Play Connect Four

I started this website years ago, initially written in PHP to give myself some practice with writing a chat system and multiple users interacting. Connect Four is a fairly simple game, but one I also loved playing when I was younger. The plan was to write an interface which allowed for setting up a game just as easy as in person, even if not as fun as sliding that bottom bar to clear the board.

Eventually the PHP code was just too outdated, slow, and the bug fixes were piling up. I decided to rewrite the whole system in NodeJS with Socket.IO. Great way to dive into a new programming language. Writing it using websockets made the moves and chat nearly instant, and sending it over a websocket meant there was no need for a database/file system for the chat. Really cool stuff.

Long backstory short, this was made to be as easy as possible to start a game. If you like it, donations are very much appreciated. I plan on adding features eventually.

• Spectator mode
• Archived game replay
• Twitter/Facebook authentication
• Statistics

• How Do I Play Connect Four?

• Playing is simple. Upon going to http://playc4.com you are redirected to a private room for your game.
• In order to invite someone else into your room, you must copy and paste the link either from the address bar in your browser or on the right hand side in the chat area.
• In order to drop a tile it must be your turn.
• For a rematch, either player must start a new game and copy the link to the private room.

• How Do I Win?

• A player can win at Connect Four by having four of their tiles line up in a row either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.

• Why Did You Make This?

• Initially I just wrote it to have a simple way of playing friends one of my favorite games from my childhood. Something simple, no nonsense, etc. Initially I wrote it in PHP, but have since made a rewrite in Node.Js/Socket.IO. Websockets have let the game and chat be much more responsive.

• Your $#*! is All Messed Up

• This project could definitely use more time and love, but I do what I can to keep it going. If you encounter a problem then just send me an email and I will see what I can do.