Play Connect 4 Online Free

About Connect 4

Connect 4 is the vertical four-in-a-row game: seven columns, six rows, and discs that fall to the lowest empty slot. Line up four of yours — across, down or diagonally — before the computer does. It has been solved (the first player wins with perfect play, starting in the centre), but no human plays perfectly, which is why it's still fun.

This version plays against a computer opponent at selectable difficulty, which makes it a decent way to actually get better: the easy setting is beatable, the hard setting punishes any threat you leave open.

How to play Connect 4

Drop a disc

Click a column

New game

The reset button

Difficulty

The level selector

1. Players alternate dropping one disc into a column; it lands on the lowest free row.
2. Four in a row — horizontal, vertical or diagonal — wins.
3. If the board fills with no four, it's a draw.
4. Choose a difficulty; the harder levels look further ahead.

Connect 4 tips

• Take the centre column first. Most winning lines go through it.
• Count threats: a spot where you'd win is only useful if the opponent can't fill the slot below it.
• Build two threats at once — one directly above another is a guaranteed win.
• On the hard setting, defend first. It will punish an open three every time.

Connect 4 — questions