Four-play that can last for hours... (Connect Four)

Member Name: chrisandmark

Product:	Connect Four
Date:	06/11/03 (77 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A timeless classic, Less than a fiver, Suitable for all the family (and the kids wil usually win!)

Disadvantages: The noise of the discs can get on your nerves!

It was Charlottes birthday last month and it's a tradition in our house to buy a family game at every birthday and Christmas but the game makers just can't keep up with us! So browsing the Argos catalogue I was chuffed when Connect 4 caught my eye. I used to love playing my dad at this (and usually losing! lol) when I was small and thought the kids would love it. I was even more chuffed when I saw the price - a bargain at £4.99!

oOoOo SO WHAT IS CONNECT 4? oOoOo

It's simplicity itself. It's a game for 2 players and each player has 22 discs in a choice of either red or yellow (we usually toss a coin to see who is what colour). Once the arguments of 'I wanted to be red mum' finishes you can put the 'module' together. I know, module is entirely the wrong word for the Connect 4 game but that's what it's called in the instructions! When you open the game you're faced with a blue box type thing that rattles. Ahhhh, this is the clever bit. Slide the top of the 'box' off and you see all the discs - the top then slots easily into the base and the game is ready to play. If only Monopoly was so easy to set up...

oOoOo THE AIM OF THE GAME oOoOo

Erm... to Connect 4! You take it in turns to put a disc in the top of the game board so that it drops into one of seven columns and the first one to get four discs in a row (vertically, horizontally or diagonally) is the winner. But don't forget blocking. The person you're playing will be trying to block you at every opportunity and the game can get a bit tedious when you run out of discs for the third time and have to start all over again. However, the rules state that if you run out of discs or when it isn't possible to make a row of four then the game is a draw. Pointless. If the game isn't won you should carry on playing until one of you does win!

oOoOo WHAT I THINK oOoOo

I think it's great. Mark thinks it&#
39;s great. The kids think it's 'wicked'. This is the only game in our ever growing collection that we all play and we all actually enjoy. The simplicity of the game is what makes it so much fun but at the same time it's a thinking game, in my opinion since Charlotte started playing it she's able to work out a strategy quite easily and wins quite regularly. The game says it's only for ages 6 and over but I think this is more a safety warning due to the possible choking hazard presented by the discs because our 4 year old plays the game with us and has had a few wins. Compared to the likes of Monopoly and Guess Who?, this is a much more family orientated game because when we get these games out of the cupboard they take too long to set up (Connect 4 can be set up in seconds) and the boredom factor sets in for the kids you get one of those never ending games. I love the way the discs are stored inside the game board because I remember having Connect 4 as a child and the discs (we called them counters in those days! ;oP) were always being lost forever in my overflowing toybox. The game itself is tough because the actual frame of the game is thick plastic and ours has been dropped, kicked by a 7 year old in the throes of the worlds worst tantrum and left outside all night in the rain and it still looks good as new. The game isn't what you'd call quiet and I'd hate to play it if I had a migraine - the sound of the discs dropping can get a bit irritating after a while but it's not noisy if you see what I mean. :o) BUT getting the discs back out after finishing a game is horrendously noisy. You have to lift the top of the frame up and *clatter, rattle* out fall all the discs onto the bottom of the board - personally I can't stand the noise when I'm not in the mood for playing myself!

We tend to play the game differently depending on whether me and Mark are playing or if the kids are joining in. Quickly mentioning the
prospect of strip Connect 4 (and therefore adding smutty overtones to what started off as a sensible review) and 'favours', this adds an adult twist and is obviously only for when the kiddies are in bed! There are various tactics to help you win Connect 4 but I won't go into those because the best way to play is find out these things yourself. Personally, I don't play tactically anyway and I love the speed game you can play where you have to get your disc in the frame as soon as the other person has dropped their's in. Brilliant fun. We also play in teams sometimes where me and Charlotte will play Mark and Alice and this is fun too because you take it in turns to play a disc and can't have any input into where your team mate plays their disc.

So go on, grab a fiver and get down to Argos. You'll get a great game and have change too!

Thanks for reading. :o)

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