Connect 4 multiplayer with friends
Real-time games against a person on a different machine. Create a room, send the invite link or the 5-character code, and the board stays in sync move for move.
Free · No download · Runs in your browser
Play Connect 4 online — free multiplayer in your browser
Connect 4 is a two-player strategy game on an upright grid of seven columns and six rows: you take turns dropping discs into the columns, and the first player to line up four of their own discs horizontally, vertically or diagonally wins. This version is free, needs no download, and pairs you with a real opponent in real time or with an AI.
Play Connect 4 now Learn the rules
- 2 players, 7 columns, 6 rows, 42 squares
- Live games against someone on another machine
- Invite link or 5-character room code
- AI opponent at several difficulty levels
- Guest nickname, or a free account
How it works
Three steps from an empty tab to a live game. No install, no sign-up wall.
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Pick how you want to play
Open the game and choose your opponent: a friend in a private room, the quick match queue, or the AI. Guests type a nickname and go; accounts are free if you want your points and friends kept.
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Share a link or a room code
A private game hands you a shareable invite link and a 5-character room code. Send either one however you like. Quick match skips this entirely and pairs you with whoever is already waiting.
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Play, rematch, climb
Discs drop on both screens at once. Send an emote, rematch the moment the board clears, and bank points for every win to spend on skins and trails while you climb the leaderboards.
What you get
Everything below is in the game today, and all of it is free.
Quick match with a stranger
No one around? Join the quick match queue and you are paired with whoever is waiting. It is the fastest route to an opponent who is not the computer.
Connect 4 vs computer
An AI opponent with several difficulty levels: drop it low while you are learning the board, push it up once you start spotting double threats.
Guest or account
Play as a guest with nothing but a nickname, or make a free account to carry your points, purchases, friends list and leaderboard position between devices.
Points, skins and drop trails
Wins earn points. Points buy disc skins and drop trails, the glow your disc leaves as it falls. The top tier unlocks a custom skin you design yourself.
Monthly and all-time leaderboards
Two boards: this month and all time. Both rank on points you have ever earned rather than your balance, so buying skins never costs you a place.
Friends, spectating and emotes
Add the people you keep playing, watch a friend's game live while you wait, and talk trash with emotes. Rematch is one click when the board clears.
Dark neon, anywhere
A neon arcade board that works the same on a phone, a laptop and a work monitor you should not be using it on. Nothing to install on any of them.
How to play Connect 4: the rules and the strategy
The rules take a minute. The strategy is why people still play it after fifty years.
The rules of Connect 4
Connect 4 — also written Connect Four — is played by two players on an upright grid of 7 columns and 6 rows, giving 42 squares. Each player has 21 discs of one colour.
- Players alternate turns, and one colour goes first.
- On your turn you choose a column and drop one disc into it. It falls to the lowest free square in that column — you pick the column, gravity picks the row.
- A column with six discs in it is full and can no longer be played.
- The first player to get four of their own discs in a line — horizontal, vertical or either diagonal — wins immediately.
- If all 42 squares fill and neither player has a line of four, the game is a draw.
That is the whole ruleset. There is no capturing, no removing discs mid-game, and no limit on how many lines of three you may hold at once — which is exactly what the strategy below is built on.
Four ideas that win Connect 4 games
1. Take the centre column
A 7×6 board has exactly 69 places a four-in-a-row can sit: 24 horizontal, 21 vertical and 24 diagonal. Those lines are not spread evenly. Each of the two middle squares of the centre column belongs to 13 of the 69 lines; the best square in an outer column belongs to only 5. A disc in the middle is doing roughly two and a half times the work of a disc on the edge, so open in the centre and keep contesting it.
2. Build two threats at once
A single three-in-a-row is easy to block. Two threats that can both be completed on your next turn cannot be — your opponent gets one move and there are two holes to plug. The board at the top of this page is a live example: cyan has three discs along the bottom row with an empty square at each end, so whichever end magenta blocks, cyan plays the other. Most games are decided by whoever builds the first genuine fork.
3. Look at the square you are handing over
Every disc you drop creates a new playable square directly above it. The single most common way to lose is to drop a disc that hands your opponent the winning square on top of it. Before you commit to a column, put your opponent's colour in the square above your move and check it does not make four.
4. Count odd and even rows
In long games, parity decides everything. Because the two players fill columns alternately, threats sitting on the odd rows (1, 3 and 5, counting up from the bottom) tend to fall to the player who moved first, and threats on the even rows (2, 4 and 6) to the player who moved second. If you moved first, aim your unstoppable threat at an odd row; if you moved second, aim for an even one. It is the difference between a draw and a win in a lot of endgames.
Is Connect 4 a solved game?
Yes. Connect 4 was solved independently in 1988 by James Dow Allen and by Victor Allis, whose master's thesis published the full result. On the standard 7×6 board the first player can force a win, but only by opening in the centre column. Opening in either column next to the centre is a draw with perfect play, and opening in any of the four outer columns is a loss. No human plays perfectly, which is why the game is still fun — but it is another good reason to start in the middle.
Frequently asked questions about Connect 4 online
Is Connect 4 Online free to play?
Yes. Online multiplayer, the AI opponents, the leaderboards and the store are all free, and there is nothing to download or install. Store items are paid for with points you earn by winning games, never with money.
Can I play Connect 4 online with a friend on another device?
Yes. When you create a game you get a shareable invite link and a 5-character room code. Send your friend either one, they open it in their own browser on their own machine, and the two boards stay in sync in real time. You can both play as guests, so neither of you needs an account.
How do Connect 4 room codes work?
Every private game is given a 5-character room code. Whoever created the game reads it out or sends it over, the other player types it into the join box, and they drop straight into that board. The code points at one room only, so it works just as well in a group chat as on a voice call.
Do I need an account to play Connect 4 online?
No. Pick a nickname and you can play immediately as a guest, whether that is against a friend, the quick match queue or the AI. An account is free and optional: it keeps your points, your store purchases, your friends list and your leaderboard position across sessions and devices.
Can I play Connect 4 against the computer?
Yes. The game includes an AI opponent with several difficulty levels, from a forgiving one for learning the board up to a level that will make you work for the win. It needs no second player and no waiting, so it is the quickest way to get a game in.
What are the rules of Connect 4?
Two players share an upright grid of 7 columns and 6 rows. They take turns dropping a disc into a column of their choice, and gravity pulls it to the lowest free square in that column. The first player to line up four of their own discs horizontally, vertically or diagonally wins immediately. If all 42 squares fill with no line of four, the game is a draw.
How do points, skins and the store work?
You earn points by winning games. Points are spent in the store on disc skins and on drop trails, the glow your disc leaves behind as it falls. The top tier of the store unlocks a custom skin that you design yourself.
Does spending points lower my leaderboard rank?
No. The monthly and all-time leaderboards rank players on the total points they have ever earned, not on the balance they are sitting on. You can buy out the whole store and your position will not move.
Ready for a game?
Open the board, take the centre column, and see how far the odd rows get you.