How to play
4 In A Row
Also known as Connect Four, Four in a Row, Four Up, Drop Four, Captain's Mistress
- 1M+ downloads
- On Google Play since 2018
- Free to play
What is 4 In A Row?
4 In A Row is a two-player game played on a vertical grid seven columns wide and six rows deep. Players take turns dropping coloured discs into a column, and gravity pulls each disc down to the lowest empty slot. The first player to form a line of four discs - across, up or diagonally - wins.
How to play 4 In A Row
Setting up the board
Stand the grid upright so the columns are open at the top and all 42 slots are empty. Each player takes 21 discs of one colour. Decide who goes first, then alternate the first move between games, since moving first is a measurable advantage.
The rules, step by step
- Play on a vertical grid of 7 columns and 6 rows, 42 slots in total.
- Each player takes 21 discs in their own colour.
- Players alternate turns, dropping one disc per turn.
- You choose the column, not the square - the disc falls to the lowest empty slot in that column.
- A column that already holds six discs is full and cannot be played.
- Four of your discs in an unbroken line - horizontal, vertical or diagonal - wins immediately.
- If all 42 slots fill with no line of four, the game is a draw.
How to win
You win as soon as four of your discs sit in an unbroken straight line, whether horizontally along a row, vertically up a column, or diagonally in either direction. If every slot is filled and neither player has made a line of four, the game is a draw.
Strategy tips
- Play the centre column first. It runs through more four-in-a-row lines than any other column, and it is the only opening that keeps a first-player win alive.
- Aim for double threats. Set up a position where two different squares would each complete a four; your opponent can only block one per turn.
- Scan the diagonals every turn. Diagonal fours are the most commonly missed threat, both your own and your opponent's, because the eye follows rows and columns first.
- Check what sits above your move. Never fill a slot directly beneath a square that completes your opponent's four - you hand them the win on their next turn.
- Think about row parity in longer games. Because discs stack, a threat is only useful if the square below it gets filled on the right turn.
Origin and history
The game was created by toy designers Howard Wexler and Ned Strongin and first sold under the Connect Four trademark by Milton Bradley in February 1974.
Its vertical, gravity-fed grid made it a natural target for computer analysis, and in 1988 it was solved twice independently: by James Dow Allen on 1 October and by Victor Allis on 16 October.
Allis's solution used a knowledge-based approach built on a set of strategic rules rather than brute force alone.
The standard 7x6 board has 4,531,985,219,092 legal positions.
Frequently asked questions
With perfect play, yes - and only from one opening. The game is solved: the first player can force a win by starting in the centre column, on or before the 41st move. Opening in a column next to the centre is a theoretical draw, and opening in the outer columns loses to perfect play.
The standard board is 7 columns wide and 6 rows deep, giving 42 slots and 21 discs per player. Other sizes exist as variants, but 7x6 is the version the game was solved for.
The centre column. It is part of more possible four-in-a-row lines than any other column, and mathematically it is the only first move that preserves a forced win for the player who goes first.
Yes. If all 42 slots are filled and neither player has four in a line, the game is a draw. Draws are uncommon between casual players but appear regularly in strong play.
Yes. Four in a row counts in any straight direction: horizontal, vertical, and both diagonals. Diagonals are the easiest threat to overlook, so they decide a lot of games.
