How to play Four in a Row
Four in a Row is a two-player game played on an upright grid of seven columns and six rows. Players take turns dropping a disc into a column, where it falls to the lowest empty space. The first player to make a line of four of their own discs, across, up and down, or diagonally, wins.
Step by step
Choose your colour
Each player has discs of one colour. Decide who goes first; on this site you have the red discs with a ring and the computer has gold discs with a star.
Drop a disc
On your turn, choose any column that is not full and drop one disc into it. It falls to the lowest empty space.
Take turns
Players take turns, one disc at a time. Once a disc is in, it stays where it landed.
Make four in a line
The first player with four of their discs in a straight line wins: across, up and down, or diagonally.
A full board is a draw
If all 42 spaces are filled and nobody has four in a line, the game is a draw.
The full rules
What you need
Four in a Row is played on an upright frame with seven columns and six rows, 42 spaces in all. Each player has 21 discs of their own colour. On this site you play the red discs, which carry a ring, and the computer plays the gold discs, which carry a star, so you can tell them apart by shape as well as colour.
How to play
- Decide who goes first.
- On your turn, choose a column that still has space and drop one of your discs into it. The disc falls straight down to the lowest empty space in that column.
- Players take turns, one disc each.
- The first player to get four of their discs in a straight line wins. The line can run across a row, up and down a column, or diagonally in either direction.
- If the whole grid fills up and nobody has made a line of four, the game is a draw.
You cannot place a disc in mid-air or move a disc once it has been dropped.
Tips for winning
- Start in the middle. The centre column is part of more possible lines than any other, so discs there are the most useful.
- Always look for your opponent’s threats. Before every move, check whether they could make four with their next disc, and block it if so.
- Don’t open the door. A disc you drop also changes which space is next in that column. Avoid dropping into a column if it would let your opponent play on top of your disc and win.
- Build double threats. Try to arrange two possible lines of four at once. Your opponent can only block one of them.
- Think about the rows. Threats low on the board come into play sooner. A threat higher up can wait until the column fills, and timing it well can decide the game near the end.
- Three with gaps at both ends is very strong. Three of your discs in a row with an empty playable space at each end gives you two ways to win.
Playing against the computer here
Choose Easy for a relaxed game: it sometimes misses your threats. Normal looks several moves ahead and blocks your lines, and Hard looks much further ahead. Tap a column, or use the arrow keys and Enter, or press the numbers 1 to 7. You can undo your last move and ask for a hint whenever you like.
Common questions
Who goes first in Four in a Row?
Players agree, or take turns starting. Going first is a real advantage: with perfect play the first player can force a win by starting in the middle column.
Can you win with more than four in a row?
Yes. A line of five or more of your discs also wins, since it contains four in a row.
Is this the same game sold under brand names?
It is the same classic idea. Vertical four-in-a-line games like this one are also known by several brand names, but the rules here are the standard ones: a 7 by 6 grid and four in a line to win.
What is a double threat?
A position where you have two different places that would each complete a line of four. Your opponent can block only one, so you win with the other.
Where it comes from
Games of getting several pieces in a line, such as noughts and crosses, are very old. The upright version, where discs drop down columns under gravity, became widely known as a boxed game in the 1970s. In the late 1980s computer researchers showed that, with perfect play, the first player can always win by starting in the middle column.
