Using Gnect

Basic usage

Once you've started Gnect, select Game->New game to begin playing.

The game display consists of seven columns and seven rows. The top row is only used to show the current player's cursor, so the actual playing area measures seven by six cells. To make a move, just move your pointer over the column you'd like to drop a counter into and select that column (for most people, that'll be a left-click). If you'd rather play by keyboard, keys can be assigned using the Preferences Dialog.

Toolbar

The toolbar, which can be toggled on or off from the Settings Menu, contains the following buttons:

New

This resets the board and starts a new game.

Undo

If you're playing against a friend, this will undo one move. If you're playing against the computer, this will undo the computer's last move and then yours. Repeating this will return the board to its initial state.

Hint

This'll tell you the best move you can make, in the form of a column number. Columns are numbered from left to right, with 1 being the leftmost column.

Exit

This quits the game.

Menus

The menu bar, located at the top of the game window, contains the following menus:

Game

This menu contains:

  • New game (Ctrl-N) — This resets the board and starts a new game.

  • Undo move (Ctrl-Z) — If you're playing against a friend, this will undo one move. If you're playing against the computer, this will undo the computer's last move and then yours. Repeating this will return the board to its initial state.

  • Hint — This'll tell you the best move you can make, in the form of a column number. Columns are numbered from left to right, with 1 being the leftmost column.

  • Scores… — This opens a small window containing the number of wins each player has had. The number of drawn games is also shown.

  • Exit (Ctrl-Q) — This quits the game.

Settings

This menu contains:

  • Show toolbar — This toggle switches the toolbar on and off.

  • Enable sound — This toggle switches the game's sound effects on and off.

  • Draw grid — This toggles the display of a grid over the game board. Some themes will disable the grid themselves if they don't need it (...that is, if they already have something like a grid in their tile sets or background images). So don't be surprised if this option doesn't always have an effect.

  • Preferences… — This opens the Preferences Dialog, which allows you to configure the game.

Help

This menu contains:

  • Manual — This item opens a browser and displays this manual.

  • About — This opens the About dialog which shows basic information about Gnect, such as the names of its authors, the program's version number, and the URL for the program's Web page.