Rules · 1 player vs computer

How to play Four in a Row

Be the first to get four of your discs in a line — across, up and down, or diagonally — by dropping them into a seven-by-six grid where every disc falls to the lowest free space in its column.

The rules, step by step

1. 1

   Tap any column to drop one of your discs into it, or press the number keys one to seven. You play gold.

2. 2

   Discs fall to the lowest empty space in the column, so you choose the column but never the row.

3. 3

   Players alternate turns. The computer answers immediately after you.

4. 4

   Four of your own discs in an unbroken line wins — horizontally, vertically or along either diagonal.

5. 5

   A column with six discs in it is full and can no longer be played.

6. 6

   If all forty-two spaces fill with nobody connecting four, the game is a draw.

Three tips that change how you play

• Play the centre column first. It is part of more winning lines than any other column, and the player who controls it wins most even games.
• Count threats, not discs. Three in a row with a playable empty space at the end is a threat; three in a row that is blocked at both ends is worth nothing.
• Look at what your move gives the opponent. Dropping a disc raises the space above it, and handing them the square directly on top of yours is how most games are quietly lost.

The double threat

Say you have three discs on the fourth row: columns three, four and five, with column six empty below the target square and column two blocked. A single threat like that is easy to block — the opponent simply takes the open end. Now suppose instead you can play a disc that creates two open ends at once, one in column two and one in column six. The opponent can only block one of them per turn, so whichever they choose you complete the other and win. That is a double threat, and it is how nearly every game between two competent players is actually decided. Setting one up usually means building two overlapping lines that share a disc, rather than pushing one line as far as it will go.

Three mistakes that cost beginners the game

Building along the bottom row because it is where the space is.

The bottom row is the easiest place for the opponent to see and block. Threats that build upward and diagonally are much harder to read, and diagonals are the lines beginners miss most often.

Blocking every single threat the moment it appears.

A threat that cannot actually be completed on the next move does not need blocking yet. Spending a turn on it hands over the initiative — check whether the winning square is even reachable before you react.

Playing the move that wins a battle and loses the game.

Before dropping a disc, look at the square directly above it. If placing yours completes a line for the opponent up there, you have just built them a ladder. This single check prevents more losses than any opening theory.

Common questions about Four in a Row