Connect Four - Overview

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Project Requirements

You are to build a playable game of Connect Four that runs in a REPL interface. The game will allow a single human player (“player”) to play against a (simplistic) computer player (“computer”). The game will run from the command line with the following command:

$ ruby ./lib/connect_four.rb

From there, players will be asked to enter column names to place one of their pieces in a column. The computer will also place its own pieces. The player and the computer will continue to take turns until either one has won the game or they have played to a draw.

Here is a representation of the start of a game.

ABCDEFG
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......

The Game is over when either the Player or Computer connects four of their pieces as described below, or the game ends in a draw (also described below).

Here is a representation of the human player (the ‘X’ player) winning the game with four connected pieces horizontally (in the same row).

ABCDEFG
.......
.......
...O...
...X...
..OXO..
XXXXOO.

Here is a representation of the human player (the ‘X’ player) winning the game with four connected pieces vertically (in the same column).

ABCDEFG
.......
.......
...X...
...X...
.OOX...
XOXXOO.

Here is a representation of the computer player (the ‘O’ player) winning the game with four connected pieces diagonally (in consecutively adjacent rows and columns).

ABCDEFG
.......
.......
....OO.
...OXX.
..OXOX.
XOXXOOX

Here is a representation of a draw game. Neither the human player (‘X’) nor the computer player (‘O’) achieved four connected pieces horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

ABCDEFG
OXOXOOX
XOOXXOO
XXXOOXX
OXOXXOO
OOOXXOX
XXOXOOX