Compact Connect 4 (Pocket/Travel sized)

A mini Connect 4 measuring only 93mm X 70mm X 14mm! The board locks onto the base with 4 clips for ultimate portability!

A Fully Portable Self-Contained Connect 4 In The Palm Of Your Hand

                                                   Features:

Barely bigger than a deck of cards---coming in at 93x70x14mm for the ultimate handheld experience

Quad Clip Locking System---Four Clips printed as part of the board snap into the base for a secure locking system that doesn't depend on friction(like most other portable Connect 4s)

Under 40 Grams---The entire Connect 4 at full infill with spare pieces and a handy post printing processing tool takes only 40 grams of filament; A Full sized board can take TEN TIMES that much filament to print.

Fully self-contained---The board clips into the base with the tokens securely nested in underneath for the full connect 4 experience in a microscopic package

10 by 3 mm Tokens-Small enough to be Portable, Big enough to be Playable

Center divider to keep the tokens separate---The divider keeps the tokens from mingling when the board is in the closed position, so you can pre-sort your tokens, pop the board on top, chuck it in your pocket, and pull it out ready to play!

Scalable!---Design tested at 150% scale for a bigger, but still portable Connect 4 experience(Takes around 110 Grams)

Lowered Base sides for easy token grabbing---The sides of the base have been lowered so it's easier to reach in and grab a token

The Board is printed flat---Most other Connect 4s out there print the board upright simply because it's easier to print and design for, this Board is printed flat which gives it far more strength and durability than a board printed upright.

Optimized for FDM 3d Printing---This design was crafted from the ground up in OpenSCAD for 3d Printing, trying to be as small as possible while also being as easy to print as possible

Pocketable-Did I mention this is only 14mm thick when closed?---Bring your Connect 4 EVERYWHERE

7mm of vertical space in the base for tokens when closed---The tokens are 3mm thick, so with the board in the closed position, there's room for tokens to be stacked in there, so you don't need to spread the tokens flat to close the board! Just pop it in and let the clips clip!

The board goes in both ways---In the standing position the board slots in facing forwards and backwards, no fiddling with putting it in the right way

                                                     Printing:

Use 0.2mm Layer height and a 0.4mm nozzle.

Infill can be anywhere from 0-100%(It makes very little difference)

Print one of the Board, the Base, and at least 21 tokens in each color.(42 tokens total)(I recommend printing 25, I included a 25-pack, this gives 4 spares in each color) I also HIGHLY recommend printing the Slot Cleaning Tool as well(see below for usage)The board can be a slightly difficult print, it is printed flat and requires semi-decent bed adhesion, any stringing or drooping filament can be cleaned up post-print with the slot cleaning tool to ensure tokens drop cleanly(my Ender 3 needed the tool but my Bambu lab A1 did not need it)

Try to choose different colors for the tokens from the base and board, and consider the contrast between them for the best visibility.

Printing a Board, Base, 50 Tokens, and the Slot Cleaning Tool at full infill is ONLY 40 grams, and without infill, only 36

Makes and reviews are highly appreciated!

                                  Post-Printing and how to use

This Connect 4 uses only two main parts, the Board and the Base, then the tokens. On the sides of the board are four clips used to hold the board into the base securely. To play the game, you take the Board and insert it into the middle of the base standing upright. The more “pokey” side of the board faces down and slots into the base. After playing, simply slide the board up and out and watch the tokens fall, then sort the tokens and insert the board to play again. To put away, take the board and face it so the side printed on the buildplate is facing down, then simply place into the base and all the clips on the sides of the board should be securely engaged to the slots in the base. To remove, you have to press in the clips from the side of the base, the best way I have found is to slightly pry one end of the board up with one hand and then press the clip on that side in, then the other one on that side and lift up at an angle to remove, that way you only need to undo two clips. (You need to pry up a bit to keep the clip from reengaging while unclipping the other one)

How to play: Two players take turns dropping colored discs into a vertical grid. Each disc falls to the lowest available space in its column. The goal is to be the first to connect four of your own discs in a row—vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Once a player achieves four in a row, they win. If the grid fills up without a winner, the game ends in a draw.- Copilot AI, 2025(look up the rules online if needed)

                                              The Slot Cleaner Tool

Due to the Board being printed flat, it can be a slightly difficult print for a printer to pull off cleanly, as there are many overhangs and the walls that run between the rows are only 1mm thick(2 wall lines). So, to easily clear out any debris, stringing, or drooping, I created the Slot Cleaner Tool! It's basically a sword where you stick the blade down in the slots where the tokens go to clear out any obstructions. The sword has 0.2mm tolerances while the tokens have 0.4mm tolerances, so if you can push the sword in and pull it out, even if it takes a lot of force, the tokens should fall freely. Run the blade of the sword through the slots the tokens fall through several times and they should be good to go. Additionally, the handle is the perfect size to stick through the holes in the board and at the end of the blade there's an extension with a small cutout on it so you can stick that through the holes and use it to break off any unwanted printing artifacts. If after pushing the sword in it is stuck, the end of the blade sticks out enough to where you can bang it on a hard surface to push it back through the other way, so then you should be able to grip and pull it out by the handle.