Four in a Row Strategy: Centre Columns and Double Threats
By the CrazyArcade team ·
Four in a Row looks like a children's game, but it has a clear strategy. The player who moves first and plays well can always win on the standard 7x6 board, which tells you how much the first few moves matter. You do not need to memorise openings to win far more often, though. Two ideas do most of the work.
Our own Four in a Row game has three computer levels. Hard looks six or more moves ahead and rarely blunders, so it is a good test once the ideas below feel natural.
Play the centre
A disc in the middle column can be part of more possible lines of four than a disc on the edge, across, up and in both diagonals. Start in the centre column and keep most of your discs in the middle three columns. Edge columns are useful only to complete or block a specific line.
Make two threats at once
Your opponent can block one threat per turn. If you create two places where you can complete a line of four, they can only stop one. The most common way is a row of three with open spaces on both ends, or a horizontal threat and a diagonal threat that share a disc.
Watch the space below a threat
A threat only matters if the space can be filled. If your winning space is in the fourth row and the column has only two discs, neither player wants to drop the third disc, because it would let the next player use the space above. Good players build threats that the opponent will eventually be forced to unlock.
Turn this around when defending. Before you drop a disc, check whether it gives your opponent a winning space directly above it.
Practise in steps
Easy sometimes misses a win or a block, so it is good for testing double threats. Medium looks three moves ahead. Hard punishes almost every mistake. In our game, the first move switches sides every round, so practise playing both first and second.