Skip to main content

Connect 4 : A great game for children


Another abstract game. Yes this time, it's Connect 4. This game works well with children. Connect Four is a two player strategy game. Each player can choose a color and take turns dropping those coloured discs into the vertical grid. This grid is a 6x7 suspended grid which can hold 42 discs. 

The disc falls straight down occupying the lowest available grid. The objective of this game is to be the first person to form a line of four of one's own coloured discs either vertical, horizontal or diagonal lines. The first player can ideally win by playing the right moves. What if the board fills up before either player gets a four in a row, then the game will be declared a draw.

During the lockdown, my interest in board games had increased magnifold, and I felt like a kid or more like a teenager. It's a very simple game with many tactical solutions which even allows you to force the opponent to make the moves that you wish, ultimately winning the game. One such simple method is to count the grids where the next move can happen, i.e. the holes which the opponent would settle their disc. Most of the time you will get enough information to plan and play ahead of your opponent. 

Even though the game is very simple, it's addictive and great to introduce to children. The rules are simple and easy, and kids can learn and enjoy the game very easily . The game is fast to play and it may take just 10 minutes maximum to finish a single game. Kids can play several games in a row to try different strategies and moves and they would learn visualizing the winning moves even before they have made the moves. 




During the course of game play, skills the kids would acquire are very critical.

  1. Visualize the winning situations : The aim of the game is just to get four discs in a row ( vertical / horizontal / diagonal ). That means, you could even win within the first four moves. However, there is a potential opponent who will block you at the third move, so you would start visualizing the moves up ahead and make the opponents make the moves which helps you. For example, to create a strategy which helps in building a four in a row diagonal winning by building the three columns with the help of the opponent to make that diagonal winning move. 
  2. Opponents Threats : Kids below 5 would struggle, they will be more focused on dropping the discs into the slot. However, older kids would learn from different wins and losses, on how quick they could understand the opponent moves and block them from winning which in turn lets them win the game. Winning will depend on the skills they attain while playing. The more difficult the opponent, kids can sharpen their skills. 
  3. Bright forced moves : Kids would play like double sided swords, they would create a two way line, i.e. a pattern with three discs with open grids on each side. In such scenarios it doesn't matter where or how the opponent places the disc. They already won the game. Even if you block on one side, they have the other side which is open for them to win. It's a forced win. Mastermind kids would definitely outrun you. 





Should I buy ? The answer is definitely 'yes'. We recommend this game for everyone, be it a young kid or for the complete family. The game is so simple and easy to set up, kids would play it even without adult supervision. It may look very simple but it's a great gift for your kids. This game can be used to enforce relationship between kids and parents. 

It's a keeper.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Guess Who : The Mystery Begins Here

Who doesn't love to play around with a little investigation, to pin down on that one person who we have in mind. Yes Guess Who ? is just the right game for playing our own question - answer investigation game.  Guess Who? is essentially a two player character guessing game. The contents include 48 plastic frames ( 24 characters each for each player), 2 playing boards in red and blue, 3 sets of pre cut cards in red, blue and yellow and 14 scoring pegs. Initially the assembly of the game requires adult help as the red and the blue cards have to be loaded to the frame and fixed to the board.  Contents of the box 48 Plastic Frames 2 Playing boards 3 Sets of cards  14 scoring pegs Objective of the game is to find out who is on your opponent's card before he / she guesses the character on yours. To start with the game, each player chooses either the red or the blue board. Then the yellow set of cards are shuffled and each player picks a yellow card and fixes it on the card ho...
Post a Comment
Read more

Battleship : Get on the grid or go home

Battleship is a typical strategy game for two players. It is more of a head to head naval combat game that keeps you at the edge. With each passing turn the player attacks the ships of the opponent and the one who loses all his ships in the battle will be the defeated.  The game was basically a paper and pencil game that was developed during World War One (WW1). It was during the 60’s that the game started appearing as a board game. The game basically has four sets of 10*10 grids, two each for a player. Each grid is marked horizontally and vertically with letters and numbers so that each individual square in the grid can be identified by the letter and the number. Each player is also given five types of ships, which we have to arrange on our primary grid. It is in this primary grid that we mark the attacks by our opponent. We also have a secondary grid, where we can mark our own attack on the opponent. Apart from this, we also have two sets of pegs for marking the attacks, one set ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Monopoly Junior : Financial Affairs

Monopoly is a traditional and much loved board game. The traditional game is more or less a real estate game where we can buy and trade properties, develop them with houses or hotels. The wealthiest player would turn out to be the winner and the players collect rent from the opponents with the intention to drive them to bankruptcy. There are other methods to gain or lose money, i.e. via chances, or players can end up in jail or they cannot move until a particular condition is met and the like. The game has numerous other house rules too depending on the version you buy.  I was wondering how we could introduce the original Monopoly to our little one. Meanwhile Santa arrived during Christmas with this Monopoly Junior as a gift for our little Zavi. I kept wondering whether this game would help him understand and learn a little about money and basic mathematics. He was really pulled in just because of spider man and the electro on the cover although the game has nothing to do with s...
Post a Comment
Read more