PlayRoom

Strategy game

Four in a Row

Drop. Stack. Connect.

Drop tokens into the grid and line up four before your opponent does. Best-of series, bigger boards and four bot levels.

2 playersClassic, Compact and Grand boardsBest of 1, 3 or 5Four bot levels
A blue Four in a Row grid with red and yellow tokens

What is Four in a Row?

Two players take turns dropping a token into a column. It falls to the lowest free place. Connect four of your tokens across, up or diagonally to win, and block your opponent while you build.

The server holds the board and checks every move. Nobody can play out of turn, and a move that arrives twice is played once.

How to play

Six steps from an empty room to a rematch.

  1. 01

    Take a seat

    Two seats, Red and Yellow. Anyone else in the room watches.

  2. 02

    Pick the rules

    Classic 7×6, Compact 6×5, Grand 9×7 with five to connect, or build your own board.

  3. 03

    Drop a token

    On your turn tap a column. The token falls to the lowest free place.

  4. 04

    Connect

    Line up the required number of tokens across, up or diagonally.

  5. 05

    Block

    Watch your opponent's lines as closely as your own.

  6. 06

    Rematch

    The host can rematch with seats swapped, or everyone can go back to the room.

Rules

What the server does.

The board
  • Boards run from 4 to 10 columns and 4 to 9 rows, up to 90 places.
  • The line to connect can be 3 to 6, and cannot be longer than the board's longer side.
Winning
  • Connect the required number of tokens in a line to win the game.
  • If the board fills with no line, the game is a draw.
  • In a best-of series the first to win most of the games takes the match.
The clock
  • With a turn clock, if time runs out the server plays a safe move for you.
  • Miss three turns in a row and you lose the match.

Settings

The host sets these in the lobby before the game starts. They are fixed once it begins.

Rules

Classic 7×6Compact 6×5Grand 9×7, connect 5Custom

Columns

4 to 10

Rows

4 to 9

Tokens to connect

3456

Match

Single gameBest of 3Best of 5

Who starts

RandomFirst seatSecond seatAlternate

Turn clock

Off15 s30 s60 s90 s2 min

Playing a bot

Play a bot at Easy, Medium, Hard or Smart. Bots sit in a normal seat and see only what you see. Games against a bot are unranked and do not count toward stats. Smart searches many moves ahead within a short time limit.

Watching

Everyone else in the room watches live: the board, whose turn it is, the score and every move.

Ready to play?

Start a room, invite a friend, or play a bot.