🔴 Connect Four: rules for kids
A fast, addictive game: take turns dropping discs into an upright grid and try to line up four in a row before your opponent does.
How to play Connect Four
What you need
An upright grid with 7 columns and 6 rows, and 21 discs for each player in two colors.
How to play
Players take turns dropping one disc into any column. The disc falls to the lowest empty space in that column.
How to win
The first player to line up four discs of their color in a row, across, up and down or diagonally, wins.
If the grid fills up with no four in a row, the game is a draw.
Tips for winning
Start in the middle column: it is part of the most possible lines of four.
Before every move, check whether your opponent has three in a row that you need to block.
Try to build two threats at once. Your opponent can only block one of them.
Questions and answers
Which column is best to start in?
The middle column. More lines of four pass through it than through any other column.
Does the first player always win?
With perfect play from both sides, the first player can force a win. In real games, though, that is very hard to pull off, which is why the game stays fun at any age.