Connect Four: How It Plays and Which Connect 4 to Get

What Connect Four is

Connect Four is a two-player game played on an upright grid. You each take a color. On your turn you drop one checker into a slot at the top, and it falls to the lowest empty spot in that column. The first player to get four of their own checkers in a line wins. The line can run across, up and down, or on a diagonal.

That's the whole game, and it fits on a kitchen counter. There's no luck in it. Every checker goes exactly where somebody chose to put it, and gravity does the rest.

Here's what Hasbro's page for the classic game (product 01081) states:

• Players: 2
• Ages: 6+
• Pieces: 42 checkers, 21 per color on the rules sheet
• Grid: with a base that also works as a carrying handle
• Storage: the checkers store inside the grid
• Ways to play: Original, Pop Out and Pop 10

The rules PDF linked from that page is Hasbro's own rules sheet for product 01081, printed in 2008. It calls the pieces "counters" in places, which tells you which side of the ocean it was printed for. The game is the same.

How Connect Four plays

The rules below are in my own words, from Hasbro's Connect 4 rules sheet for product 01081. It covers three games on one grid. I'll start with the one everybody knows.

Before the first game

1. Set the base on a flat surface and slide the grid's legs into it.
2. Check that the top locking piece and the bar along the bottom are both closed, so nothing falls through.
3. Sit on opposite sides of the grid. One player takes one color, the other player takes the other.
4. Clip on the scoring sliders, if you want to keep a running score.

Original Connect 4

1. Decide who goes first.
2. Take turns, one checker per turn.
3. On your turn, drop one checker into any column that isn't full.
4. Keep going until one player has four in a row, across, up and down, or on a diagonal. That player wins.

When the game's over, slide the bottom bar open and every checker drops out at once. Then close the bar and play again. The rules sheet suggests moving your scoring slider up one space for each game you win, and calls the first player to reach 5 the champion.

That bar is, for the record, the best sound in our game closet. Sam is 7 and asks to be the one who opens it, win or lose. The 6+ on the box covers him. He has never once asked to be the one who picks up the checkers.

Pop Out

Pop Out uses the same grid with the bottom bar set to its PopOut position.

1. Play just like the Original, with one change.
2. On your turn, choose: drop one of your checkers in at the top, or pop one of your own checkers out of the bottom row.
3. You can only drop or pop your own color.
4. First to four in a row wins.

Popping a checker out drops every checker above it down one row. That can finish your four. It can also hand your opponent theirs. The rules sheet puts it more politely, but that's the warning.

Pop 10

Pop 10 turns the game upside down. You start with a full grid and empty it.

1. Fill the grid first. Take turns dropping checkers in, one at a time, filling a row before starting the next.
2. Set the bottom bar so checkers can be popped out.
3. On your turn, pop one of your own checkers out of the bottom row.
4. If that checker was part of a four in a row, keep it beside you and pop again.
5. If it wasn't, drop it back in at the top. Your turn ends.
6. You can't put it back in the same column you took it from, unless there's no other choice.
7. The first player to collect 10 checkers wins.

Pop 10 is the mode most people have never tried, and it's the one that makes adults stop and count. It's worth one game just to see the grid differently.

Why the middle column matters

A little math, since the game is basically a coordinate grid with a gravity problem.

A four in a row needs four spots in a straight line. Count the slots across the top of your grid. On a grid seven columns wide, every horizontal four has to pass through the middle column, because there's no way to fit four in a row on either side of it without touching it. The columns near the edges are part of far fewer possible lines.

So a checker in the middle does more work. That's not a secret strategy, just counting. It's also why the first few checkers in most games land near the center, and why the edges fill up last.

A few other habits that come from the same counting:

• Look for a spot where one checker would threaten two fours at once
• Watch what your checker does for the player who drops next, on top of it
• Don't fill a column just because it's open; you may be building a step for your opponent

Connect 4 editions on Amazon US right now

Our data for this page lists nine Connect 4 and four-in-a-row versions on Amazon US as of October 2026. The table above shows players, age and play time where each listing states them. A dash means the listing doesn't say.

The classic game

• Hasbro Connect 4 2025 Edition: 2 players, ages 6+, listed as a new edition or refresh
• Hasbro Connect 4 (B06XY881H4): ages 6+; no player count on the listing
• Hasbro Connect 4 Marvel Spider-Man Edition: 2 players, ages 6+, strategy, the same game with themed checkers and grid per the listing name

If you want the game the rules sheet describes, start with these. The listings don't say which of them include the Pop Out bar, so check the product photos and description before you count on Pop Out or Pop 10.

Spin-offs that play differently

• Hasbro Connect 4 Spin: 2 players, ages 8+, listed as strategy
• Hasbro Connect 4 Frenzy: 2 to 6 players, ages 8+, 10 minutes, listed as physical and dexterity play
• Hasbro Connect 4 Card Game: 2 to 4 players; no age listed

These use the Connect 4 name with a twist of their own, so don't expect the rules above to cover them. Spin keeps two players and moves the age up to 8+. Frenzy is the one for a bigger group, and at 10 minutes on the listing it's a short game. The card game moves the idea onto cards for up to 4 players. The listings don't spell out the rules, so I won't guess at them.

Travel and handheld versions

• Hasbro Grab and Go Bundle 4 Pack: 2 players, ages 7+, listed as a 4-pack bundle of Grab and Go games
• Milton Bradley Connect Four Electronic Handheld (1995): listed as electronic; no players or age stated

The handheld is the one version where no checker can roll under the couch. The listing doesn't give an age or player count, so read the listing itself before buying it for a child.

Four in a row by another name

Spin Master Cardinal Classics Four in a Row lists 2 or more players, ages 8+, and strategy. The name says what it is: the four-in-a-row idea under a generic title. If the Connect 4 name isn't what matters to you, it's on the table for comparison. The listing doesn't say whether it has a pop-out bottom.

Check the age label on the listing. Toys with small parts are a choking hazard for children under 3. The checkers in a Connect 4 set are small parts, and a set of 42 tends to shed one or two over the years.

House rules worth trying

House rule: the player who lost the last game goes first in the next one. It's not in the rules sheet, which only says to decide who starts. It keeps a winning streak honest.

Two more, also house rules:

1. Best of five. Use the scoring sliders and play to 3 wins instead of 5, so a school-night match ends before bedtime.
2. Call it. Before you drop the winning checker, say where your four is. If you can't point to it, it doesn't count yet. Good for younger players learning to see diagonals.

Who Connect Four suits

It suits two players who want a quick game with real choices and no luck. Every move is visible. Nobody has hidden cards. When you lose, you can see exactly which checker did it, which is frustrating in a useful way.

It suits mixed ages from 6 up, on the classic box. A 6-year-old can play the Original right away. Diagonals take a little longer to spot. Pop Out and Pop 10 give older kids and adults a reason to keep the grid out after the basic game feels solved.

Who should skip it

Skip it if your usual game night is three or more people and you want everyone in the same game. The classic Connect 4 is two players. Frenzy lists up to 6, but it's a different game.

Skip it too if you want luck to even things out. The player who sees more lines wins most of the time, and that can be a long evening for whoever sees fewer.

And keep it on a high shelf if there's a child under 3 in the house. The checkers are small parts.

If you like Connect Four, look at these

Pages chosen by what they share with Connect Four: two players, no luck, a short game.

• Othello: a two-player grid game where one move can flip the board
• Checkers: the two-player classic with jumps and captures
• Battleship: two players and a grid, with hidden information
• Classic board games: the long-running family shelf

Connect 4 has been sold under both Milton Bradley and Hasbro names, which is why both show up in the table. See the Hasbro and Milton Bradley brand pages for the rest of each lineup.

Drop four, open the bar, play again.