JJ 4 In A Row

Jimmy Jack — 4 in a Row

Get 4 of your counters in a row first!

Drop a counter. Watch it clatter down the slot and settle into place. Then work out what your opponent is planning before they do it.

Red versus white, taking turns dropping counters into the standing grid. Line up four — across, up, or on the diagonal — and you win. It sounds trivial for about three moves, right up until you realise you've built the perfect setup for the other player and there's nothing you can do about it.

The counters have faces, which somehow makes losing worse and winning better. Blocking is half the game: every drop is both an attack and a defence, and the best players are the ones thinking two columns ahead.

Quick to set up, quick to play, endlessly rematchable. A proper family classic that works just as well between two kids as it does between a kid and a grandparent who refuses to go easy.

How to play:

Choose a colour and drop a counter in

Take turns dropping counters

First player to line up 4 in a row wins

Contents: 1 collapsible standing board, 42 playing counters, instructions.

Ages 6+.

2 players.