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I've been going back through my
It was how to play a game of four-in-a-row (usually known as Connect 4), entirely in one dimension. Two dimensional Connect Four is quite common, and many coffee tables have a set of three-dimensional four-in-a-row, and I have even seen a version of the game played in four dimensions, but the one-dimensional version seems to be totally absent from stores and the internet.
According to my scribbled notes to accompany the sheet, the original article was by Angus Lavery in Games and Puzzles magazine, in 1994. It was created as about a quick game to play with loose counters, but I decided to make a coffee-table version that also automatically re-groups the counters for you.
(Unfortunately, I did not keep the original magazine page, so the above is all the information I have. I have tried searching the internet for Mr Lavery, to no avail. If you know Mr Lavery, or you are Mr Lavery, please get in touch so I can make sure he's OK with this Instructable.)
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Signing UpStep 1Materials and tools
The main material is 6mm plywood, along with woodglue, varnish, and two contrasting paint colours.
Tools were; Jigsaw, scroll saw, files, sander and rotary tool with sanding bits.
This is also the first time I have used a Spanish Windlass in an instructable...
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http://dragonsnbottlecaps.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/how-to-make-and-play-a-one-dimensional-4-in-a-row-connect-4/
I'd love your opinion.
Thanks for sharing.
My eldest took it to his Cipher Club, and they played it with "no colour" - whoever made a four of *either* colour won the game.
Mathematically-speaking, a single dimension does not have to be straight.
I've just realised, though, that if I had waited until my original planned release date I could have entered it in the Gorilla Glue contest!
I believe you could also play this as a one player game, for records? Not absolutely certain on how that would turn out, though.
I wonder if this is the sort of game like tic-tac-toe, where perfect players never lose so two perfect players always end up in a draw, or whether you can play a faultless opponent into a corner and force a win. Again, instinctively it "feels" simple enough that it seems making no mistakes would lead to never losing, but I can't be sure. Perhaps I'll write an AI to play the game :)
(I know I'm probably teaching you to suck eggs, but you'll have to use a slightly thinner acrylic for the counters, or they might wedge in the groove.)
Oh! You've just reminded me that I haven't attached the template I used!
Totally sick, K-man #;¬)
How long does a typical game take? It strikes me as the sort of game which could go on for ages with two decent players.
I agree with you about the guards / goggles issue. I do the same thing using a jigsaw or drill. I find it virtually impossible to cut accurately with the guards in place.