Blockfall

Liner notes

How to play

• Pieces are two to four blocks in a line, straight or with one bend: a pair, a triple, a bar, an elbow and two hooks. Every six pieces bring each shape once.
• Fill rows: a full row clears, and the rows above drop down. The game ends when the next piece can’t get in at the top.
• Colours: every block is one of four colours, each with its own marking too: Red, a bandGold, a diagonal stripeSky, two dotsViolet, a ring
• Scoring: a clearing row scores the square of each run of one colour, added up: ten single blocks are worth 10, a run of four is worth 16. A solid row of one colour is 100 for the run and 100 more, 200 in all. Two, three or four rows at once count double, triple and five times. Everything is multiplied by your level.
• Levels: every 10 rows the blocks fall a little faster. A soft drop is 1 point a row, a hard drop 2. The outline shows where the piece will land.
• Keys: arrows or A and D to move, Up or X to turn, Z to turn back, Down or S to soft drop, Space to hard drop, P or Escape to pause. Touch: tap to turn, drag to move, slide down slowly to soft drop, flick down to hard drop, or use the on-screen keys. Gamepad: d-pad to move, A and B to turn, up to drop, Start to pause.
• Pause also happens when you leave the page. Your best is kept in this browser.

It all stays in your browser

The game runs inside this page and works offline once you've played it. Your best score is kept in this browser only: there are no accounts, no leaderboards and no ads, and nothing you do here is sent anywhere.

Questions

How does the scoring work?

A full row scores the square of each run of one colour, added up. Ten single blocks make 10; runs of five and five make 50; a solid row of one colour makes 200. Clearing several rows at once multiplies that by 2, 3 or 5, and everything is multiplied by your level.

Does it get faster?

Yes. Every 10 rows is a new level, and each level the blocks fall about 12% faster, up to a top speed at level 19.

Can I play on a phone?

Yes. Tap the well to turn, drag to move, slide down to drop a row at a time and flick down to drop all the way. There are on-screen keys too, and the page doesn’t scroll while your finger is on the well.

Is there a hold piece?

No. The well is small, every six pieces bring each shape once, and the game is about placing colours well, which a hold would make too easy.

Where is my best score kept?

In this browser, on this device. Clearing the site’s data resets it. Nothing is sent anywhere.