Connect Four
It's from 1974, before you were born.
- Maker
- Milton Bradley / Hasbro
- Type
- Board game (abstract)
- Debuted
- 1974
- Note
- A 'solved' game — going first wins with perfect play
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About
As of 2026, it's 52 years old.
Connect Four dropped into 1974 as 'the vertical checkers game,' a deceptively simple grid where players take turns dropping red and yellow discs trying to line up four in a row — horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. That sneaky diagonal win is responsible for more 'wait, WHAT?' moments than almost any toy.
Mathematicians have actually 'solved' it: with perfect play, the first player always wins. The rest of us just enjoyed the satisfying clatter of releasing all the discs by sliding the bottom lever, scattering them everywhere.
Simple, satisfying, and secretly solvable, Connect Four is the disc-dropping classic that hides a surprisingly cutthroat little brain-teaser behind its clatter.
