Connect Four

strategy game · logic puzzle · two player · game theory

Drop and win. Players take turns dropping their colored tokens down columns in a tall grid, and the tokens fall to the lowest open spot. The first person to line up four of their own tokens in a row wins, whether that row goes across, up and down, or diagonally.

Always solvable. Mathematicians have figured out that Connect Four is a completely solved game, meaning they know the best moves for both players. If the first player makes all the right choices, they can always win no matter what the second player does.

Smart strategy. Even though the first player can always win with perfect play, the game is still fun because most people do not know the secret winning moves. It teaches you to think several steps ahead and plan your attacks while blocking your opponent.

Simple but deep. The grid is only six rows tall and seven columns wide, making it small enough to learn quickly but challenging enough that real matches can feel tricky and exciting.