Four in a Row: Rules, Strategy and How to Win

The rules in two sentences

Players take turns dropping a disc into one of seven columns, and each disc falls to the lowest free space. The first player to get four of their discs in a line, across, up and down, or diagonally, wins.

How to play Four in a Row

1. The grid is seven columns wide and six rows high, standing upright.
2. Players take turns. The first player drops a disc into any column, and it falls to the lowest free space.
3. Make a line of four of your discs in any direction to win.
4. If the grid fills with no line of four, the game is a draw.

The first player's advantage

The first player has the advantage. In October 1988 James Dow Allen, and 15 days later Victor Allis working on his own, showed that the first player wins the standard 7 by 6 game with perfect play, and Allis showed the winning first move is the centre column (sources: John Tromp, tromp.github.io/c4/c4.html; MIT OpenCourseWare ES.268, The Mathematics in Toys and Games, Spring 2010, session 5 notes).

In Twofold, player 1 drops first.

Strategy

• Start in the centre column. Centre discs sit in more possible lines than any other.
• Build threats: three discs in a line with an empty space where your next disc could land to complete it. Two winning drops in different columns cannot both be blocked in one turn.
• Watch the space under an opponent's threat. If you drop a disc into the space below it, they can drop the disc that completes their line on top of yours.
• Check diagonals as well as rows and columns before every drop.

Four in a Row tricks

To make a double threat, drop a disc that leaves you a winning drop in each of two different columns. If your opponent cannot win on their turn, they can block only one, and you play the other.

Can you play Four in a Row online with two players?

Twofold plays Four in a Row with two players on one phone, face to face. Lay the phone flat between you, and by default each player gets one half of the screen with the grid turned to face them. The app does not match you with strangers online.

Can you play Four in a Row against the computer?

Yes. Twofold has a computer opponent with easy, medium and hard levels. You play first.

Play it on one phone

Twofold is free to download, and each game is free to play once. After that you can buy a game on its own, or all games in one purchase, including games added later. The App Store shows the price in your currency.

Download Twofold on the App Store

More two-player games on one phone: see all games, chess and Fog of War, Liar's Dice.