Four in a row, on one shared board
How to play Four in a Row with a friend
- Start a gamePick Four in a Row and choose a friend to play.
- Take turns dropping discsTap a column to drop your disc. It falls to the lowest empty slot in that column.
- Build a line of fourFour of your discs in a row wins — across, up, or on either diagonal.
- Block theirsEvery move is both an attack and a block. Three of your opponent's discs in a line with an open end has to be answered immediately.
- Play it outBoth of you stay in the game while it runs — a round is a couple of minutes, not a couple of days.
The centre column decides most games
On a seven-wide board, the middle column participates in more possible four-in-a-rows than any other column — it can be part of horizontal lines, vertical lines, and both diagonal directions, from more positions.
The consequence is blunt: whoever controls the centre has more ways to win and more ways to block. Opening in the middle isn't a stylistic choice, and giving the middle away for a flashy edge play is usually how a game gets lost four moves later.
Four in a row is a solved game — with flawless play from both sides, the player who moves first wins. Nobody plays flawlessly, but the asymmetry is real, which is why taking the centre early matters more than it feels like it should.
The double threat is how games actually end
Blocking a single threat is easy. You see three discs and an open end, and you fill the end.
Games end when you build a position with two open ends at once, because your opponent can only block one. Setting one up means thinking a move earlier than the threat — placing a disc that doesn't threaten anything yet but makes two threats possible next turn.
Watch for it going the other way too. If your opponent makes a quiet move in the middle of the board that doesn't seem to do anything, count the lines it just opened.
Three things that actually help
- Open in the centre column. It's the single strongest square on the board and everything else is a concession.
- Count threats before you build them. A move that creates two open-ended threes at once cannot be blocked.
- Watch the parity of a column. Dropping a disc gives your opponent the square directly above it, so filling a column can hand them the winning slot.
Four in a Row questions
How big is the board?+
Seven columns by six rows, the standard size. Discs drop to the lowest free slot in the column you pick, so you choose a column rather than a square.
Does the first player have an advantage?+
Yes. Four in a row is a solved game and the first player wins with perfect play from the centre column. In practice neither side plays perfectly, but taking the centre early is a real edge.
Can we play without both being online?+
Not yet. Four in a Row is live-only today — you both need to be in the game at the same time. Correspondence play, where the board waits a day between moves, is the natural fit for this game and is on the list.