Connect Four
NEWWorks on both desktop and mobile. Tap or click to play.
About This Game
Play Connect Four free against the computer. Drop your discs, line up four in a row, and beat the AI on Easy, Medium, or Hard. Works on mobile and desktop.
How to play Connect Four
Objective: Line up four of your red discs in a row, horizontally, vertically, or on either diagonal, before the amber computer does the same.
The board is seven columns wide and six rows tall. You play red and always move first. Tap any column and your disc falls to the lowest empty cell there, exactly as gravity would drop it. You cannot pick a specific row. When the top cell of a column is already filled, the column is full and tapping it does nothing. After your move the computer replies as amber, showing a brief 'Computer is thinking' pause of about a third of a second while it chooses.
Play alternates until someone connects four or every column fills. The four directions that count are horizontal, vertical, and both diagonals, and the discs must be adjacent and unbroken. The moment four of your reds line up, the status reads 'You win' and those four cells glow green. If the computer completes its four first, its amber discs glow green and the status reads 'Computer wins'. If all forty-two cells fill with no line of four, the game is a draw.
Three buttons above the board set difficulty: Easy, Medium, and Hard. They control how many moves ahead the computer searches, so Hard reads deeper and both blocks and builds threats more reliably than Easy. Selecting any difficulty immediately clears the board and starts a fresh game with you to move. The 'New Game' button below the board does the same reset while keeping your current difficulty. There are no points, no timer, and no move limit.
Tips and strategy
Fight for the center
The computer adds bonus value to every amber disc it holds in the middle column and weighs lines that pass through it. Claiming that column early gives your discs the most directions to grow into and denies the computer its favorite ground.
Set two threats at once
The computer strongly prioritizes blocking any three reds with an open fourth cell. It can only answer one threat per turn, so build a position where a single drop would complete two separate lines and it cannot stop both.
Punish Easy's random moves
On Easy the computer ignores its search and plays a completely random column roughly four times in ten. Keep a concrete threat alive every turn; sooner or later it fails to block, and you finish the line it left open.
Watch the stacking trap
Because discs fall to the lowest slot, playing a column can gift your opponent the cell directly above. Before dropping, check whether the square you create on top completes an amber four; if it does, choose a different column.
The history of Connect Four
Connect Four was published by Milton Bradley in 1974 on the seven-column, six-row grid used here. That fixed board size is what makes the game solvable rather than open-ended. In 1988 it was solved independently by James Dow Allen and Victor Allis: with perfect play the first player wins by starting in the center column, which is why grabbing the middle early remains such durable advice.
Frequently asked questions
Who moves first?
You do. You always play red and take the opening move of every game. The amber computer only responds after your disc lands, so the entire first turn is yours to shape the center before any opposition appears on the board.
What do the three difficulty buttons change?
They set how far ahead the computer searches: Easy looks two moves, Medium four, and Hard six. Easy also plays a purely random column about forty percent of the time. Deeper search means it spots your threats and plans its own further in advance.
Does changing difficulty reset my game?
Yes. Tapping Easy, Medium, or Hard clears the board immediately and starts a new game with you to move, even mid-match. If you only want a fresh board at the same level, use the New Game button under the grid instead.
Can a game end without a winner?
Yes. If all forty-two cells fill and neither side has four in a row, the status reads that it is a draw. It is uncommon but happens when both players keep blocking each other until no columns remain.