Connect Four
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 A Connect Four game in progress. With red to move, there are two winning moves that yellow can play in response: at the top and on the far right. |
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| Publisher | Milton Bradley |
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| Publication date | 1974 |
| Genre(s) | Abstract strategy |
| Players | 2-4 |
| Age range | 7 and up |
| Playing time | 10 minutes |
| Random chance | None |
Connect Four (also known as Four Up, Plot Four, Find Four, Four in a Row, and Four in a Line) is a two-player game in which the players first choose a color and then take turns dropping their colored discs from the top into a seven-column, six-row vertically-suspended grid. The pieces fall straight down, occupying the next available space within the column. The object of the game is to connect four of one's own discs of the same color next to each other vertically, horizontally, or diagonally before one's opponent can do so. There are many variations on the board size, the most commonly used being 7×6, followed by 8×7, 9×7, and 10×7.
The game was first sold under the famous Connect Four trademark by Milton Bradley in February 1974.
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[edit] Mathematical solution
The game was solved mathematically by James D. Allen (1 October 1988), and independently by Victor Allis (16 October 1988).[1] With perfect play, the first player can force a win by starting in the middle column. By starting in the two adjacent columns, the first player allows the second player to reach a draw; by starting with the four outer columns, the first player allows the second player to force a win.
There are a few programs that claim the ability to play a perfect game of connect four; Mustrum (Lars Bremer), Velena (Giuliano Bertoletti), and TitOT (David Halabi) are three such programs that can be downloaded as freeware.
[edit] Practical Gameplay Tips
While playing, if a player keeps the following tips in mind, the chances of winning are increased:
[edit] Attack or Defend?
If you're playing as Red (first turn), keep in mind that you have an extra turn, that is, the first one, so you're the attacker. As Blue (second turn), you dont have an extra turn and hence you're the defender. As Blue, you should not try to win, but defend first.
[edit] BERO
BERO stands for Blue in Even rows and Red in Odd rows If you're the defender, you should try your best to put your pieces in the even rows. (that is, from the bottommost) Following this rule, you can change the whole structure of the game.[citation needed]
[edit] Middle Row Rule
The player who gets the most of their pieces in the middle row, has better chances of winning, following the BERO rule.
[edit] The Triangle
A relatively unknown move. Forming the outline of a triangle with three contiguous pieces making up the sides of the triangle, a victory is nearly guaranteed. If an opposing player places a piece on any part of the triangle,(excluding the very top), an easy move to connect four pieces will present itself. This works very well because of the Connect 3 technique.
[edit] Connect 3
The very first thing you must do, before you connect 4, is to connect 3. While this may sound redundant, it is nonetheless valid that multiple connect 3's will be to your benefit. This gives you a higher chance of winning because your opponent has a small margin of error in his play for you to win. It also helps you with the next step.
[edit] Variations of play
Newer versions of the Connect 4 gameboard make it easy to remove game pieces from the bottom one at a time. Along with traditional gameplay, this feature allows for variations of the game.[2]
[edit] Pop Out
Pop Out starts the same as traditional gameplay, with an empty board and players alternating turns placing their own colored discs into the board. During each turn, a player can either add another disc from the top or — if one has any discs of his or her own color on the bottom row — remove (or "pop out") a disc of one's own color from the bottom. Popping a disc out from the bottom drops every disc above it down one space, changing their alignment with the rest of the board changing the possibilities for a connection. The first player to connect four of their discs horizontally, vertically, or diagonally wins the game.
[edit] Pop 10
Before play begins, Pop 10 is first set up differently from the traditional game. Taking turns, each player places their opponent's color discs into the slots filling up only the bottom row, then moving on to the next row until it is filled and so forth until all rows have been filled.
Gameplay works by players taking turns removing a disc of one's own color through the bottom of the board. If the disc that was removed was part of a four-disc connection at the time of its removal, the player sets it aside out of play and immediately takes another turn. If it was not part of a "connect four", then it must be placed back on the board through a slot at the top into any open space and the turn ends, switching to the other player. The first player to set aside ten discs of his or her color wins the game.
[edit] Rotating Gravity
Obviously, this cannot be achieved in the physical world, but computer programs are able to 'switch gravity' on each turn, adding an extra dimension to the complexity of the game.[3] This also allows/requires three player gameplay. A version of this is available here.
[edit] In popular culture
Broadcaster and writer Stuart Maconie – while working at the NME – started a rumour that Connect 4 was invented by David Bowie, which became an urban myth.[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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Wikibooks has more on the topic of |
- ^ "John's Connect Four Playground". Homepages.cwi.nl. October 1, 1988. http://homepages.cwi.nl/~tromp/c4/c4.html. Retrieved November 3, 2009.
- ^ "Connect 4: Flash demo". Hasbro.com. July 15, 2008. http://www.hasbro.com/play/details.cfm?guid=61E6A7BF-19B9-F369-D990-8801B984F6E6&src=endeca. Retrieved November 3, 2009.
- ^ C4 with Rotating Gravity
- ^ Thair, David (2009-05-22). "HIGNFY Guest interview: Stuart Maconie". BBC. BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/comedy/2009/05/hignfy-guest-interview-stuart-maconie.shtml. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
[edit] External links
- Connect Four at BoardGameGeek
- Connect Four Applet with source
- Connect Four Applet and source code showing Minimax algorithm (German)
- TDGravity applet (+ mobile phone version) - self-learned using TD-Leaf method
- Multiplayer Connect Four
- James D. Allen's Expert Play in Connect 4 and upcoming book Complete Book of Connect Four
- Connect Four at MathWorld
- John Tromp's history of solutions
- Victor Allis's Master's Thesis containing the solution of the game
- Connect Four television commercial
