Rules

Four in a Row is a game with fairly simple rules. Two players alternate placing pieces on a rectangular board, most often 7x6 (7 columns with 6 rows). The piece placed in each move ends up in the lowest empty spot in the chosen column.

Position after 3. F2
6 - - - - - - - Move List
5 - - - - - - -
1. D1 D2
2. D3 F1
3. F2
4 - - - - - - -
3 - - - x - - -
2 - - - o - x -
1 - - - x - o -
 ABCDEFG

If a player manages to arrange four of his or her pieces in a vertical, diagonal, or horizontal row, that player wins.

White wins with a horizontal row
6 - - - - - - - Move List
5 - - - - - - -
1. D1 D2
2. C1 D3
3. E1 F1
4. B1
4 - - - - - - -
3 - - - o - - -
2 - - - o - - -
1 - xxxxo -
 ABCDEFG
Black wins with a vertical row
6 - - - - - - - Move List
5 - - - - - - -
1. D1 C1
2. B1 C2
3. B2 C3
4. B3 C4
4 - - o - - - -
3 - xo - - - -
2 - xo - - - -
1 - xox - - -
 ABCDEFG
White wins with a diagonal row
6 - - o - - - - Move List
5 - - ox - - -
1. D1 D2
2. D3 D4
3. D5 C1
4. C2 C3
5. C4 C5
6. F1 C6
7. G1 E1
8. E2
4 - - xo - - -
3 - - ox - - -
2 - - xox - -
1 - - oxoxx
 ABCDEFG

Lines of five or longer also count as a win. If the board is filled so no empty spaces remain, and neither player has made four in a row anywhere, the game is a draw.

Drawn game
6oxoooxoMove List
5xoxxxox
1. D1 D2
2. D3 D4
3. D5 D6
4. B1 C1
5. B2 B3
6. B4 B5
7. B6 F1
8. F2 F3
9. F4 F5
10. F6 C2
11. C3 C4
12. C5 C6
13. E1 E2
14. E3 E4
15. E5 E6
16. A1 A2
17. A3 A4
18. A5 A6
19. G1 G2
20. G3 G4
21. G5 G6
4oxoooxo
3xoxxxox
2oxoooxo
1xxoxxox
 ABCDEFG

Foreign Arrow follows the convention of calling the first player White or X, and the second Black or O. The notation seen in the preceding diagrams is used throughout the site as well. See the (in) nomenclature page for more details.

As a final note, sometimes (in) variants of the rules described on this page are used.