About Lines of Five

A nine-by-nine board and balls in seven colours. Each turn, move one ball to any empty square it can reach — it rolls there along a path of empty squares, up, down, left and right, never over another ball. Get five or more of a colour in a line, across, down or on a diagonal, and they vanish and score.

A move that clears nothing brings three new balls onto the board, in the colours shown above it, so every wasted move fills the board a little more. A clear brings none, which is how you keep the board open. Longer lines are worth far more than their extra balls: five score 10, six 18, seven 28. The game ends when the board is full.

The daily game gives everyone the same balls in the same order, on the same squares for the same moves, ranked by score — end it whenever you like to bank what you have. Free play deals a fresh game every time and lets you take moves back.

Tips to win

• Build lines in the middle, where they can run four ways
• Keep one colour to a region so its balls don't block each other
• Look at the next three colours before you move
• A ball walled in is no use: keep paths open across the board