Four

Four is a free daily Connect Four endgame from Mind Loft, which also runs Mate, Etch and Suds. You play red, you drop first, and the position is already won: a forced win in four of your moves on weekdays, five on Sundays. Exactly one column keeps that win. Every other drop throws it away, and a wrong drop is not taken back: the engine plays on, it is perfect, and once the win is gone you are playing for a draw. Every board is a real, reachable position checked by two independent solvers, and the win takes exactly the stated number of moves against the stiffest defence, never fewer. The engine always answers with its most stubborn defence, the same one for everybody, so the game you play is the game everyone else plays. A timer and a moves-to-win counter sit above the board, a new position drops every day at midnight Eastern, with no app and no signup: it runs in the browser, keeps a streak and ranks you on a daily leaderboard.

1. Press Start to open the day's position: you are red, it is your move, and the number of moves to win is shown at the top.
2. Read the board before touching it: exactly one column keeps the forced win, and every other drop throws it away.
3. Tap a column to drop your disc. There is no take-back, so treat every drop as final.
4. Answer the engine's reply, always its most stubborn defence, and keep finding the only winning column until the win lands in the stated number of moves.
5. If a drop spoils the win, play on for the draw: a draw still scores four, while a thrown-away win or giving up scores zero.

Four is for people who like Connect Four as a problem rather than a duel: the position is handed to you already won, and the whole game is finding the one column that keeps it. It suits players who enjoy reading a board several moves deep and who want a leaderboard where ties break on wrong drops before time. Skip it if you want a beatable opponent or a puzzle that tolerates trial and error: one careless drop loses the win for good, and the perfect engine never hands it back. A session is a single position, four or five moves of your own, with the clock counting.

There are no coloured tiles to read: the engine answers with a move. The board shows the time and the moves still needed to win. A correct drop keeps the forced win and the engine replies with its most stubborn defence; a wrong drop is not refused and not taken back, the engine plays the game out perfectly, and from then on you are playing for a draw. The result lands on a fixed scale: a win 10, a draw 4, a thrown-away win or giving up 0, with leaderboard ties broken on fewest wrong drops and then fastest time.

Daily puzzle

One position per day, the same for everyone, published at midnight Eastern. Weekday boards hold a forced win in four moves; the Sunday Edition steps up to a win in five.

• Take your time before the first drop: leaderboard ties break on fewest wrong drops first and fastest time second, so a slow correct move beats a quick wrong one.
• Count the moves: the win takes exactly the stated number against the stiffest defence, never fewer, so a line that seems to win faster is a misread.
• Trust the guarantee: every board is checked by two independent solvers, so if no column seems to win, the mistake is in your reading, not in the grid.
• The single free hint comes on your first ever play and only greys out two columns that do not win: it narrows the choice, it does not name the answer.
• Sunday positions are won in five moves rather than four: one move deeper means a longer calculation, so budget more reading time on Sundays.