Four in a Row

How to play Four in a Row

Four in a Row is a two-player strategy game on an upright grid of 7 columns and 6 rows. One player has red discs and the other yellow. Many people know it as Connect Four, the name it has been sold under since 1974.

• Take turns dropping one disc into any column that isn't full. It falls to the lowest empty spot.
• Line up four of your discs in a row to win: across, up and down, or on a diagonal.
• If the board fills up with no four in a row, the game is a draw.

Playing on Poozee

• vs Computer: you play red. Who goes first switches every game, so you practice both sides. Easy makes plenty of mistakes, Medium plays solidly, and Hard looks many moves ahead.
• 2 Players: share one screen and take turns. The scoreboard keeps count for red and yellow.
• Hint (against the computer) lights up the column the Hard computer would choose for you.
• Undo takes back your last move, along with the computer's reply.

Strategy basics

1. Play the middle column. In every row, the middle spot is part of more possible lines of four than any other: 7 on the bottom row against 3 at the edges, and 13 in the middle rows. It's also the strongest first move.
2. Block early. Once your opponent has three in a line with an open spot, you must block it right away, and before that it's often worth blocking two in a row that could grow in both directions.
3. Look for two threats at once. Your opponent can only block one spot per turn. If one move gives you two different ways to win, you win.
4. Watch the diagonals. Across and up-and-down lines are easy to see. Diagonal lines are much easier to miss, for you and for your opponent.
5. Don't open the door. Before you drop a disc, check the spot right above where it lands. If your opponent would win by playing there, your move just set it up for them.

Worked example: a threat that can't be stopped

Red has discs in columns 2 and 3 on the bottom row, and yellow has just played elsewhere. Red drops in column 4. Now red has three in a row on the bottom, with both ends (columns 1 and 5) open. Yellow can block one end, and red wins at the other. We checked every possible yellow reply with Poozee's game engine: none of them stops red.

Pro tip: An open three like this is easiest to build on the bottom row early in the game, when both ends are still empty. If you see your opponent with two discs side by side on the bottom and open space on both sides, block one side now.

For worked positions, including the odd and even threats that decide close games, read how to win Connect Four.

Where the game comes from

The game goes by many names, including Captain's Mistress, Four Up, Plot Four and Find Four. The best-known version was created by Howard Wexler and first sold by Milton Bradley as Connect Four in February 1974. Connect Four is now a Hasbro trademark. Poozee's Four in a Row is our own version of the classic game and isn't affiliated with Hasbro.

In 1988 the game was solved: James Dow Allen (on October 1) and Victor Allis (on October 16, working independently) showed that with perfect play, the first player can always win by starting in the middle column. Starting in either column next to the middle leads to a draw with perfect play, and starting anywhere else loses. Perfect play is far beyond what people can work out at the table, which is why the game is still fun.