Two-player game
Connect 4
Drop discs, block your rival and get four in a row
- Set-up
- Under a minute
- Reading
- None
The quick verdict
Full verdict ↓Great for Children from 6 who are ready for a real strategy game but not for long rules
Think twice if You need a game for three or more; with a group, people can only take turns playing the winner
How we rate it
Learning curve. There's just one rule: get four in a row. Connect 4 is the reference game for 1 on our scale, alongside UNO and Jenga.
Set-up. The first time only, an adult snaps the two legs and the slider bar off the plastic frame they come on and pushes them into the grid. Hasbro's leaflet suggests smoothing any rough plastic with an emery board. After that, setup takes seconds: close the slider bar and give each player their discs.
Learning curve: 1 = UNO or Connect 4; 3 = Catan; 5 = a heavy strategy game. These describe the experience, not an overall score.
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Is Connect 4 right for you?
Great if
- Children from 6 who are ready for a real strategy game but not for long rules
- Quick games between siblings, or a parent and child, after homework or while dinner cooks
- Teaching children to look ahead and spot the other player's threats before it is too late
- Adults too: it is simple to learn, but good players think several moves ahead
Skip it if
- You need a game for three or more; with a group, people can only take turns playing the winner
- You want something to carry on trips; the upright grid and loose discs suit home play (a small Grab and Go version exists)
- You want a longer game with more variety; every game uses the same simple rule
A place on the honours list
Good company to be in.
Recognition from beyond our table.
Finalist, US National Toy Hall of Fame 2025 (The Strong National Museum of Play); not inducted
Recommended by the Good Play Guide (UK)
How Connect 4 plays
Stand the grid on its two legs between the players and close the slider bar at the bottom. One player takes the 21 red discs and the other the 21 yellow.
- Time to teach: about 2 minutes.
- Reading and language: Nothing to read during play. Once someone has explained the one rule, the game works in any language; only the rules leaflet is in English.
How to play Connect 4 (20-second rules) · Triple S Games
Choose a video · Watch right here
If this creator doesn’t allow embedded playback, watch on YouTube ↗.
A turn, step by step
- 1Drop
On your turn, drop one disc of your colour into the top of any column that isn't full. It falls to the lowest empty space. Hasbro's rules let the youngest player go first.
- 2Block
Before you drop, look at your opponent's discs. If they have three in a line with an empty space they can reach, put your disc there to stop them.
- 3Win
The first player to get four of their colour in a row wins. The row can go across, up and down, or diagonally. If all 42 spaces fill with no row of four, it's a draw: slide the bar to drop the discs out and play again.
The full explanation: how a game of Connect 4 goes
Take turns dropping one disc into any of the seven columns. The disc falls to the lowest empty space in that column, so the grid fills from the bottom up.
The first player to get four discs of their colour in a line wins: across, up and down, or diagonally. Much of the game is blocking. If your opponent has three in a row with an open space, you must drop a disc there.
Good play means setting up two threats at once, so your opponent can only block one of them. The centre column is part of the most possible lines, which is why strong players often start there. In 1988 the game was mathematically solved: with perfect play, the player who goes first can always win.
When the game ends, slide the bar open to release all the discs and play again. Swapping who goes first each game keeps it fair, and a best-of-five series works well.
What's in the box
- 1Grid
upright plastic grid, 7 columns by 6 rows (42 spaces) - 2Legs
hold the grid upright; they come attached to a plastic frame and snap off the first time - 1Slider bar
runs along the bottom of the grid to hold the discs in, then slides across to let them all drop out - 21Red discs
- 21Yellow discs
- 1Rules leaflet
Box: 28 × 27 × 4 cm, 0.41 kg. Handy to know for gifting and travel.
This contents list is from an Indian listing for Hasbro India's newer E8262 box. It matches Hasbro's own A5640 rules leaflet. The older E8262 box (its back is shown in another Indian listing) lists the same parts under older names: a grid with end supports, 21 red and 21 yellow 'checkers', a 'retaining lever' and instructions. The 7 x 6 grid size is from Wikipedia; 42 discs fill it exactly.
Where to buy
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How to make sure you get a genuine copyEditions and the details worth checking.
What reviewers and players say
Connect 4 is about as simple as a real strategy game gets. There is one rule, a game lasts a few minutes, and a six-year-old can play properly against a parent. Reviewers like that it gets children planning ahead and blocking, and that adults enjoy it too. The catches: only two can play, it can feel samey after many games, and a perfect player who goes first always wins, so take turns starting.
What people love
- You can learn it in a minute and finish a game in a few, which makes it easy to fit in between other things
- It gets children thinking ahead, spotting patterns and blocking, and dropping the discs is good practice for small fingers
- Sturdy plastic grid and chunky ridged discs that are easy to grip, in colours that are easy to tell apart
- Grown-ups enjoy it too: there is real strategy, and players who learn a few opening ideas start winning most games
Common complaints
- After many games it can feel samey once you know the usual patterns, so it works best as one game among several
- It is a solved game: with perfect play the first player always wins, so serious players take turns going first
- It's strictly for two players, so in a group everyone else waits for 'winner stays on'
Based on 6 reviews and discussions
- Review Connect 4 Game review · The Good Play Guide (UK)
- Review Connect 4 Review · What's Good to Play (UK)
- Review Connect 4 Review · Board-Games.com
- Players Optimal Strategy for Connect 4 (discussion thread) · Hacker News
- Reference Connect Four · Wikipedia
- Award National Toy Hall of Fame Reveals 12 Finalists (2025) · The Strong National Museum of Play
Summarised in our own words from the sources above. We don't use Amazon reviews or ratings.
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Why consider it | This game Drop discs, block your rival and get four in a row | A different fit Another quick two-player grid classic, with discs that flip | A different fit Get five in a row using cards, for 2 to 12 players | A different fit A compact two-player shape-placement duel, with no dice or reading during play |
| Players | 2 | 2 | 2–12 | 2 |
| Best with | 2 | 2 | 4-6 in two teams | 2 |
| Play time | 5–15 min | 15–30 min | 20–40 min | 10–20 min |
| Age | 6+ | 8+ | 7+ | 7+ |
| Rules | Easy | Easy | Easy | Easy |
| Indian edition | Available | Available | Available | Imported |
| On this page | Explore Othello | Explore Sequence | Explore Blokus Fast Fun |
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Questions people ask about Connect 4
Is there a trick to always win Connect 4?
In theory, yes. In 1988 James Dow Allen and Victor Allis separately proved that the first player can always win with perfect play by starting in the middle column. In practice nobody plays perfectly, so taking turns to go first keeps games fair and close.
What is the difference between Connect 4 and Strike 4?
Connect 4 is Hasbro's game. Strike 4 is Funskool's own disc-dropping game with the same goal of four in a row, made in India and usually cheaper. Both play the same way; Hasbro's has the familiar grid on legs with a slider bar to release the discs.
What age is Connect 4 suitable for?
Hasbro rates it for ages 6 and up, for 2 players. Six-year-olds can learn to spot and block lines of three, and adults enjoy it too, which makes it a good parent-and-child game. The discs are small, so keep them away from toddlers.
What happens if the Connect 4 grid fills up?
If all 42 spaces are filled and nobody has four in a row, the game is a draw. Open the slider bar to release the discs and start again, with the other player going first.
Game facts
- Designed by
- Howard Wexler, Ned Strongin
- Publisher
- Hasbro (first published by Milton Bradley in 1974)
- In India
- Hasbro India Toys Pvt. Ltd. (Mumbai)
- First published
- 1974
- Players
- 2
- Barcode
- 195166190747
- Language
- No reading – Nothing to read during play. Once someone has explained the one rule, the game works in any language; only the rules leaflet is in English.
- Box size and weight
- 28 × 27 × 4 cm, 0.41 kg
- Awards
- Finalist, US National Toy Hall of Fame 2025 (The Strong National Museum of Play); not inducted; Recommended by the Good Play Guide (UK)
Sources & photo creditsThe references behind this guide.
Facts on this page come from the publisher, the Indian maker or distributor, and the sources below. Photos are credited under each one.