How to play
- Pick a speed and press Start. Slow, Normal or Fast. Whichever you choose holds for the whole game, so it never quietly speeds up on you. Blocks then begin falling one at a time.
- Move the falling block. Left and right arrows, or the on screen arrows, slide it across. The down arrow makes it fall faster while you hold it.
- Turn it to fit. The up arrow or the Turn button spins the block a quarter turn. If it is against a wall it shuffles across to make room rather than refusing, so a turn never just does nothing.
- Fill a whole row. Any row with no gaps left in it disappears and everything above drops down. Clearing two, three or four rows in one go is worth far more than clearing them one at a time.
- You get three chances. If the stack reaches the top you lose a chance and the board is swept clean so you can carry on. The game only ends when all three are gone.
Flat beats tall
The mistake almost everybody makes early on is dropping each block wherever it fits right now. That builds towers with valleys between them, and a valley only accepts one shape. Keeping the stack low and level means nearly every block that arrives has somewhere sensible to go, which is what turns a frantic game into a calm one. It is the same idea as tidying as you go rather than clearing up at the end.
Never bury a gap
A hole with a block sitting on top of it is the expensive mistake, because that row cannot clear until the blocks above it are dug out, and they can only be dug out by clearing the rows they are in. One buried gap early can cost a whole game. When a block does not fit anywhere clean, it is usually better to lay it flat on top than to force it into a slot and seal a hole underneath.
The shadow is there to be used
Younger players often try to judge the landing spot by eye and let go a column out. The faint outline at the bottom of the board removes the guesswork entirely: it is the real landing position, worked out by the same code that moves the block, so it can never disagree with where the block actually goes. Line up the outline, then drop.
Every turn works, even against the wall
Turning a block that is hard against the edge would normally be impossible, and a button that sometimes does nothing feels broken to a child. This one nudges the block across to make room instead, trying a square either side and then a square up before giving in. It only refuses when there genuinely is nowhere for the turned shape to go.
Frequently asked questions
How do you play the block puzzle game?
Blocks fall from the top one at a time. Use the arrows to slide each one left or right, press the up arrow or the Turn button to spin it a quarter turn, and fit it into the stack so that a row fills up with no gaps. A full row disappears and everything above it drops down. If the stack reaches the top you lose one of your three chances and the board is cleared.
What does the faint outline at the bottom mean?
It is the shadow of the falling block, showing exactly which squares it will land on if you drop it now. Line the shadow up with the gap you are aiming for and you never have to guess. It is the single most useful thing on the screen for a younger player, and it is why the Drop button is safe to use.
Does it get faster on its own?
No. Slow, Normal and Fast are three separate games and the one you pick holds until the game ends. A younger child can stay on Slow and take their time over every block, and nothing will run away from them halfway through.
How do you get a higher score?
Keep the stack low and flat, and avoid leaving a hole with a block on top of it, because you cannot clear that row until you dig it out again. Once you are comfortable, leave one column empty and fill the other nine, then drop a long straight block into the gap: clearing four rows at once is worth more than ten times a single row.