How to play Blocks
Here’s how to play Blocks: guide the falling pieces into place, fill whole rows to clear them, and keep the stack from reaching the top. The longer you last, the faster the pieces fall. It’s free to play online in your browser, on a phone or a computer.
Your best score goes on the Beat Pete leaderboard. Below you’ll find the controls, how scoring works, some strategy tips and answers to common questions.
The basics
Guide the falling blocks into place, fill whole rows to clear them, and don’t let the stack reach the top. Every ten lines the blocks fall a little faster.
Controls
- Phone or tablet: drag left or right on the board to move, tap to turn the piece, hold a drag down to fall faster, and flick down to drop it all the way. Or tap Show pad for an on-screen pad with left, right, turn, fall, drop and hold buttons.
- Keyboard: ← → move, ↑ or X turn clockwise, Z turn anticlockwise, ↓ fall faster, Space drop, C or Shift hold.
- A piece that lands has a moment to slide or turn before it locks, so you can tuck it into a gap.
Hold and Next
- The Next box shows the next three pieces. Pieces come in shuffled sets of seven, so you never wait long for the one you need.
- Hold swaps the falling piece with the one in the Hold box. You can do it once per piece.
Scoring
- Clear 1, 2, 3 or 4 rows at once for 100, 300, 500 or 800 points, multiplied by your level. Four at once is the one to aim for.
- You also get 1 point for every row you fall faster and 2 for every row you drop.
- Every ten lines you reach the next level and the blocks fall faster.
Bonus points
- T-spin: turn a T piece into a tight spot as your last move (three of the four corners around it filled) and it scores extra: 800, 1,200 or 1,600 for 1, 2 or 3 rows, and 400 even with no row, all times your level.
- Back-to-back: two difficult clears in a row (a four-row clear or a T-spin that clears rows) score 1.5× the second time. An ordinary clear in between breaks the chain.
- Combo: clearing rows with consecutive pieces adds 50 × the combo count × level.
- Perfect clear: empty the whole board for 800, 1,200, 1,800 or 2,000 (by rows in that clear) times your level.
Game over
- The game ends when a new piece has no room to appear, or a piece locks above the top of the board.
Pausing
- Press P or Esc, or tap Pause. The game also pauses by itself if you switch to another tab or app.
The leaderboard
- When a game ends your score is saved to your profile and ranked against everyone else. Guests can play; sign up free to put your score on the board.
Beginner tips
- Keep the stack flat and low. Fill in gaps as you go, because a hole buried under blocks is hard to dig out.
- Leave one column empty at the side and wait for a long straight piece to clear four rows at once. A four-line clear is worth eight times a single.
- Use Next and Hold. Look at the next three pieces before you place the current one, and park an awkward piece in Hold for later.
Frequently asked questions
How do you play Blocks on a phone?
Drag left or right on the board to move the piece, tap to turn it, hold a downward drag to fall faster and flick down to drop it. You can also switch on the on-screen pad (the Show pad button).
How do you score in Blocks?
Clearing 1, 2, 3 or 4 rows at once scores 100, 300, 500 or 800 points, multiplied by your level. You also get a point for each row you fall faster and two for each row you drop.
What does Hold do?
It swaps the piece you’re holding with the one in the Hold box. You can use it once per piece, and it’s handy for saving a long piece for a big clear.
Does it get faster?
Yes. Every ten lines you clear takes you up a level and the pieces fall faster, up to a top speed.
Is it free to play Blocks?
Yes. Blocks is free to play in your browser, with nothing to download. Your best score goes on the leaderboard.
Ready to play Blocks?
It’s free and works in your browser — no download. Start against Trevor, the friendliest opponent, and sign up free to climb the ladder of ten computer players all the way to Pete.
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