Four in a row, on one shared board
How to play Connect Four with a friend
- Start a gamePick Connect Four 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 now or play slowlyLive means you both sit there and move. Anytime means you drop a disc and get on with your day; they move when they open the app.
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.
Turn-based is what makes this survive a busy week
Live play needs two people free at once. A turn-based board doesn't. You drop a disc, close the app, and the board waits.
Because the server validates every move against the board state, there's no way for a game to get into an inconsistent position while one of you is offline for two days. You come back, the board is exactly as you left it, and it's still your opponent's move or yours.
This is the mode that keeps a rivalry alive across time zones — a game can run for a week and still feel like a game.
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.
Connect Four 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?+
Yes. Anytime mode leaves the board waiting between moves. Each player moves when they open the app, and the server keeps the position consistent however long the gap is.