Four in a Row strategy: how to win more games

Why the centre column matters

Not every square is worth the same. The table shows how many different lines of four pass through each square of the board. A disc in the middle of column 4 sits on 13 possible lines; a disc in a bottom corner sits on only 3.

So build from the middle outwards. If you start, drop your first disc in column 4. Computer analysis has shown that with perfect play the starting player wins, but only by opening in the centre column; open anywhere else and a perfect opponent can at least draw. Nobody plays perfectly, but the lesson stands: going first is an edge, and the centre is where it lives.

If your opponent opened in the centre, stacking your disc on top of theirs is a sound reply.

Threats: the squares that win

A threat is an empty square that would complete four of your discs. Some threats can be played straight away; others hang in the air because the square underneath is still empty. Before every move, run through this list:

1. Can you win now? Take it.
2. Can your opponent win now? Block it.
3. Would your disc land just under one of their threats? Then they win by dropping on top. Pick another column.
4. Would it land just under one of your own threats? Then they simply block on top and your threat is gone. Leave that column alone too.

Those last two points are the heart of the game. A square directly below a threat is poisoned: whoever drops into it either hands over a win or wastes their own. As columns fill up to poisoned squares, the fight becomes about who runs out of safe moves first.

Two threats at once

One threat can always be blocked. Two cannot, so most winning attacks aim for two at once. Three shapes to look for:

• An open three on a filled row. Three in a row with an empty, playable square at each end.
• Stacked threats. Two of your threats directly above each other in one column. Your opponent blocks the lower square and you win on the one above.
• A block that sets you up. Make a three that must be blocked in a column where the blocking disc fills the square just under another of your threats. They block, and you win on top of their disc.

The bottom row is where beginners lose most often:

Now columns 2 and 6 both win, and O can only block one. Answer two in a row on the bottom with a disc beside them before the third arrives.

Odd and even rows: the rule that settles close games

Number the rows 1 to 6 from the bottom. Near the end of a tight game, every column left has a poisoned square in it, and someone is forced to play underneath a threat because there is nowhere else to go. Having to move when every move hurts you is called zugzwang, and in four in a row it follows a simple pattern.

Each column holds six discs, an even number. Imagine the second player drops every disc straight on top of the first player's last one. Then in every column the first player fills rows 1, 3 and 5 and the second player fills rows 2, 4 and 6. Real games are messier, but when the safe moves run out the board tends to settle that way: odd squares to the first player, even squares to the second.

A threat on the wrong rows still poisons a square for your opponent, but rarely wins on its own. And when both players have a threat in the same column, the lower one comes due first.

How to beat the Hard computer

• Go first and take the centre. Pick yourself under First on the start screen. The starter swaps after each game; press Swap on the results sheet to start again.
• Forget one-move tricks. Hard always takes a win, always blocks yours, and avoids playing under your threats whenever it has another move.
• Win the long game. Hard rates odd and even threats too, but early on it can't see all the way to the end. Threats on your rows, built early and left waiting, are what it struggles with. Near the end it sees every disc, so your advantage must be in place by then.
• Practise on Medium first. Medium looks only a few moves ahead, so a trap that takes three of your moves to spring often gets past it.
• Use Undo to learn. Undo takes back your move and the computer's reply, as often as you like: step back to where it went wrong and try another column. A hint shows what Hard would play in your place.

If you only remember three things

1. Play from the centre out; column 4 is worth the most.
2. Never drop a disc just under a threat, theirs or yours.
3. Going first, build threats on rows 3 and 5; going second, on rows 2, 4 and 6.

Try it now: play Four in a Row against Medium and spot the poisoned squares as they appear. Or browse more two-player games.

Questions

Is it better to go first in four in a row?

Yes. The starting player gets first claim on the centre and, with perfect play from column 4, can always win. Between ordinary players the edge is smaller, which is why Suvi swaps the starter after every game.

What does zugzwang mean in four in a row?

It is the point late in the game where every column you can play either hands your opponent a win or spoils your own threat, but you still have to move. The odd and even row rule is a way of making sure it is your opponent who gets stuck.

Why won't the computer play in a certain column?

Usually because its next disc there would land just under one of your threats, and you would win on top of it. When a strong player leaves a column alone, look for the threat they are respecting.

How do I stop a double threat?

Once it is on the board you usually can't, so stop it a move earlier. Block a bottom-row two before it becomes three, and when your opponent has a threat waiting, don't let them build a second one directly above it.

Play it now

Four in a Row is free on Suvi, on your phone or computer, no download. Also: Four in a Row vs Computer · 2 Player Four in a Row · Four in a Row With a Friend Online.

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Written by Brasslight Games · Updated 29 October 2026