Falling Blocks

The well

The well is twelve squares wide and twenty-two deep. Its seven pieces, each of four squares, come in sets of seven in a shuffled order, so every piece turns up once in each set. Next shows the three pieces coming.

Moving a piece

Move a piece left or right, turn it either way, make it fall faster, or Drop it straight to the bottom. The square piece doesn’t turn, and a turn that doesn’t fit where it is tries a few spots nearby. On the floor a piece waits half a second before it locks; each move or turn there gives it another half second, up to fifteen times.

Rows and levels

A full row clears and everything above it comes down. Every ten rows the level goes up and the pieces fall faster: a row every 0.8 seconds at level 1, 15% quicker each level, never quicker than 0.05 seconds. Start at picks the first level (1, 5, 10 or 15) and is locked while a game is on.

Points

Hold and Guide

Hold keeps the falling piece for later and brings back the one held, or the next piece when Hold is empty. It works once per piece, until that piece locks. Guide (On to start) puts a dot on each square where the piece would land; you can switch it at any time.

Controls

With a keyboard, ← and → move (held, they repeat), ↑ or X turns, Z turns the other way, ↓ falls faster, Space drops and C or Shift holds. P or Esc pauses (so does putting the tab away); Enter plays, resumes or starts a new game when the well asks. On a touch screen, use the buttons under the well (Left, Faster, Right, Turn, Drop) and tap Hold. The speaker beside Play turns the sound on or off.