Connect Four - wikipedia Connect Four Connect Four Connect 4 game board and box Designer ( s ) Howard Wexler Ned Strongin Publisher ( s ) Milton Bradley / Hasbro Publication date Genre ( s ) Abstract strategy Players Playing time 1 - 10 minutes Connect Four ( also known as Captain 's Mistress, Four Up, Plot Four, Find Four, Four in a Row, Four in a Line and Gravitrips ( in Soviet Union ) ) is a two - player connection game in which the players first choose a color and then take turns dropping one colored disc from the top into a seven - column, six - row vertically suspended grid. The pieces fall straight down, occupying the next available space within the column. The objective of the game is to be the first to form a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line of four of one 's own discs. Connect Four is a solved game. The first player can always win by playing the right moves. The game was first sold under the Connect Four trademark by Milton Bradley in February 1974. Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Mathematical solution 3 Rule variations 3.1 Pop Out 3.2 Pop 10 3.3 5 - in - a-Row 3.4 Power Up 4 Other versions 5 Popular culture 6 See also 7 References 8 External links Gameplay Gameplay of Connect Four Object : Connect four of your checkers in a row while preventing your opponent from doing the same. But, look out -- your opponent can sneak up on you and win the game ! -- Milton Bradley, Connect Four `` Pretty Sneaky, Sis '' television commercial, 1977 A gameplay example ( right ), shows the first player starting Connect Four by dropping one of his / her yellow discs into the center column of an empty game board. The two players then alternate turns dropping one of their discs at a time into an unfilled column, until the second player ( with red discs ) achieves a diagonal four in a row, and wins the game. In gameplays where the game board fills up before either player achieves four in a row, then the game is a draw. Mathematical solution Connect Four is a two - player game with `` perfect information ''. This term describes games where one player at a time plays, players have all the information about moves that have taken place, and all moves that can take place, for a given game state. Connect Four also belongs to the classification of an adversarial, zero - sum game, since a player 's advantage is an opponent 's disadvantage. One measure of complexity of the Connect Four game is the number of possible games board positions. For classic Connect Four played on 6 high, 7 wide grid, there are 4,531,985,219,092 positions for all game boards populated with 0 to 42 pieces. The game was first solved by James Dow Allen ( October 1, 1988 ), and independently by Victor Allis ( October 16, 1988 ). Allis describes a knowledge based approach, with nine strategies, as a solution for Connect Four. Allen also describes winning strategies in his analysis of the game. At the time of the initial solutions for Connect Four, brute force analysis was not deemed feasible given the game 's complexity and the computer technology available at the time. Connect Four has since been solved with brute force methods beginning with John Tromp 's work in compiling an 8 - ply database ( Feb 4, 1995 ). The artificial intelligence algorithms able to strongly solve Connect Four are minimax or negamax, with optimizations that include alpha - beta pruning, move ordering, and transposition tables. The code for solving Connect Four with these methods is also the basis for the Fhourstones integer performance benchmark. The solved conclusion for Connect Four is first player win. With perfect play, the first player can force a win, on or before the 41st move ( ply ) by starting in the middle column. The game is a theoretical draw when the first player starts in the columns adjacent to the center. For the edges of the game board, column 1 and 2 on left ( or column 7 and 6 on right ), the exact move - value score for first player start is loss on the 40th move, and loss on the 42nd move, respectively. In other words, by starting with the four outer columns, the first player allows the second player to force a win. Rule variations There are many variations of Connect Four with differing game board sizes, game pieces, and / or gameplay rules. Many variations are popular with game theory and artificial intelligence research, rather than with physical game boards and gameplay by persons. The most commonly used Connect Four board size is 7 columns × 6 rows. Size variations include 5 × 4, 6 × 5, 8 × 7, 9 × 7, 10 × 7, 8 × 8, Infinite Connect - Four, and Cylinder - Infinite Connect - Four. A travel version of the Milton Bradley game. Several versions of Hasbro 's Connect Four physical gameboard make it easy to remove game pieces from the bottom one at a time. Along with traditional gameplay, this feature allows for variations of the game. Some earlier game versions also included specially marked discs, and cardboard column extenders, for additional variations to the game. Pop out Pop Out starts the same as traditional gameplay, with an empty board and players alternating turns placing their own colored discs into the board. During each turn, a player can either add another disc from the top or, if one has any discs of his or her own color on the bottom row, remove ( or `` pop out '' ) a disc of one 's own color from the bottom. Popping a disc out from the bottom drops every disc above it down one space, changing their relationship with the rest of the board and changing the possibilities for a connection. The first player to connect four of their discs horizontally, vertically, or diagonally wins the game. Pop 10 Before play begins, Pop 10 is set up differently from the traditional game. Taking turns, each player places one of their own color discs into the slots filling up only the bottom row, then moving on to the next row until it is filled, and so forth until all rows have been filled. Gameplay works by players taking turns removing a disc of one 's own color through the bottom of the board. If the disc that was removed was part of a four - disc connection at the time of its removal, the player sets it aside out of play and immediately takes another turn. If it was not part of a `` connect four '', then it must be placed back on the board through a slot at the top into any open space in an alternate column ( whenever possible ) and the turn ends, switching to the other player. The first player to set aside ten discs of his or her color wins the game. 5 - in - a-Row The 5 - in - a-Row variation for Connect Four is a game played on a 6 high, 9 wide, grid. Hasbro adds two additional board columns, already filled with player pieces in an alternating pattern, to the left and right sides of their standard 6 by 7 game board. The game plays similarly to the original Connect Four, except players must now get five pieces in a row to win. Notice this is still a 42 - ply game, since the two new columns added to the game represent twelve game pieces already played, before the start of a game. Power up In this variation of Connect Four, players begin a game with one or more specially marked, `` Power Checkers '' game pieces, which each player may choose to play once per game. When playing a piece marked with an anvil icon, for example, the player may immediately pop out all pieces below it, leaving the anvil piece at the bottom row of the game board. Other marked game pieces include one with a wall icon, allowing a player to play a second consecutive non winning turn with an unmarked piece ; a `` × 2 '' icon, allowing for an unrestricted second turn with an unmarked piece ; and a bomb icon, allowing a player to immediately pop out an opponent 's piece. Other versions Hasbro also produce various sizes of Giant Connect Four, suitable for outdoor use. The largest is built from weather - resistant wood, and measures 120 cm in both width and height. Connect Four was released for the Microvision video game console in 1979, developed by Robert Hoffberg. It was also released for the Texas Instruments 99 / 4 computer the same year. With the proliferation of mobile devices, Connect Four has regained popularity as a game that can be played quickly and against another person over an Internet connection. In 2007, Milton Bradley published Connect 4 Stackers. Instead of the usual grid, the game features a board to place colored discs on. Just like standard Connect 4, the object of the game is try to get 4 in a row of a specific color of discs. In 2008, another board variation Hasbro published as a physical game is Connect 4x4. This game features a two layer vertical grid with colored discs for four players, plus blocking discs. The object of the game is also to get 4 in a row for a specific color of discs. A SpongeBob SquarePants version of the game was released in 2009 for the show 's 10th anniversary. The rules are the same as the normal version, only the chips have the faces of SpongeBob and Patrick on them. It was rereleased in 2014, but with Patrick being replaced with Plankton. In 2015 Winning Moves published Connect 4 Twist & Turn. This game variant features a game tower instead of the flat game grid. The tower has 5 rings that twist independently. Game play is similar to standard Connect 4 where players try to get 4 in a row of their own colored discs. However, with Twist & Turn, players have the choice to twist a ring after they have played a piece. It adds a subtle layer of strategy to game play. Popular culture Broadcaster and writer Stuart Maconie -- while working at the NME -- started a rumour that Connect 4 was invented by David Bowie, which became an urban myth. On The Hub 's game show Family Game Night, there is a game under the name `` Connect 4 Basketball '' in which teams use colored balls. See also Score Four Gomoku References Jump up ^ `` A City College Toy Story ''. CUNY Matters. City University of New York. Winter 2001. Jump up ^ `` Obituary : Ned Strongin ''. New York Times. April 18, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Connect Four ''. United States Patent and Trademark Office. Jump up ^ `` Connect Four - `` Pretty Sneaky, Sis... '' ( Commercial, 1981 ) ``. YouTube. Retrieved December 18, 2016. Jump up ^ Number of legal 7 X 6 Connect - Four positions after n plies, Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences ^ Jump up to : `` John 's Connect Four Playground ''. Homepages. May 25, 2010. ^ Jump up to : Allis, Victor, A Knowledge - based Approach of Connect - Four, Vrije Universiteit, October 1988 ^ Jump up to : Allen, James D., Expert Play in Connect - Four, 1990 Jump up ^ Allen, James D. ( 2010 ). The Complete Book of Connect 4 : History, Strategy, Puzzles. Sterling Publishing Company. ISBN 1402756216. Jump up ^ Tromp, John, Connect - 4 Data Set, February 4, 1995 Jump up ^ Tromp, John, The Fhourstones Benchmark, 1992 ^ Jump up to : asun.net, Four in a Row Solver, August 30, 2013 Jump up ^ Yamaguchi, Y. ; K. Yamaguchi ; T. Tanaka ; T. Kaneko ( 2012 ). `` Infinite Connect - Four is solved : Draw ''. Advances in Computer Games, ACG 2011. LNCS 7168 : 208 -- 219. Jump up ^ Yamaguchi, Y. ; K. Yamaguchi ; T. Tanaka ( 2013 ). `` Cylinder - Infinite - Connect - Four except for Widths 2, 6, and 11 is Solved : Drawn ''. The 8th International Conference on Computers and Games ( CG2013 ). Jump up ^ `` C4 Classic Grid '' ( PDF ). Hasbro Inc. 2012. Jump up ^ `` Connect 4 '' ( PDF ). Hasbro Inc. 2009. Jump up ^ `` Connect 4 Stackers '' ( PDF ). Hasbro Inc. 2006. Jump up ^ `` Connect 4x4 '' ( PDF ). Hasbro Inc. 2008. Jump up ^ Thair, David ( 22 May 2009 ). `` HIGNFY Guest interview : Stuart Maconie ''. Comedy Blog. BBC. External links Wikibooks has more on the topic of : Connect Four Connect Four at BoardGameGeek Connect Four at MathWorld Haran, Brady. `` Connect Four ''. Numberphile. Connect Four game solver ( Talwalkar, Presh. `` Connect 4 solver on smartphone or computer ''. ) Hasbro Intellectual properties currently managed by Hasbro Toys Action Man Baby Alive Blythe Easy - Bake Oven Furby G.I. Joe Glo Worm Gobots Hanazuki Jem Koosh Kre - O Lite - Brite Littlest Pet Shop M.A.S.K. Micronauts Mighty Muggs Mr. Potato Head My Little Pony Nerf Play - Doh Pound Puppies Power Rangers Rom the Spaceknight Rubik 's Cube Sit ' n Spin Spirograph Stickle Bricks Stretch Armstrong Super Soaker Tinkertoy Tonka Transformers Visionaries Weeble Games Acquire Aggravation Axis & Allies Barrel of Monkeys Battleship Boggle Bop It Buckaroo ! Candy Land Catch Phrase Chutes & Ladders Clue Connect 4 Cootie Cranium Crocodile Dentist Designer 's World Duel Masters Dungeons & Dragons Elefun Gator Golf Girl Talk Guess Who ? Hi Ho ! Cherry - O Hungry Hungry Hippos Jenga Lazer Tag Life Magic : The Gathering Mall Madness Milton Monopoly Mouse Trap Mystery Date Nerf Blaster Operation Ouija Parcheesi Perfection Pictionary Pit Risk Rook Scattergories Scrabble ( U.S. and Canada ) Simon Sorry ! Stratego Taboo Trivial Pursuit Trouble Twister Upwords Yahtzee Distributed worldwide by Hasbro Beyblade ( except Japan and parts of Asia ) CirKis ( except U.S., UK, France and Germany ) FurReal Friends ( except Japan ) iDog ( except Japan ) Yo - kai Watch ( except Asia ) Licensed products Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader ? Disney Disney Princess Elena of Avalor Frozen Indiana Jones Marvel Legends Marvel Super Hero Squad Marvel Universe Spider - Man Classics Star Wars Idaten Jump Nickelodeon Sesame Street Strawberry Shortcake Sid the Science Kid The Simpsons Trolls Wolverine and the X-Men X-Men Origins : Wolverine Subsidiaries Entertainment and Licensing Hasbro Studios Boulder Media Discovery Family ( 40 % ) Wizards of the Coast Avalon Hill Backflip Studios ( 70 % ) Divisions and brands Nerf Playskool Tiger Electronics Tonka Related media Comics Films Television Conventions BotCon HasCon TFcon See also Hasbro Universe Hasbro Comic Book Universe Untitled Hasbro cinematic universe Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Connect_Four&oldid=847665444 '' Categories : Board games introduced in 1974 1970s toys Milton Bradley Company games Children 's board games Paper - and - pencil games Connection games Abstract strategy games Solved games Internet memes Hidden categories : Pages using deprecated image syntax Pages using infobox game with unknown parameters Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikibooks Čeština Dansk Deutsch Español Esperanto Français 한국어 Italiano עברית Magyar Nederlands Polski Português Русский Simple English Suomi Svenska Українська 中文 11 more Edit links This page was last edited on 26 June 2018, at 23 : 36 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: how to win in 4 in a row
Answer: be the first to form a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line of four of one's own discs