Four in a Row is a fast two-player game played on an upright grid of seven columns and six rows. You take turns dropping black and white discs, and the first player to line up four of one color wins the round. Lines can run across, up and down, or on a slant. This version is part of Christopher Müller’s open-source PaperGames collection, with plain high-contrast discs. You can face a computer at three levels or play a friend on the same screen.
How to Play Four in a Row
Black always makes the first drop. On your turn, choose one of the seven columns. Your disc falls straight down and stops on top of the discs already there, or on the bottom row if the column is empty. A full column cannot take another disc.
You win the moment four of your discs touch in an unbroken line. That line can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal in either direction. If every slot fills up before anyone makes four, the round is a draw.
Against the computer you pick your color first. Choose black if you want to move first, or white to let the computer open. Then pick Easy, Medium or Hard and press New game. In the two-player mode there is no computer, and both players share the board.
Undo takes back your last drop, and against the computer it also removes the reply. Resign ends the round at once.
Four in a Row Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse | Touch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drop a disc | Arrow keys to reach a column, Enter to drop | Click any cell in the column | Tap any cell in the column |
| Pick a game mode | — | Click "2 Player (local)" or "vs Computer" | Tap "2 Player (local)" or "vs Computer" |
| Start a game against the computer | — | Choose a disc color and level, then click "New game" | Choose a disc color and level, then tap "New game" |
| Take back your last move | — | Click "Undo" | Tap "Undo" |
| Give up the current game | — | Click "Resign" | Tap "Resign" |
Tips and Strategies
- Start in the middle column. It belongs to more possible lines of four than any other column, so early discs there do the most work.
- Build two threats at once. A single open three is easy to block. Two different winning cells force your opponent to leave one open.
- Mind the cell below a threat. If your opponent needs a certain slot to win, avoid filling the slot right under it, or you hand them the win.
- Use row parity late. When black moves first, threats on odd rows (counting from the bottom) tend to pay off near the end, and white does better with even rows.
- Check diagonals after every drop. Slanted lines are the ones people miss most often, for both sides.
Features
- Easy, Medium and Hard computer opponents plus a local two-player mode
- Landing marks show where each column’s next disc would go
- Undo and Resign buttons, with a check before resigning or restarting
- The round in progress is stored in your browser and comes back after a reload
- Text size, high contrast and computer speed settings
Tested and updated:
