One of the best things about smartphones nowadays is the ability to take some of our favorite classic games and play them in new ways. One of these games Connect Four Plus.
Overview
Connect Four was the first strategy game I played as a kid. It was super easy; two players compete to see who can connect four of their color first. Well, easy when your dad let’s you win. I really enjoyed playing it growing up, just as now I am really enjoying playing Connect Four Plus.
Now, don’t let the “Plus” fool you. Many apps use the word plus to signify the ability to purchase the app without ads. In this case the app is free, though ad-supported, and the Plus stands for the extra features you get with the game. I found all these features useful and very fun:
- Ability to choose five different backgrounds: wood, beach, space, sky, and aurora borealis
- Option to choose to play vs cpu or human
- You can choose whether to play vs human on the same device, through Google contacts, or via bluetooth or LAN connections
- Invite friends to play
- Achievments
- Keep track of your local, bluetooth, and LAN scores
Now, as mentioned above, the app is free, but supported with ads. Don’t worry, though, it’s not done in the annoying, in your face all the time way that some apps are. There is usually an ad at the bottom of the main menu, and every so often, an ad will pop up after completing a game. There is no ad on the game screen itself, which I appreciate very much.
The overall game is designed with a cartoonish feel, which I feel makes it more enjoyable. I do think the background muaic gets annoying after a while, but you can mute both music and sound effects from the main menu. The menu itself is laid out nicely and very easy to use.
Setup
When you first open the app, you will start to be signed into Google play games. This is not a necessary requirement to play the game and you can sign out and in at any time. The benefit to signing in is you can easily track your achievements, as well as invite your Google contacts to play with you over the internet, so I would go ahead and sign in.
Gameplay
To play a game, all you have to do is select to play vs cpu or vs human. You will then be given the option to select the size of the game board and the number you need in a row to win. You can have a minimum size of 4×4 and a max size of 16×16. The number in a row need to win is a minimum of four and a maximum of 8.
Once at the game board, you can zoom in or out to better view the board, which is good for a very large game board. However, if you have a smaller board, it can get annoying, as you can accidently move the board. This option would be better if the board would stay in place, when at normal size, and have a fixed are to move when zoomed in.
The overall game play will remain the same in either vs mode you choose to play, with a few differences. When playing the CPU, you can take as much time as you want to make your move. Â When playing a friend, each player will have about 15 seconds to make their move.
If you don’t move within that time frame, your game piece will automatically drop in a random location. When you choose ‘VS CPU’Â you can change it’s difficulty from level one to level nine, nine being the most difficult. In ‘VS CPU’Â mode, I found the computer to be difficult on level two, but I’m also not that great at strategy games.
When playing vs human mode, you can invite people to play through your Google contacts, bluetooth or LAN connection. If you choose to play through Google, you do not have to be connected to Wi-Fi. The Bluetooth option will need to be done directly, and the LAN option can be done over the same Wi-Fi connection.
What we liked
- Multiple playing options
- Challenging
- Option to sign in and out of Google Play games
What could be better
- Options to change game piece colors
- A less moveable game board
Summary
I really enjoyed this game. It was easy to use and play with others and you will enjoy it too. It is available on the Google Play store for free.
