Falling Blocks is an original browser block-clearing game played in a well 10 columns wide and 20 rows tall, with seven shapes covering four cells each. The goal is to slide and turn the block that keeps falling, complete a whole row and clear it; the run ends when the stack occupies the place a new block enters. Dealing is done a bag at a time: each bag deals all seven shapes once, so the same shape never comes out more than 2 times in a row and no shape is ever more than 12 blocks away. Every 10 lines cleared adds a level, 15 in all; past level 15 the speed stops rising and the score simply keeps accumulating.

A monochrome handheld, a virtual pet, the first phone that played anything — a machine with a few dozen rows of pixels and nothing but direction keys. What fits on hardware like that is exactly this: blocks arriving one after another, and a few seconds each to turn them into the right shape. The rule is one sentence long, which is why it fitted; no two runs deal the same order, which is why it holds up to repetition.

Browse all 落块消除 games →

【掌】 Handhelds and early phones · 1990–2005 →

1. 01

   Press any control key to begin — that first press counts as a move. On a phone use the keys under the play area, on a desktop the arrow keys; Esc or P pauses at any time.

2. 02

   Use left and right to put the block in the column you want; hold a key to keep moving, and two quick taps in the same direction slam it against that wall.

3. 03

   Tap turn to change orientation. When it cannot turn in place the game tries one cell left, one cell right, then one cell up; if none of those fit, nothing moves and the key gives you a refusal receipt.

4. 04

   Hold soft drop to fall faster and score 1 per cell; hard drop sends the block to the lowest legal position and locks it instantly at 2 per cell. For the first 0.2 seconds after a block enters, hard drop is refused and the key blinks.

5. 05

   Fill a whole row across to clear it, up to four rows at once. The top bar previews the next three blocks, and the hold slot keeps one block — but each block can only use it once.

Read the landing projection before you press hard drop: it marks the lowest legal position the active block can reach, and it updates as you slide and turn. To go for four rows at once, keep one column open for the bar; four at once is 800 times the level, which beats clearing those same rows one at a time. The two step shapes are two rows of two offset by one column, so they suit a side that already has a one-cell step — dropping one onto a gap that cannot be filled from above buries a hole. A streak is worth extra from the second consecutive clear onward, so when you know the next block can keep the streak going, use the preview and the hold slot to reorder. A block that has just landed still has an adjustment window: a successful slide or turn restarts the timer, up to 8 times. After a hard drop it locks immediately.

How do you play a falling block puzzle, and which keys do you use?

Slide and turn each falling block so it fits the gap in your stack; filling a whole row across clears it, and the run ends once the stack reaches the mouth of the well. On a phone use the left, right, turn, soft drop and hard drop keys. On a keyboard use the left and right arrows to move, up or X to turn clockwise, Z anticlockwise, down to soft drop, space to hard drop, and C or Shift to hold.

How do you get a high score in a block puzzle game?

Check the landing projection before you hard drop, and keep one column open so the bar can take four rows at once. When you place a step shape, use it on a side that already has a one-cell step rather than covering a gap you can no longer fill from above. Look at the next three blocks in the preview and use the hold slot so your next lock clears again and the streak survives.

How does scoring work, and how many points is a four-row clear?

Score comes from how far a block falls, how many rows you clear at once, and how many locks in a row cleared something. Four rows at once is worth 800 times your current level. A soft-dropped cell is 1 point and a hard-dropped cell is 2, and neither is multiplied by level; clearing 1, 2 or 3 rows is worth 100, 300 and 500 times the level. On the c-th consecutive clearing lock you also get 50 times one less than c, times the level — and a single lock without a clear wipes it.

How many levels are there, and does it keep speeding up?

There are 15 levels, one for every 10 lines cleared, and the fall speed stops rising once you reach level 15. Gravity starts at 48 ticks per cell at level 1 and tightens step by step to 4 ticks at level 15; once it caps, the level and gravity stay put while the score keeps accumulating.

Is the block order random, and how long can you wait for the bar?

It is bag dealing, seven blocks at a time: every bag contains one of each shape, so the longest any shape can be away is 12 blocks. The next bag is shuffled only once the current one is spent, which means the same shape comes out at most 2 times in a row and never three. The whole deal is decided by the seed, so the same seed with the same inputs replays the same run.

What is a landing projection, and when can you hard drop?

The landing projection shows the lowest legal position the active block can reach, and hard drop sends it exactly there and locks it. Move or turn first, check the projection is lined up with the gap, then hard drop. For the first 0.2 seconds after a block enters, hard drop is held back and the key blinks; after that window it works normally. The third switch in the top bar turns the projection off.

Can you still move a block after it lands?

Yes. A landed block can still be slid or turned during the lock delay, and every successful move restarts the timer — up to 8 times. A failed move or turn does not restart it, and a sideways move never restarts the gravity timer, so shuffling left and right cannot keep a block hovering. After a hard drop there is no adjustment window at all.

What is this kind of falling block puzzle called, and can you still play one in a browser?

The genre name is block-clearing, or falling block puzzle: seven four-cell shapes drop from the top of the well, you slide and turn them into the stack, and filling a whole row across clears it. Falling Blocks is an original browser version of that core loop — it opens in a browser tab and keeps your progress in that browser.

How is Falling Blocks different from other block puzzle games?

The control layer is rebuilt for a phone held upright: the keys sit under the play area, hard drop is kept apart from the direction keys to cut down on mistaken taps, holding a direction key keeps the block moving, and the landing projection marks where the active block will stop. When the well fills up the picture freezes and the cells blocking the mouth are highlighted, so you can see what ended the run. The whole deal comes from the seed, so a link carrying the same seed gives someone else the same deal.