Four in a Row

How to play four in a row online

1. Choose an Opponent in the toolbar: vs Computer or 2 players. For a computer game, pick a Level (Easy, Normal or Hard).
2. Open Options to set Who starts and Board size, then press Done. Changing either one starts a new game. The default is 7 columns × 6 rows.
3. Move the pointer over the board. A faint ghost disc appears above the column under the pointer. Click anywhere in that column to drop your disc. On a touch screen, tap a column and the disc drops at once.
4. Check the stats row. Turn shows whose move it is, Discs counts the discs played, and Score tracks wins, losses and draws for the current level.
5. Press Undo to take back your last move (and the computer’s reply). Press Hint on your turn to see a dashed ring on the best column.
6. Press New game to start again.

You can also play with the keyboard. Click or Tab into the board, then use the Left and Right arrows to pick a column, or the number keys 1 to 9. Press Enter or Space to drop the disc. The shortcut N starts a new game, U undoes a move, H shows a hint, and F turns on fullscreen. Esc closes the result box or leaves fullscreen. In fullscreen, the board is scaled to fit the whole screen.

What does four in a row mean?

Four in a row is the goal of the game: get four of your own discs in a straight line. The line can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal, and both diagonals count. Three in a row is not enough. The name describes the winning move, and every other rule exists to make that line hard to build.

Four in a row rules

Red always moves first, and the players then alternate. A disc drops into the chosen column and falls to the lowest empty cell in that column. A full column cannot take any more discs. The first player to get four or more discs of their colour in a line wins. If the board fills up with no four, the game is a draw. There is no time limit and no passing.

How does four in a row work?

You choose a column, not a square, and gravity decides the row. Each disc stops on top of the discs already in that column. This means every move changes which cells are open for both players, including the cell directly above your disc.

For example, if you drop four discs alternately into one column, the colours stack from the bottom as Red, Yellow, Red, Yellow. The next disc then lands in row 5. Four Red discs stacked directly on top of each other in one column is a vertical win.

Four in a row strategy

The most useful habits are to take the centre column early and to block threats before they complete. The centre column belongs to more possible fours than any edge column, so discs there have more ways to contribute to a line. Before each move, check whether your opponent can win by dropping into any column. If they can, block it, unless you can win first.

Four in a row strategy first player

Red moves first, so Red gets the first disc and the first choice of where to start. Playing the first disc in the centre is the standard opening, and the Hard computer makes the same choice when it opens. On the classic 7 × 6 board the game has been solved: with perfect play, the first player can always win by starting in the centre column, so as Yellow you need your opponent to make a mistake. If you want to practise both sides, set Who starts to Take turns each game, so your colour changes every round.

Four in a row winning strategy

A reliable winning method is to create two threats at once. A threat is a line of three with an open cell at one end that you can fill next move. If you make two threats in different columns, your opponent can block only one, and you complete the other. Look for moves that set up two threats at the same time, not just one.

Four in a row tricks

Use the game’s own tools to learn. Undo restores the exact earlier position, so you can test a different move and see how the computer answers. Hint shows the best column for the player to move, which helps you see why a move works. On Easy, the computer looks only two moves ahead, so it is a good place to practise threats. On Hard, the computer reads forced sequences many moves ahead on the classic board, so it is a better test of your reading.

Frequently asked questions

Is four in a row free, and do I need to sign up?

Yes, it is free to play. You do not need an account or any sign-up to start a game.

Can I play four in a row on a phone?

Yes. On a touch screen, tap a column and the disc drops immediately, with no confirm step.

Is my game saved?

Your game is saved in your browser on this device after every move, so a reload restores it. The save does not sync to other devices. Your settings and score are kept on this device as well.

Can I play against a friend instead of the computer?

Yes. Set Opponent to 2 players, and the two of you take turns on the same device. The Level selector is hidden in this mode.

What is the difference between the computer levels?

Easy makes random moves some of the time and looks only two moves ahead. Normal searches five moves ahead and picks randomly among moves that look equally good. Hard searches as deep as its time budget allows, which is about 300 ms per move, so it is much harder to beat.

Can I undo a move?

Yes. Undo takes back your last disc and the computer’s reply. In a 2 players game, it takes back one disc. Undo cannot be redone.

What board sizes can I play on?

You can choose 6 columns × 5 rows, 7 columns × 6 rows (the classic size), 8 columns × 7 rows, or 9 columns × 7 rows, from the Options dialog.

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