Connect Four
A pair of friends playing connect four | |
| Other names | 4 in a Row The Captain's Duel The Captain's Mistress |
|---|---|
| Designers | Howard Wexler Ned Strongin |
| Publishers | Milton Bradley Hasbro |
| Publication | 1974 |
| Years active | 1974–present |
| Genres | Connection game |
| Languages | English |
| Players | 2 |
| Playing time | 10' |
| Age range | 6+ |
Connect Four (also known as Connect 4, Four Up, Plot Four, Find Four, Captain's Mistress, Four in a Row, Drop Four, and in the Soviet Union, Gravitrips) is a game in which the players choose a color and then take turns dropping colored tokens into a six-row, seven-column vertically suspended grid. The pieces fall straight down, occupying the lowest available space within the column. The objective of the game is to be the first to form a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line of four of one's own tokens. It is therefore a type of m,n,k-game (7, 6, 4) with restricted piece placement. Connect Four is a solved game. The first player can always win by playing the right moves.
The game was created by Howard Wexler, and first sold under the Connect Four trademark by Milton Bradley in February 1974.