Villager Connect Four

Opening a villager's trade screen shows a button that starts a full game of Connect Four against that villager. The player drops discs by clicking a column, and a ghost disc hangs over the column being pointed at before it is placed. A full column flashes red and gives a dull note when clicked, so an illegal move is signaled rather than silently ignored. Four discs in a row that win the game get an outline, and the other cells fade, which makes the result readable at a glance instead of something a player has to work out. The player can resign with a button that closes the board.

The skill of the villager scales with its trading level. A librarian at Master level is the hardest opponent. Because the game is solved, on the standard 7×6 board the first player can force a win, so a player who moves first from that side holds a forced win that the Master opponent cannot escape. The rules also allow boards of other sizes, such as 4×4 or 8×7, which change the scale of the game. On several smaller boards the Master holds the draw with perfect play. The server owns the game state, and the client sends only the chosen column.