Connect Four in Python

You

Computer

Draws

⌨️ Controls

← → aim above a column
Space, Enter or ↓ drop a counter
Clicking or tapping a column works too
R next round • P pause
🎮 Xbox controller? Just plug it in or pair it — the stick and D-pad are the arrow keys, A is SPACE, Menu pauses and View starts again

🎯 How to play

You are the solid counters; the computer is the rings.
Counters fall to the lowest free hole in the column you pick.
Get four in a row — across, down or diagonally.
The computer replies straight away, so every drop is a whole turn.

🤖 How the computer thinks

1. If it can make four, it does.
2. If you are about to make four, it blocks you.
3. Otherwise it plays as near the middle as it can — the middle column is part of more possible lines than any other.
4. And it never drops a counter that lets you win by landing on top of it.
To beat it, build two threats at once. It can only block one!

🧑‍💻 This whole game is Python

There is almost no JavaScript on this page. The browser downloaded Pyodide — a complete Python interpreter compiled to WebAssembly — and then ran the .py files in funtime/pylib/. Python does the rules, the maths and the drawing.

File	What it does	Good functions to try re-writing
pylib/connect4_rules.py	The rules, the win check and the computer	`drop_row`, `count_in_direction`, `is_win_at`, `computer_column`
pylib/connect4_draw.py	Painting the board — Python calling the canvas	`draw_counter`, `draw_drop_marker`, `column_at_pixel`
pylib/connect4_web.py	The glue: clicks, keyboard, the scoreboard	`do_action`, `on_board_click`, `start_game`

🔍 Compare the two versions. Open lib/connect4-rules.js and pylib/connect4_rules.py side by side — same ideas, two languages.

🛠️ Build it yourself: Build Connect Four in Python walks you through the functions one at a time.

⚠️ If the game never starts: the page has to read its .py files, which a browser will not do for a page opened straight off your disk. Use the live site, or run python3 -m http.server in the project folder.