Block Puzzle Rules & Controls
The rules take three minutes to learn. But the difference between a 30-second game and a 5-minute one is not whether you know the rules, but what you look at first when a piece appears. This guide covers every rule and control, and ends with a five-step placement routine.
The Well & the Goal
The playing field is called the well. It is 9 columns wide and 18 rows tall, with two invisible buffer rows above the screen. One column narrower than the classic 10-wide well, this difference matters: filling a row takes one fewer cell, making clears slightly easier, but a misplacement leaves less room to recover. The odd column count means the center is column five, and new pieces always spawn near it, making left-right awareness more intuitive.
The goal is simple. Fill all nine cells of a horizontal row and it disappears, dropping everything above by one row. Rows are checked only when a piece locks, so a filled-looking row does not clear while the piece is still falling. Conversely, when blocks stack high enough that a new piece cannot spawn, the game ends. The game does not end the instant blocks touch the top visible row — the two hidden rows above must also be blocked, which sometimes lets you squeeze in one or two more pieces.
- Stacked blocks
The Seven Pieces & Where Each One Fits
Every piece is made of four cells and there are seven types. They appear in shuffled bags of seven, so within any bag the same piece never appears twice. This rule lets you calculate when the I-piece will arrive rather than guessing. Each piece has a unique stitch pattern and brightness in addition to color, keeping the game accessible for colorblind players.
| Piece | Shape | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| I-piece | Straight line of four cells | The only piece that fits a one-column-wide gap to make a quad |
| O-piece | 2×2 square | Fits cleanly only on a two-column flat surface. Looks the same in every rotation |
| T-piece | T shape with a raised center | Great for filling one-cell dips; can also be stood upright against a ledge |
| S-piece | S-shaped, offset to the right | Made for staircase terrain. Laying it flat on a level surface creates a hole |
| Z-piece | Mirror image of S | For the opposite staircase direction. Often useful stood upright against a wall |
| J-piece | Hook shape bending left | Fills a left-wall ledge and a two-cell-deep gap at the same time |
| L-piece | Mirror image of J | Right-wall ledge specialist. Standing it tall creates a three-cell wall |
Controls — Desktop & Mobile
Only hard drop is irreversible. On mobile, it is intentionally mapped to swipe up — the opposite of swipe down — and given a separate button, so you never accidentally lock a piece while soft-dropping.
| Action | Desktop | Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Move left/right | ← → (hold for auto-repeat) | Drag left/right on the well |
| Soft drop | ↓ (hold to continue) | Swipe down · hold down |
| Hard drop (to bottom) | Spacebar | Swipe up · [Drop] button |
| Rotate clockwise | ↑ or X | Tap · [CW] button |
| Rotate counter-clockwise | Z | [CCW] button |
| Pause | P or Escape | Pause button (top right) |
Holding left or right auto-repeats after about 0.17 seconds. Tap and release for a single-cell move; hold for crossing the well. Soft drop earns 1 point per cell, hard drop earns 2 points per cell.
Both clockwise and counter-clockwise rotations are available. Most of the time clockwise is enough, but when three clockwise rotations are needed, one counter-clockwise is faster. If a rotation is blocked by a wall or other blocks, the game tries shifting left 1, right 1, left 2, right 2. If all fail, the rotation is silently ignored. There is no upward kick, so forcing a piece into a tight crevice does not work in this game.
Five Steps to Place a Single Block
Once you internalize these steps they become reflexive, but at first it helps to walk through them out loud.
- 1Look at the lowest spot first
When a piece appears, look at the height profile of the well floor, not the piece color. The deepest gap is the default target for this piece. - 2Check if the shape fits that spot
The I-piece fits a one-column-wide deep gap, the O-piece a two-column flat area, and the T/J/L pieces a one-cell ledge. A clean fit means no gaps left underneath. - 3Finish rotating before it gets low
Rotation checks up to two cells left and right for a valid position. If you try to rotate after the piece is pressed against a wall or other blocks, the rotation may simply be ignored. - 4Use the moonlight column to confirm the column, then drop
A faint golden column highlights the columns the current piece passes through, and a dotted ghost shows the landing position. Drop when the column aligns with your target. - 5Use the 0.4-second lock delay for last-second adjustments
A piece does not lock until 0.4 seconds after touching the floor. Moving or rotating during that window resets the timer, so you can correct a misplaced piece at the last moment.
Once the five steps are second nature, the next question is 'where should I place it?' The first criterion is to avoid creating holes, and that is the sole topic of the next guide.
Rules & Controls FAQ
Q. When exactly are lines cleared?
Lines are checked at the moment a piece locks. If all nine cells of a row are filled, that row disappears and everything above drops by one. Lines are never cleared while a piece is still falling.
Q. What ends the game?
The game ends the instant a new piece cannot spawn because the spawn area is already blocked. There are two hidden rows above the visible well, so the game does not end just because the top visible row is filled.
Q. Is it a bug when rotation does not work?
No. The game tries the rotation in place first, then checks one cell left, one right, two left, two right. If none of those positions are clear, the rotation is simply ignored. There is no upward kick.
Q. Is there a hold/swap feature?
No. You can see only the current piece and the next one. Every piece that appears must be placed in the current game, so watching the Next preview and thinking two moves ahead is especially important.
Q. Does a piece lock instantly when it touches the floor?
There is a 0.4-second lock delay. Moving or rotating during that window resets it. However, the reset is limited to six times per piece to prevent indefinite stalling.
Q. Can I play on a phone without a keyboard?
Yes. Drag left/right to move, swipe down for soft drop, tap to rotate clockwise, and swipe up to hard drop. There are also on-screen [CCW] [Drop] [CW] buttons. You can complete a full game using buttons alone.