Four in a Row — the classic Connect-Four-style game — is a quick, satisfying duel: take turns dropping discs into a standing grid and be the first to line up four of your colour. This free online version plays in your browser against a computer opponent, with no download or sign-up.
It takes seconds to learn and is endlessly replayable, but beneath the simple rules lies a fully solved game with genuine strategy — the kind you can actually master.
The vertical four-in-a-row game was popularised as a boxed product in 1974, when it was released in the United States and quickly became a household staple, though line-up games of this kind are far older in spirit. Its bright standing grid and clattering discs made it an instant family classic.
In 1988 the game earned a place in game-theory history when it was independently solved by James Dow Allen and Victor Allis: with perfect play the first player can always force a win by starting in the centre column. That makes it one of the most famous solved games, and understanding why is the key to playing it well.
The board is a grid of columns standing on its end. On your turn you drop one disc into any column that is not full, and it falls to the lowest empty slot. The goal is to be the first to connect four of your own discs in a line — horizontally, vertically or diagonally. If the grid fills with no four-in-a-row, the game is a draw.
Because discs stack from the bottom, you never choose the exact square, only the column — so part of the skill is controlling which rows become available, and to whom, as the board fills up.
Click a column (or its drop arrow) to release your disc into the lowest open slot. Full columns are disabled, and the computer replies automatically after each of your moves.
Four in a Row is solved in the first player's favour, and even against a strong opponent a few principles let you attack and defend with confidence.
Play the centre column. The centre is the single most valuable column because more winning lines pass through it than through any other. If you move first, start in the centre; either way, fight to control those central squares.
Scan for three-in-a-rows in both colours. Before every move, check whether you have three in a line with an open end to complete, and whether your opponent does. Completing your own four beats everything; otherwise blocking their imminent four is usually forced.
Create a double threat. The winning idea is one move that makes two separate three-in-a-rows, each threatening to become four in a different place. Your opponent can block only one column per turn, so a genuine double threat wins on the spot.
Think in odd and even rows. In the solved theory the first player targets threats on odd rows (counting from the bottom) and the second player on even rows, because of who is forced to fill squares as columns stack. You do not need the full maths — just notice the height of your winning square and who will be forced to enable it.
Do not set up your opponent's win. Because a disc drops to the lowest slot, playing a column can hand your opponent the square directly above it. Avoid moves that place their winning disc on the next level up unless you have no better option.
Keep threats alive as the board fills. Late in the game columns fill and options vanish. Maintain more than one potential line so you are never left with only losing or neutral drops, and steer the fill toward the positions where your threat matures last.
Against the computer, take the centre and constantly check for double threats; on the higher levels the AI blocks single threats reliably, so wins come from setting up two threats at once — or from punishing a column that would otherwise gift you the square above.
How do you win at Four in a Row?
You win by connecting four of your discs in a line — horizontal, vertical or diagonal. In practice you win by building a double threat that your opponent cannot block in a single move, and by controlling the centre column.
Does the first player always win?
With perfect play, yes — Four in a Row is a solved game in which the first player can force a win by starting in the centre column and playing accurately. In casual play, mistakes keep it competitive for both sides.
What is the best opening move?
The centre column. More possible four-in-a-row lines pass through the centre than through any other column, so controlling it gives you both the most winning chances and the best defence.
Is this Four in a Row game free?
Yes — play free in your browser against the computer, with no download and no sign-up.
More classic games: Gomoku, Tic-Tac-Toe, Reversi, Dots and Boxes, Chess, plus all 100 free games.