Controls

You play against a falling piece, not by dragging anything. On a laptop, use the arrow keys: left and right move the piece sideways, up rotates it, and down speeds up its fall. Space drops it instantly straight to the bottom.

On a phone, you have both on-screen buttons and swipes:

• The on-screen buttons mirror the keyboard: the arrows move the piece and rotate it, and the drop button sends it instantly to the bottom.
• Swiping the board does the same thing without the buttons. Swipe left or right to move the piece, swipe down to speed up its fall, and tap the board without swiping to rotate it.

You clear a row by filling every square across it, and clearing several rows with one piece scores more than clearing them one at a time.

The game ends when a new piece has no room to appear at the top. The fall speed climbs across eight levels, so later levels give you far less time to decide where a piece goes.

Tips

• Keep the stack flat and even. A bumpy stack with tall spikes leaves fewer flat landing spots for the next piece, so filling gaps as you go keeps more of the board usable.
• Save the long I-piece for emergencies. The four-in-a-row piece is the only one that clears a deep single-column gap on its own, so holding a flat spot open for it pays off once the board gets tight.
• Don't hard-drop without checking the landing. Dropping a piece instantly is fast, but it locks in wherever it lands, so a quick glance at the gap below first saves you from sealing off a hole you can't reach again.
• Clear multiple rows at once when you can. Stacking a few full rows before clearing them scores more than clearing them one at a time, so it's often worth holding out a little longer for a bigger clear.
• Rotate before you commit to a lane. Working out a piece's final shape before sliding it into position avoids wasted moves and last-second rotations that jam it against the wall.
• Slow down as the speed increases. The fall speed climbs with your level, so habits that worked early, like reacting on instinct, start causing mistakes. Deliberately look one piece ahead once things speed up.

Frequently asked questions