Other Names for Four in a Row

The same game has many names. If you’ve searched for four in a row, 4 in a row or 4 in a line, you’re in the right place.

Name	Where you’ll hear it
Four in a Row / 4 in a Row	The most common general name, used worldwide
Connect 4 / Connect Four	Hasbro’s brand name, the best-known version
4 in a Line / Four in a Line	Common on game and puzzle sites
Drop Four	Describes the gravity rule
Plot Four / Find Four / Four Up	Names used for other boxed versions over the years
Captain’s Mistress	An old nickname linked to a legend about Captain Cook
Gravitrips	The name it went by in the Soviet Union

Whatever you call it, the rules are the same. Play Four in a Row now or read the rules.

Why does one game have so many names?

Because nobody owns the idea of lining up four in a row. Copyright doesn’t cover the rules or the idea of a game, and patents only last up to 20 years, so anything from the game’s launch in the 1970s ran out long ago. That’s why many companies have sold the same kind of game under their own names.

What Hasbro does own is the brand name Connect 4 (and Connect Four), along with its own artwork and packaging. So Connect 4 is one well-known version of the game, not the game itself, and nearly every version shares the same rules: 7 columns, 6 rows, discs that drop to the bottom, and first to four in a row wins.

We call our version Four in a Row, the plain name for the game. We mention Connect 4 only so people know which game we mean. See our Trademark Notice.