Editing Connect Four (section)

{{Short description|Children's board game}}
{{Infobox game
| name = ''Connect Four''
| subtitle = 
| logo = Connect 4 game logo.png
| logo_size = 150
| logo_alt = 
| logo_caption = 
| image = Connect-four.jpg
| image_size = 250
| image_alt = 
| caption =A pair of friends playing connect four 
| width = 
| label_width = 
| other_names = ''4 in a Row''<br> ''The Captain's Duel''<br> ''The Captain's Mistress''
| AKA = 
| manufacturer = 
| designer = Howard Wexler<ref name="nyu/nyugcgamedesign/Intro">{{cite web |title=Intro to Game Design - NYU Game Center - Game Design |url=https://wikis.nyu.edu/display/nyugcgamedesign/Intro+to+Game+Design |website=NYU Wikis |publisher=[[NYU]] |access-date=15 November 2022}}</ref><ref name="howardwexlertoys/bio/hasbro">{{cite web |title=Inventing Toys at Hasbro |url=https://www.howardwexlertoys.com/bio/working-at-hasbro/ |website=Howard Wexler toys .com |access-date=15 November 2022 |date=18 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www1.cuny.edu/events/cunymatters/2001_winter/backmatter.htm |title=A City College Toy Story |work=CUNY Matters |publisher=City University of New York |date=Winter 2001}}</ref><br>Ned Strongin<ref>{{cite news |url=<!-- http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=ned-strongin&pid=150393271 -->https://archive.nytimes.com/query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage-950CEFD7163AF93BA25757C0A9679D8B63.html<!-- https://web.archive.org/web/20221115103710/https://archive.nytimes.com/query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage-950CEFD7163AF93BA25757C0A9679D8B63.html --> |title=Obituary: Ned Strongin |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 18, 2011}}</ref><ref name="newportbeachindy/strongin-fun">{{cite news |last1=Hall |first1=Sara |title=Strongin Made Fun His Business |url=https://www.newportbeachindy.com/strongin-made-fun-his-business/ |access-date=15 November 2022 |work=[[Newport Beach Independent]] |publisher=Firebrand Media LLC |date=13 May 2011}}</ref><ref name="justia.com/inventor/ned-strongin">{{cite web |title=Ned Strongin |url=https://patents.justia.com/inventor/ned-strongin |website=Justia Patents |access-date=15 November 2022}}</ref><ref name="/boardgames/designer/ned-strongin">{{cite web |title=Designed by Ned Strongin |url=https://boardgames.com/designer/ned-strongin |website=Board Games |access-date=15 November 2022}}</ref><ref name="uspto.report/TM/90252052">{{cite web |title=POWER LORDS - Ned Strongin Creative Services |url=https://uspto.report/TM/90252052 |website=USPTO.report |access-date=15 November 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="google/patent/US4863174A">{{cite web |last1=Cummings |first1=Gerald W. |title=Ball catcher and thrower |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US4863174A/en |website=[[google patents]] |access-date=15 November 2022 |date=5 September 1989 |quote=Current Assignee: NED STRONGIN CREATIVE SERVICES 1140 BROADWAY NEW YORK NY 10001 A NY PARTNERSHIP NED STRONGIN CREATIVE SERVICES}}</ref>
| director =
| illustrator = 
| writer =
| actor = 
| voice_over = 
| publisher = [[Milton Bradley Company|Milton Bradley]]<br>[[Hasbro]]
| date = {{Start date and age|1974}} 
| years = 1974–present
| genre = [[Connection game]]
| language = English 
| system = 
| parent_game =
| series =
| players =2
| setup_time = 
| playing_time = 10' 
| random_chance =
| ages = 6+
| skills = 
| materials = 
| movement =
| media_type = 
| blank_label = 
| blank_data = 
| related = 
| website = 
| isbn =
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| footnotes = 
}}
'''Connect Four''' (also known as '''Connect 4''', '''Four Up''', '''Plot Four''', '''Find Four''', '''Captain's Mistress''', '''Four in a Row''', '''Drop Four''', and in the  [[Soviet Union]], '''Gravitrips''') is a game in which the players choose a color and then take turns dropping colored tokens into a six-row, seven-column vertically suspended grid. The pieces fall straight down, occupying the lowest available space within the column. The objective of the game is to be the first to form a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line of four of one's own tokens. It is therefore a type of [[m,n,k-game|''m'',''n'',''k''-game]] (7, 6, 4) with restricted piece placement. Connect Four is a [[solved game]]. The first player can always win by playing the right moves.

The game was created by Howard Wexler, and first sold under the ''Connect Four'' trademark<ref name="uspto">{{cite web|title=Connect Four|url=https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73019915&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch|website=United States Patent and Trademark Office}}</ref> by [[Milton Bradley Company|Milton Bradley]] in February 1974.