Arcadópolis
Four in a Row
Free four in a row game against the computer
Free four in a row in your browser, with nothing to download: take turns dropping pieces into a frame of 7 columns and 6 rows, and whoever first gets four of their color in a line, horizontal, vertical or diagonal, wins. Play against the computer on Easy, Normal or Hard, or two players.
The pieces are coral and sun, and they fall behind a cobalt frame, bouncing into place; the column you aim at shows the piece that’s coming. You choose who starts: you, the computer or random.
Each column is a note: as it falls, the piece slides down in a glissando to its own, and when you win the four notes of your line play together. It’s one of the 51 games in the Arcadópolis Games folder.
Free, no ads, nothing to install.
Install Four in a Row on its own on your home screen
What it has
- A frame of 7 columns and 6 rows: 42 spaces.
- Against the computer on three levels, which thinks without freezing the screen, or two players.
- You choose who starts: you, the computer or random.
- Undo and hints.
- Keyboard: arrows or the numbers 1 to 7.
- Each column is a note, and your unfinished game waits for you.
How to play
- Open the Games folder, tap Four in a Row and choose your opponent.
- On your turn, tap a column: the piece drops to the lowest free space.
- Get four pieces of your color in a row, in any direction, and block your opponent’s lines.
- If the frame fills up with no four in a row, it’s a draw.
How to beat the computer
The center column is the most valuable: it’s part of more possible lines than any other, so take it early. Try to set up two threats at once, because your opponent can only block one. And before you drop a piece, look at the space you leave open above it: sometimes you hand your opponent exactly the square they need.
On Easy the computer gets distracted; on Hard it sees many moves ahead and hardly lets a threat slip by.
Does the first player always win?
On a 7 × 6 frame, the first player can always win with perfect play starting in the center column; computers proved it in the late 1980s. In practice nobody plays perfectly, so the game stays open, but if you want to beat Hard, it helps to go first and open in the center. Against another person, it’s fair to take turns going first.
Common questions
Can I play against another person?
Yes, two players on the same device, taking turns.
Who goes first?
You decide: you, the computer or random. Going first is an advantage, so it’s fair to take turns.
Can I play with the keyboard?
Yes: the left and right arrows choose the column and the down arrow drops the piece; you can also press the numbers 1 to 7 directly.
Also in Arcadópolis
Ultimate Tic-Tac-ToeNine tic-tac-toe boards inside one: win three small boards in a row, against the computer or two players.
ReversiTrap your opponent’s pieces on a 64-square board, against the computer or two players.
CheckersEnglish (8 × 8) or international (10 × 10) checkers, against the computer on three levels or two players.
Arcadópolis has 66 more apps on the same desktop: games, music, a 3D museum and a 3D library.