Connect Four AI Game

This project implements the classic game Connect Four with two distinct components: a terminal-based game interface and a Flask-based backend for AI opponent logic.

Features

• Two-player game mode: Play against an AI opponent.
• AI uses the Minimax algorithm with Alpha-Beta pruning for optimized decision-making
• The game board and player moves are managed through a user-friendly terminal interface.
• Real-time interaction with the AI opponent through the Flask server.

Requirements

• Python 3.12.1
• Conda
• Flask
• NumPy library for handling the game board as a 2D array.

Conda Environment Setup

To set up the game environment using the provided environment.yml file in the repository, follow these steps:

1. Create the Conda Environment: Use the environment.yml file to create a Conda environment. This file contains all the necessary package dependencies for the game.

   conda env create -f environment.yml

2. Activate the Environment: Once the environment is created, activate it using:

   conda activate connect-four

Running the Flask Server

The Flask server handles the AI logic for the game. To run it, follow these steps:

1. Set Flask App Environment Variable: In the terminal, navigate to the project directory and set the FLASK_APP environment variable to point to your Flask application file.

   On Linux or macOS:

   export FLASK_APP=backend/run.py

   On Windows (cmd):

   set FLASK_APP=backend\run.py

   On Windows (PowerShell):

   $env:FLASK_APP = "backend\run.py"

2. Run the Flask Server: Start the server with the following command:

   flask run

   This will start the server on http://127.0.0.1:5000/.

Playing the Terminal-Based Game

To play the terminal-based version of Connect Four, run:

python main.py

This will start the game interface in your terminal.

How to Play

• The game is played on a 7x6 grid.
• Players take turns dropping tokens into one of the seven columns.
• The first player to align four tokens vertically, horizontally, or diagonally wins the game.
• The AI opponent evaluates the board state and makes strategic moves using the Minimax algorithm.

License

This project is open-source and available under the MIT License.