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How to play Four in a Row

The rules and how to win, as played in the Surulere Games Lounge. Updated 18 October 2026.

The quickest game in the lounge. Two players take turns dropping discs into an upright frame, and the first to line up four of their own, across, up or slanting, wins. It takes a minute to learn and a long time to master.

The frame

The frame stands upright and has 7 columns and 6 rows: 42 holes in all. Each player has discs of their own colour. In Lagos Hotel they're green and yellow, with Ankara patterns. Draw lots to decide who starts.

Your turn

• Pick a column and drop one disc into it. It falls to the lowest empty hole in that column.
• A full column can't take any more discs: choose another.
• You can't place a disc in mid-air, and you can't skip your turn. Every turn, someone drops a disc.

Three ways to win

Line up four of your discs in an unbroken line and you win straight away. The line can go:

A line of five or more counts too. Only your own colour counts: one of your opponent's discs in the middle breaks the line.

Draws

If all 42 holes fill up and nobody has lined up four, the game is a draw.

Tips to win

• Take the middle. More lines of four pass through the centre column than any other: 60 possible lines touch it, against 24 for an edge column. Discs in the middle do the most work.
• Look before you drop. Every turn, check whether your opponent has three in a line with an open hole they can reach next go. If they do, block it.
• Build a double threat. Make two ways to win at once. Your opponent can only block one.

• Don't play underneath their winning hole. If your opponent needs a hole that is still floating, with an empty hole below it, don't drop a disc into the hole below. You'd be lifting their disc into place.
• Set the same trap for them. Make your threats higher up the frame and wait. As the frame fills, your opponent may have no safe column left and be forced to play underneath your winning hole.
• Count what's left. Near the end, look at which columns still have room and who will be forced to play where. The last few drops are often decided several moves early.

Four in a Row in Lagos Hotel

• Tap a column. Arrows over the frame show the columns with room. Tap one and your disc drops.
• Play with people or the house. The Surulere Games Lounge has two Four in a Row tables. Sit down and invite whoever is in the room, or play Uncle Dayo, the house champion. He always takes a win and blocks the obvious ones, but he can be outplayed.
• Play at home. Buy a Four in a Row table from the furniture shop, put it in your apartment and play with your visitors.
• Get on the champions board. Wins against real people count towards today's champions on the lounge wall. Games against the house don't count.