Connect four

Game rules

Connect four is played on a grid of 6 rows and 7 columns. Rows are numbered from 1 to 6 from bottom to top, and columns from A to G from left to right. The objective is to align 4 tokens of your color, horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

Course of the game

Each player places a token of their color in the column of their choice, in turn.

Physically, the grid is vertically arranged, so that the tokens are inserted into a hole on the top and fall into the lowest unoccupied row. Thus, players can choose which column they want to play in, but not the row; the token just inserted always falls to the first available row at the bottom. Obviously, a player can't place a token in a full column already containing 6 tokens.

The first player who manages to align 4 tokens of their color, horizontally, vertically or diagonally wins the game. Your goal is to build such an alignment and prevent your opponents from doing the same.

If the grid becomes entirely full without anybody managing to make an alignment, the game is declared a draw.

This game was originally designed to be played with two players only, using red and yellow, or black and white tokens. As an extension, the Playroom allows for games with 3 and 4 players; however, games with 3 or 4 players are usually considered less interesting because they are much more unpredictable and more often end in a draw. When playing with 3 players, an eighth column H is added to the right. With 4 players, two columns H and I are added.

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