Goal of the game:
To start a game of Connect Four you need two players. Each player must choose a different colored pen or pencil so that there can be a distinction between each player’s pieces. Each player will draw circles as their pieces in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line to try to connect four pieces. You must also block your opponent from connecting four pieces into a winning position. The goal of the game is to Connect Four pieces horizontal, vertical or diagonal without getting blocked to win the game.
Space:
Connect Four takes place on a 7x6 grid box. To play this game you can use graph paper or create your own 7x6 graph to play on. Connect Four is discrete because “we only care about boundaries not the space within each cell.” It also has clear boundaries and has 56 zero-dimensional places. Connect Four is played on a two-dimensional space.
Core Mechanics:
Connect Four is turn based game which is one of its mechanics. Another main mechanic of the game is gravity. There has to be a top and bottom of the game graph. When you choose a spot for your piece it must start from the bottom as if you were dropping it in from the top. This causes the pieces to stack up which is another mechanic. For example, the first move will have to be in the very bottom row but the second player can choose the bottom row but the second player can only choose the bottom row or choose to stack a piece on top of player ones. Pattern building is another mechanic in Connect Four. You can use strategy to choose where to move your pieces in order to trick the other player or to strategize to win.
Objects: Players pieces
Attributes: The color of player one and two’s pieces.
States: There aren’t any state changes but you are “free to move.”
Actions:
Operative Actions: You can put your piece on the lowest row because of the gravity rule. If there are pieces on any row you can stack.
Resultant Actions: Placing your pieces to block the opponent. Building various heights to plan ahead to force a player to make an unwanted move.
Rules: In Connect Four the goal of the game is to connect your pieces horizontally, vertically, or diagonal to beat your opponent. In Connect Four you cannot just choose any spot to place your piece because of the rules. The gravity rule that you can only place pieces on the lowest possible space in each column. Which means you can also stack on top of your opponent’s piece. Another rule in Connect Four is that you must take turns because it is a turn based game. If the grid fills up in the 7x6 spaces the game is a draw.
Skills players learn:
Learning patterns of game players and learning patterns that help you beat your opponent.