How to play Four in a Row
You're red and the computer is yellow. Click any column to drop your disc — it falls straight down and lands on top of whatever is already in that column. Players alternate turns, and the first to line up four of their discs in a row — horizontally, vertically, or diagonally — wins. Fill the whole grid with no four-in-a-row and the game is a draw.
Tips & strategy
- Fight for the center. The middle column takes part in more winning lines than any other, so claim it early.
- Block open threes. Whenever the computer gets three in a row with an empty end, you have to stop it.
- Set a double threat. Create two ways to win at once and your opponent can only block one of them.
- Look one drop ahead. Avoid filling a square that hands the AI a winning slot directly above your move.
About the game
Four-in-a-row games have been played for well over a century under many names, and the familiar upright-grid version became a family-room staple in the 1970s. Like Tic-Tac-Toe it is mathematically "solved" — a perfect first player can force a win — but against a sharp opponent it's a real contest of foresight, traps, and patience.