updates
If you violate these terms or threaten other players or the service's security, we may close relevant rooms, limit requests, or stop providing certain features to you. You may stop using the site at any time and clear local site data through your browser.
We may update these terms as the product or legal requirements change. Updated terms apply to later use once posted on this page; if you do not agree to an update, stop using the site. If one provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in effect. Send questions about these terms to contact@plyyard.com.
