Basic Usage

2.1. Playing Four-in-a-Row

To start a new game of Four-in-a-Row choose Game ▸ New Game.

The game board consists of seven columns and six rows. Above it, a special row indicates the current player and the marble about to be played. Each move consists of dropping a marble in one of the columns. The marble lands on the topmost empty row of the chosen column.

To make a move, click on a column with the mouse. To play with the keyboard, move the marble in the top row with the left and right arrow keys, and drop it in place with the down arrow key. Your marble will drop into the topmost empty row of that column.

Four-in-a-Row's Main Window

The game is won when one of the two players manages to line up four of his or her marbles horizontally, vertically or diagonally. If the board fills up without a win, the game ends in a draw.

2.2. Commands

To take back a move, choose Undo move (Ctrl+Z). If you're playing against a friend, this will undo one move. If you're playing against the computer, this will undo the computer's last move and then yours. Repeating this will return the board to its initial state.

Choose Hint (Ctrl+H) to get a suggestion from the computer for your next move. This is shown in the status bar.

Choose Scores to show a tally of wins and draws for the current playing session. The scores will be reset to zero if Player Selection is changed in Preferences.

2.3. Preferences

To change the game's settings, select Preferences from the Settings menu. This opens the Preferences Dialog.

Configuration options in the Game tab are:

Player One and Player Two

These two columns tell Four-in-a-Row who's playing and, if it is the computer, how hard they play. To play against a friend, select Human for both Player One and Player Two.

Theme

The theme menu lists available themes and lets you choose your favourite.

Enable Animation

Here you can toggle the game's animation on or off.

Finally there is a Controls tab to change the keyboard controls. To change a control, double click the appropriate entry and then press the new key.