How to Play Connect Four: Rules and Winning Tips

One player uses red discs, the other yellow. On your turn you choose any open column and release a disc; gravity drops it to the bottom-most empty space. Turns alternate. The board holds 42 discs total, so a game ends in a win or, if all 42 are placed with no four-in-a-row, a draw.

A win is exactly four same-color discs in an unbroken line: across a row, down a column, or along a diagonal. Because discs stack, the bottom row fills first, making the center column and central columns strongest. A column that is already full cannot accept more discs; choosing it forfeits your turn (in practice players simply pick another column). Strategy centers on building two threats at once (a 'double threat') so your opponent can block only one, and on denying your opponent the center.

Myth: the board is 8 columns. Fact: standard Connect Four has 7 columns and 6 rows (42 slots). Myth: diagonal lines do not count. Fact: diagonals count as wins. Myth: you can remove a disc. Fact: once played, a disc stays; only the next disc's column is your choice.

1. Decide colors; one goes first. 2. On each turn, drop a disc into any non-full column. 3. Aim to make four in a row horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. 4. Control the center column early - it takes part in the most potential lines. 5. Watch for your opponent's open three-in-a-rows and block them. 6. Set up a double threat (two ways to win next turn) when you can. 7. If the board fills with no line, the game is a draw.