How to play Four in a Row: rules and strategy

Four in a Row looks like a simple race to line up four discs, but there’s real depth underneath. This guide covers the rules, then the ideas that turn a coin-flip game into one you can win on purpose.

The rules

Four in a Row is played on an upright grid of 7 columns and 6 rows, with 42 spaces in all. Players take turns dropping a disc into a column. Gravity does the rest: the disc falls to the lowest empty space in that column. A full column can’t take any more discs.

The first player to get four of their discs in a straight line wins. The line can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal in either direction. If all 42 spaces fill up without anyone making four, the game is a draw.

On BoardGameSite you play gold and always drop the first disc. The computer plays ivory.

Why going first matters

On the standard 7×6 board, Four in a Row has been solved. In 1988, two researchers independently proved that the first player can always win with perfect play, provided they start in the middle column. Start anywhere else and, with perfect play from the second player, the first player can’t force a win.

Nobody plays perfectly, so this doesn’t make the game pointless. But it tells you two useful things: the centre column is the most important column on the board, and moving first is a real advantage.

Strategy: control the centre

A disc in the middle column can be part of more possible lines of four than a disc anywhere else. A disc on the outside column can only be part of lines that extend in one direction. So in the opening, play in and around the middle three columns, and don’t let your opponent build a tall stack there unopposed.

Strategy: threats

A threat is an empty space that would complete four in a row for one player. Almost every game is decided by threats, so it helps to think about them carefully.

• Check every move. Before you play, look for any space where the computer could make four on its next turn, and block it. Then look for spaces where you can make four.
• Don’t play underneath a threat. If your opponent has a threat on a space that’s floating in the air, it can’t use it yet. But if you drop a disc into the space directly below it, you’ve given them a platform. The same works in reverse: your floating threats are a long-term weapon.
• Make two threats at once. Your opponent can only block one space per turn. If one move creates two different winning spaces that are both playable, you win next turn whatever they do. Setting up a double threat is the most common way strong players win.
• Stack threats in one column. Two of your threats directly above each other in the same column are deadly. When your opponent blocks the lower one, you play straight on top and win.

Strategy: odd and even rows

This is the idea that separates good players from great ones. Number the rows from the bottom, 1 to 6. As the board fills up and both players run out of safe moves, someone eventually has to play underneath a threat. Who that is depends on counting.

As a general rule, the first player wants threats on odd rows (1, 3 and 5), and the second player wants threats on even rows (2, 4 and 6). When the rest of the board fills up, the parity of the remaining spaces tends to force the other player to fill in the space under your threat.

Since you always move first on BoardGameSite, look for threats on rows 3 and 5. Be wary of the computer building threats on rows 2, 4 and 6, even when they seem harmless because they’re floating in mid-air.

The daily challenge

The daily challenge puts these ideas to the test. Each day there’s a new position where you can win with one move, but the computer has threats of its own, so the obvious move isn’t always the right one. Everyone gets the same puzzle, and you only get one try. Before you drop your disc, check the space underneath every threat on the board.

Common beginner mistakes

• Only looking for your own lines and missing the computer’s three in a row.
• Dropping a disc right under one of the computer’s threats.
• Playing mostly on the outside columns.
• Blocking a threat that can’t be played yet instead of building your own.
• Forgetting that diagonal lines count.

Four in a Row words to know

• Threat: an empty space that would complete four in a row.
• Double threat: two winning spaces at once; the opponent can only block one.
• Odd and even threats: threats on odd-numbered or even-numbered rows, counted from the bottom.
• Solved game: a game where the result with perfect play is known.