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How to Play 3D Four in a Row

Everything you need, from your first move to advanced tricks. The little boards on this page are real – drag them to turn them.

What is 3D Four in a Row?

It is the four-in-a-row game you know, stretched into three dimensions. The classic game has 7 columns side by side. Here the columns stand in a square of 7 by 7 – 49 columns – and each one holds 6 counters, the same height as the classic board. That makes 294 spaces.

The rules are the same as the flat game:

• Players take turns. Orange goes first, then teal.
• You choose a column and drop one counter in from the top. It falls to the lowest free space – counters can’t float.
• The first player to get four in a straight line wins. In 3D a line can point in 13 different directions, not just 4.
• If all 294 spaces fill up with no line of four, it’s a draw (this almost never happens).

Because there are so many more lines – 1,203 of them, compared with 69 on the flat board – threats can come from anywhere. That is what makes the game exciting, and why being able to turn the board matters.

The board and how squares are named

Turning the board

• Drag anywhere on the board (mouse or one finger) to spin it round and tip it up or down. It works just like turning our 3D cube.
• Pinch with two fingers, or use the mouse wheel, to zoom in and out.
• Use the buttons for a quick view: Top (straight down – great for checking flat lines), Front, Side and Corner. ⟲ ⟳ turn the board a quarter turn, and Reset goes back to the corner view.
• Turning the board never drops a counter. Only a tap on a column (or the drop grid) chooses one, and it still needs a second tap to drop.

Choosing a column and dropping

Picking the right column on a 3D board can be fiddly, so the game gives you three easy ways – use whichever you like:

1. The drop grid (under the board on phones, beside it on computers). It is the board seen from above: 49 squares, one per column. The little bars in each square show what is already in that column, bottom to top. Tap a square once to choose it – the whole column lights up on the 3D board and a see-through counter appears where yours would land. Tap it again, or press Drop, to drop.
2. Tap the 3D board. Tap a column (or the rod it sits on). It lights up with the same see-through counter. Tap it again or press Drop.
3. Keyboard. Arrow keys move around the drop grid and Enter drops. Q and E turn the board, T, F, S and C pick a view.

Tip: the drop grid turns with the board, so “up” on the grid is always the far side of the board as you look at it. You can switch this off in Settings if you prefer a fixed grid.

Full columns are greyed out and can’t be chosen. The last counter played has a white ring (and a white dot on its drop grid square). Experienced players can switch on one-tap drop in Settings.

Seeing inside the board

Counters at the front can hide the ones behind them. Use the Layers buttons:

• All – show everything.
• Fade above – show layers up to the one you pick (with − and +) and fade out everything higher.
• One layer – show just one layer, like a single flat slice of the board.

The Top view with One layer is the best way to check for flat lines in a layer.

All the ways to win

A line of four can point in 13 directions. They fall into six families. Drag each little board to see the line from every side.

Strategy for beginners

• Play in the middle. The middle columns are part of far more lines. The space at D4, layer 3 sits on 43 different lines; a bottom corner (A1, layer 1) sits on only 7.
• Check all 13 directions before you drop. After each of your opponent’s moves, ask: “Have they got three in any line with the fourth space free?” Turn the board to check – especially from the top.
• Block straight away. If your opponent can win next turn, block that space (the game shows the ghost counter so you can check exactly where yours will land).
• Look at the space above. Before you drop, look at the space just above where your counter lands. If your opponent could win there, your move gives them the win.
• Use the drop grid’s bars. They show how tall each column is at a glance, so you can see which spaces are playable now.

Strategy for improvers

• Make two threats at once. In 3D, one counter can join several lines in different directions. If one move gives you two different winning spaces, your opponent can only block one. Space diagonals and rising diagonals are perfect for this because opponents miss them.
• Build where lines cross. The middle of layers 3 and 4 is where the most lines meet. Counters there help in many directions at once.
• Don’t chase stacks. Four straight up is easy to stop. Use stacks as a threat to force your opponent to answer, then switch direction.
• Use “Fade above” to plan. Fade the upper layers to see what you are building on, then look at each layer on its own.

Advanced strategy

• Threats you can’t use yet are still powerful. A winning space that is floating (with empty spaces below it) can’t be played yet. Nobody wants to fill the space underneath it, because that lets the other player take it. Collect these “waiting” threats – late in the game they force your opponent into bad moves.
• Odd and even layers. As in the flat game’s odd and even threats, it matters which layer a waiting threat is on. When columns fill up one at a time, the first player often ends up taking the odd layers (1, 3, 5) and the second player the even ones (2, 4, 6). Aim your waiting threats at layers that will fall to you.
• Force, then fork. Make a threat that your opponent must block, choosing it so that their block puts their counter somewhere harmless – and yours lands where it starts a double threat.
• Keep the centre column open. D4 is the busiest column on the board. Playing it too early fills it up quickly; sometimes it is better to build around it and keep its middle layers for later.
• Practise against Hard. The Hard computer looks several moves ahead and never misses a direct threat, so it is a good teacher for spotting forks.

The computer levels

• Easy – always takes a win, usually blocks yours, but otherwise plays loosely. Good for learning the board.
• Medium – always blocks, looks two moves ahead, and makes the odd mistake.
• Hard – thinks for under a second and looks as many moves ahead as it can in that time. A real challenge.

Short of time? Choose a smaller board when you start a game: 5 × 5, 5 high, or the quick 4 × 4, 4 high (the size of classic bead-and-rod 3D games).

Questions and answers