Boards and strategy
Four in a row
Drop discs into a seven column frame and line up four before the computer does: across, up or on a diagonal. Five levels, and a daily game for everyone.
- Levels
- Beginner, Casual, Club, Strong, Master
- Daily
- Beat Club
- Scored by
- Win, draw or loss
- Today
- Daily puzzle
Setting up the board
Rules
- 1.The frame has 7 columns and 6 rows. Players take turns to drop one disc into a column; it falls to the lowest empty space.
- 2.Orange drops first. You can choose to play Orange or Black, or let the toss decide.
- 3.The first player to make a line of four of their own discs wins: across, up and down, or on either diagonal.
- 4.A full column takes no more discs. If all 42 spaces fill with no line of four, the game is a draw.
How to play
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Click or tap a column | Drop a disc into it |
| Left and right arrows | Choose a column |
| Enter or Space | Drop a disc into the chosen column |
| 1 to 7 | Drop straight into that column |
| Take back | Undo your last disc and the reply |
- Beginner: Blocks some threats, misses many
- Casual: Sees a move or two ahead
- Club: Sets traps and spots most of yours
- Strong: Reads twelve moves deep
- Master: Searches to the end of the game when it can
Strategy
- Play the centre. The middle column takes part in more lines of four than any other, so the first disc almost always goes there.
- Look for double threats: two places where you would win at once. Your opponent can only block one.
- Watch the square above each threat. Never drop a disc that lets your opponent play on top of it to win.
- Row parity matters in the endgame. The first player wants threats on the odd rows (1st, 3rd, 5th from the bottom), the second player on the even rows.
- Before every drop, check every column for a disc that would give the computer four. Most games are lost to one missed block.
Questions
- Can the first player always win?
- With perfect play, yes: the first player wins by starting in the centre column and playing exactly right from there on. In practice the game is long enough that both sides make mistakes.
- How strong is the Master level?
- It searches as deep as it can in two seconds with a memory of positions it has already seen, and once the end of the game is in reach it plays perfectly. Early in the game it relies on judgement, so it can be beaten.
- How does the daily game work?
- Everyone plays the same level and colour each UTC day, and the computer answers the same moves in the same way. Win it to extend your daily streak. Takebacks are off in the daily game.
- Do diagonal lines count?
- Yes. Four discs in a line in any direction win: across, up and down, or on either diagonal.