How to Play 4 in a Row Online with a Friend

Four in a Row is a two player game, and the best opponent is someone you know. Here is the fastest way to get a friend into a game with you — whether they are across the room or across the country — plus the other ways to find a second player when nobody is around. Everything is free, runs in the browser, and needs no account on either end.

The 60-second version

• •Open Four in a Row and choose Private Game in the online section.
• •Type a name (this is what your friend sees on the board) and create the game.
• •Tap Copy link or Share, and send the link by text, WhatsApp, Discord, email — anything.
• •Your friend opens the link, types a name, and taps Join game. The match starts that second.

Sending the invite link

As soon as you create a game you land in a lobby with your invite link front and center. On a phone, the Share button opens the normal share sheet so you can drop the link straight into a chat. On a computer, Copy link puts it on your clipboard. The link is a short room code on the end of the site address, so it also works fine read out loud or typed by hand.

The link stays valid while the lobby is open, and your friend does not need to sign up for anything. When they open it they see who invited them, type a name, and join.

What if nobody joins?

You are never stuck waiting. From the lobby the host can start against a bot at any time — Easy wanders and misses blocks, Normal plays like a solid club player, and Hard reads six moves ahead. If your friend turns up later they can still open the link and join the next round.

Two players on one screen

Sitting next to each other? Skip the internet entirely. Choose Two Players, One Screen and pass the device back and forth, or share a keyboard: press keys 1 through 7 to drop a disc in that column. Nothing is sent over the network in this mode, so it is the quickest way to get a game going.

Playing strangers with quick match

If you want a game right now and nobody you know is free, choose Host Public Game or use Quick Match to jump into the first open one. Public games start the moment a second player arrives. A turn clock keeps things moving, so a match against a stranger rarely takes more than a few minutes.

Phones, tablets, and mixed devices

• •Any modern browser works: Safari on iPhone, Chrome on Android, or a desktop browser. One player can be on a phone and the other on a laptop.
• •Tap a column to drop your disc. The landing row is highlighted before you commit so you can see exactly where it falls.
• •Locked your phone mid-game? Reopen the tab and the board resyncs automatically. Your seat is remembered on that device.
• •Add the site to your home screen from the browser menu and it opens like an app next time.

Rules refresher for your friend

The rack is seven columns wide and six rows tall. Players alternate dropping one disc per turn, and gravity pulls it to the lowest empty slot in that column. The first player to line up four of their own discs in a row — horizontally, vertically, or diagonally — wins. If the rack fills with no line of four, the round is a draw. Red moves first in round one and the opening move alternates every round after that, so nobody keeps the first-move edge for long. It plays just like Connect 4®.

Once the two of you have a few rounds in, the strategy guide explains why the center column matters and how to set up the double threats that actually win games.