Connect 4: Shots Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• First Time You Play
• Set Up the Grid for Your Game
• Parts Diagram
• Play
• How to Win
• If There's a Tie

Contents

• Collapsible grid
• 2 feet
• Cardboard backboard
• 12 red balls
• 12 yellow balls
• 1 orange ball (tiebreaker ball)

Ages 8+. Adult assembly required. 2 or more players.

First Time You Play

The sheet shows the left foot and the right foot being fitted onto the bottom of the grid (labelled LEFT FOOT and RIGHT FOOT).

Set Up the Grid for Your Game

The sheet's setup steps are numbered 1 to 6. Only steps 2 and 4 carry printed captions; the other steps are shown as illustrations only.

1. (Illustration only.) Turn the grid so that it stands upright on its feet.
2. Slide the backboard up and put it aside.
3. (Illustration only.) Tilt the top of the grid back as shown by the arrow.
4. Pull the ramp up until it clicks into place at an angle.
5. (Illustration only.) Lower the backboard onto the grid and press it down until it clicks into place.
6. (Illustration only.) The grid is ready for play; a ball dropped into it is shown leaving through the ball release at the bottom of the grid.

Parts Diagram

The sheet labels these parts of the assembled grid: backboard, ramp, grid, foot, and ball release.

Play

1. Find a table to play on. If more than two people are playing, divide into teams.
2. Take your red or yellow balls, but put the orange ball aside for now (it's the tiebreaker ball).
3. Count down to start: 1-2-3 BOUNCE!
4. Both players bounce at the same time. The balls must bounce on the table before they go into the grid.
5. You can pick up balls from the floor or table and bounce them again. Once a ball is in the grid or on the ramp, no one may touch that ball. This includes balls that stack within the ramps once the grid is full.
6. Play continues simultaneously until one of you has bounced your balls into a row of four, or you both run out of balls.

How to Win

Be first to connect four shots in a row.

The sheet shows "WIN LIKE THIS" examples of a horizontal, a vertical and a diagonal four-in-a-row. It also shows a "NOT LIKE THIS!" example, which is not a win.

If There's a Tie

If you have both bounced all of your balls into the grid but neither got a four-in-a-row, grab the tiebreaker orange ball.

1. Whoever bounced all of their balls into the grid first gets the first shot.
2. Take turns trying to bounce the ball into any open spot, whether it makes a four-in-a-row or not. It does not count if you land in the ramp above the grid.
3. If you land the final shot, you break the tie and win the game!