Connect 4x4 is a three-dimensional

Three-dimensional space

Three-dimensional space is a geometric 3-parameters model of the physical universe in which we live. These three dimensions are commonly called length, width, and depth , although any three directions can be chosen, provided that they do not lie in the same plane.In physics and mathematics, a...

-thinking strategy game

Strategy game

A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome...

 first released in 2009 by Milton Bradley

Milton Bradley Company

The Milton Bradley Company is an American game company established by Milton Bradley in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1860. In 1920, it absorbed the game production of McLoughlin Brothers, formerly the largest game manufacturer in the United States, and in 1987, it purchased Selchow and Righter,...

. The goal of the game is identical to that of its similarly named predecessor, Connect Four

Connect Four

Connect Four is a two-player game in which the players first choose a color and then take turns dropping their colored discs from the top into a seven-column, six-row vertically-suspended grid...

. Players take turns placing game pieces in the grid-like, vertically suspended playing field until one player has four of his or her color lined up horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Unlike its predecessor, Connect 4x4 uses a double grid, two different types of game pieces, and can be played by up to four people at once.

Playing the game

Before the game begins, each player chooses a set of colored discs — known as "checkers" in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 — and sets them aside. The game pieces come in two forms: regular checkers with holes in the center of them and "blockers" which are two discs joined in the center by a small bar. The gameboard is six spaces wide, seven spaces high, and two spaces deep and sits upright so that pieces can be dropped through openings in the top.

As each player takes a turn, he or she chooses which type of checker to use and places it in the opening at the top. The game piece will then slide straight down

Gravitation

Gravitation, or gravity, is a natural phenomenon by which physical bodies attract with a force proportional to their mass. Gravitation is most familiar as the agent that gives weight to objects with mass and causes them to fall to the ground when dropped...

 until it reaches the first unoccupied space within that column.

Strategy

During each move, a player decides at what location to place a checker. Each choice should be based on trying to line up one's own checkers while at the same time trying to prevent opponents from lining up their checkers first. Along with regular checkers that take up a single slot on either side of the double grid, each player has two blockers which take up both sides at once. Because the blocker is connected by a rigid bar

Rigid body

In physics, a rigid body is an idealization of a solid body of finite size in which deformation is neglected. In other words, the distance between any two given points of a rigid body remains constant in time regardless of external forces exerted on it...

, it will stop at the higher open slot between the two sides. This can potentially take multiple slots of a single column on one side of the board out of play for all players even though they remain unoccupied by game pieces.

Winning the game

The game is won by the first player who lines up four of his or her checkers in any direction: horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Checkers can weave back and forth between the two grids as well which increases the number of ways to place four in a row.