Four in a Row

Drop your candies, four in a row wins

How to play

Four in a Row on Matsuri is a free online connect-four game for two players: take turns dropping candies into a grid of seven columns and six rows, and the first to line up four across, down or diagonally wins. Send a friend an invite link to play in Telegram or any browser, or play Mocha, the hall's host. It runs on phone or desktop and inside Telegram via @MatsuriGamesBot, with no download or sign-up.

Four in a Row is the classic two-player connection game on an upright grid of seven columns and six rows, the game many know as Connect 4. Take turns choosing a column; your candy drops to the lowest free space. Four of yours in a line, across, down or diagonally, wins at once, and a full board with no four is a draw. Send a friend the invite link to play in Telegram or any browser, or play Mocha, who looks five moves ahead and beats most casual players, but can be caught with two threats at once.

  1. Take turns dropping a candy into a column: it falls to the lowest free space.
  2. Four of yours in a row wins: across, up and down, or diagonal.
  3. Spot your friend's three in a row? Block it before they finish! A full board is a draw.

How to play Four in a Row

The grid stands upright with seven columns and six rows. On your turn choose a column, and your candy falls to the lowest empty space in it; a full column takes no more. Four of your candies in a straight line, horizontal, vertical or diagonal, win at once, and the winning line lights up. If all 42 spaces fill with no line of four, the game is a draw. The first seat drops first, and in a rematch the seats turn so the other player starts.

To play, tap a column on a phone, or point at one with the mouse to light it and click. On a keyboard, the keys 1 to 7 drop straight into that column, and the arrow keys move the lit column, with Enter or Space to drop. Your candy is strawberry pink or lemon yellow, the same colour as the chip on your player strip, and the last candy dropped bounces into place so you always see the other player's move.

Four in a Row strategy and tips

  • Take the middle column. It is part of more possible lines of four than any other column, which is why strong players open there.
  • Block every three. When the other player has three in a line and the fourth space is one you can fill now, fill it.
  • Build double threats: two different spaces that would each complete four for you. The other player can block only one of them.
  • Watch the space under a threat. A winning space that is not yet playable only becomes live when someone fills the space below it, so avoid being the one who does that for your opponent.
  • Count before you drop. If your move fills the space just below a winning space for your opponent, they win on the very next turn, so check what each column gives away.
  • Think in rows. With perfect play the first player wants threats on odd rows counted from the bottom and the second player on even rows, because that is the rhythm in which the grid fills up.

Modes and difficulty

Play a friend: open a table and send the invite link; the game starts when they sit down, and anyone else who opens it can watch. Play Mocha: she looks five moves ahead, plays the middle and blocks direct threats, so she beats most casual players, but a player who sets up two threats at once gets past her. After a game, ask for a rematch with the seats turned. There are no levels or rankings.

Playing Four in a Row on Matsuri

The server keeps the grid and checks every drop, so a game in a Telegram group chat or a browser tab is the same game for both players. Mocha reacts to strong moves, slips and near wins. A game pays a little candy once at least seven candies have been dropped, the quickest possible win, so a resign at once pays nothing: against a friend 15 for a win, 8 for a draw and 5 for a loss, against Mocha 6 for a win, within the day's candy budget.

A little history

Four in a row on an upright grid was first sold by Milton Bradley in 1974 as Connect Four, credited to Howard Wexler and Ned Strongin. In 1988 James D. Allen and Victor Allis each solved the game independently: with perfect play, the player who goes first wins by starting in the middle column. Between people, it is still very much a game: few players can see that many moves ahead, and a single careless drop under a threat decides most games. Four-in-a-row ideas are much older than the upright grid, too; gomoku, five in a row on a Go board, has been played in Japan for well over a century.

Questions

Is this the same as Connect 4?
It plays by the same rules as the classic sold as Connect 4: a grid of seven columns and six rows, candies drop to the lowest free space, and four in a row across, down or diagonally wins.
Can I play four in a row online with a friend?
Yes. Open a table, send the invite link, and your friend plays in Telegram or any browser, for free and with no download or sign-up.
What if the board fills up?
If all 42 spaces are filled and nobody has four in a row, the game is a draw.
How good is Mocha at four in a row?
She looks five moves ahead, so she rarely misses a direct threat and beats most casual players. Two threats at once will get past her.
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