Everything you need to know to play, score big, and master this Tetris game.
Tetris is a classic puzzle game where geometric shapes called tetrominoes fall from the top of a vertical playfield. Your job is to move and rotate each piece as it falls, fitting them together to form complete horizontal rows. When a row is completely filled, it clears from the board and you earn points.
The game speeds up as you advance through levels. If the stack of blocks reaches the top of the board and a new piece cannot spawn, the game is over.
The main board is 10 columns wide and 20 rows tall. Pieces spawn near the top center and fall downward due to gravity. You cannot move pieces above the visible top row once they have locked in place.
| Key | Action | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ← → | Move | Shift the active piece one column left or right. Hold the key for repeated movement (DAS/ARR). |
| ↑ or X | Rotate clockwise | Turn the piece 90° clockwise. Uses SRS wall kicks near walls and stacked blocks. |
| Z | Rotate counter-clockwise | Turn the piece 90° counter-clockwise. |
| ↓ | Soft drop | Move the piece down faster while held. Awards 1 point per cell dropped. |
| Space | Hard drop | Instantly drop the piece to the bottom. Awards 2 points per cell dropped. |
| C or Shift | Hold | Store the current piece for later use. Can only hold once per piece spawn. |
| P | Pause | Pause the game and music. Press P or Enter to resume. |
| Enter | Start / Resume | Start a new game from the title screen, resume from pause, or restart after game over. |
| A | Auto mode | Toggle AI auto-play. While active, the computer plays for you and manual piece controls are disabled. Pause still works. Also available via the Auto Mode button in the right panel. |
On screens 600px wide or smaller, on-screen buttons appear below the board:
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| ← → | Move left / right |
| ↓ | Soft drop |
| ↺ ↻ | Rotate counter-clockwise / clockwise |
| H | Hold piece |
| ⬇ | Hard drop |
There are seven distinct piece types. Each is made of four square blocks. The game uses a 7-bag randomizer, meaning every group of seven pieces contains exactly one of each type before the bag is reshuffled. This keeps the distribution fair and predictable over time.
Points come from line clears, drop bonuses, level multipliers, and combos. Your current level multiplies the base line-clear score.
| Clear Type | Lines Cleared | Base Points | At Level 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | 1 | 100 | 500 |
| Double | 2 | 300 | 1,500 |
| Triple | 3 | 500 | 2,500 |
| Tetris | 4 | 800 | 4,000 |
Actual score = base points × current level. Example: a Triple at Level 3 = 500 × 3 = 1,500 points.
A combo occurs when you clear lines on consecutive piece placements without a "dry" piece (a piece that locks without clearing any lines). Each combo after the first adds bonus points:
Combo bonus = (combo − 1) × 50 × current level
| Combo | Level 1 Bonus | Level 5 Bonus | Level 10 Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2× Combo | +50 | +250 | +500 |
| 3× Combo | +100 | +500 | +1,000 |
| 4× Combo | +150 | +750 | +1,500 |
| 5× Combo | +200 | +1,000 | +2,000 |
You start at Level 1. Every 10 total lines cleared advances you one level. Higher levels mean pieces fall faster, increasing the challenge.
| Level | Lines Required (Total) | Drop Speed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 – 9 | 1.0 second per cell |
| 2 | 10 – 19 | 0.79 seconds |
| 3 | 20 – 29 | 0.62 seconds |
| 5 | 40 – 49 | 0.36 seconds |
| 10 | 90 – 99 | 0.064 seconds |
| 15+ | 140+ | Extremely fast (down to 0.001s) |
When you level up, a banner appears on screen, the board pulses, and a special sound plays. Line-clear scores also become more valuable because of the level multiplier.
Press C or Shift to swap the current piece with the one in the Hold box (left panel). You can only hold once per piece — after swapping, you must place a piece before holding again.
Use Hold to save an I-piece for a Tetris opportunity, or to stash a piece that doesn't fit the current situation.
The right panel shows the next 3 pieces coming up. Plan several moves ahead based on what you see in the queue.
A semi-transparent outline shows exactly where the active piece will land if dropped straight down. Use it to judge placement without committing to a hard drop.
When a piece touches the ground or another block, it does not lock immediately. You have a brief window (~0.5 seconds) to slide or rotate the piece into a better position. Moving or rotating the piece resets this timer (up to 15 times). The active piece pulses when lock delay is active.
This game uses the Super Rotation System (SRS). When you rotate near a wall or obstacle, the game automatically tries small positional adjustments ("wall kicks") so the piece can fit into tight spaces. This is standard in modern Tetris and allows advanced techniques like T-spin setups.
DAS (Delayed Auto Shift): Hold ← or → and after a brief delay (~170ms), the piece begins moving repeatedly.
ARR (Auto Repeat Rate): Once DAS activates, the piece moves every ~50ms until you release the key.
Press A or click Auto Mode in the right panel to let the game play itself. A gold AUTO badge appears above the board while auto mode is on. The AI evaluates each piece placement and rotates, moves, and hard-drops automatically.
Manual controls are disabled during auto mode (except pause). Auto mode turns off when you pause, when the game ends, or when you toggle it again. Useful for demos or watching the stack-building AI in action.
| Element | Location | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Score | Left panel | Your current game score. Animates when it increases. |
| Lines | Left panel | Total number of lines cleared this game. |
| Level | Left panel | Current speed level (increases every 10 lines). |
| Best | Left panel | Your all-time high score (saved locally). |
| Combo | Left panel | Current combo multiplier (visible when combo ≥ 2). |
| Hold | Left panel | Piece stored via the Hold action. |
| Next | Right panel | Preview of the next 3 pieces. |
| Ghost outline | Main board | Landing preview for the active piece. |
| AUTO badge | Above board | Shown when auto mode is active. Toggle with A or the Auto Mode button. |
| Auto Mode button | Right panel | Turns AI auto-play on or off. Stays visible on tablet-sized screens when other controls are hidden. |
Press Enter or click the Start Game button on the title screen. Audio requires a user interaction (click or keypress) before playing — this is a browser requirement.
Your high score is stored in your browser's localStorage. It persists between sessions on the same browser and device. Clearing browser data will reset it.
Sound uses the Web Audio API and starts after you click Start or press a key. If you still hear nothing, check that your browser tab is not muted and your system volume is up.
Yes. On smaller screens, touch control buttons appear below the board. The layout adapts automatically for phones and tablets.
Clearing 4 lines at once with a single I-piece is called a Tetris. It awards the highest base score (800 × level) and triggers the biggest visual and audio celebration.
Placing a piece that does not clear any lines resets your combo to zero. To maintain a combo, every consecutive piece must clear at least one line.
Yes, once loaded. All game logic runs in your browser with no server required — you can open the HTML file directly. Fonts are loaded from Google Fonts, so an internet connection is needed on first visit for the custom typography.
Auto mode runs a built-in AI that plays the game for you. Press A or use the Auto Mode button to toggle it. Your keyboard controls for moving and rotating pieces are disabled while auto is on, but you can still pause. Auto mode stops when you pause, when the game ends, or when you turn it off.
All modern browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and mobile equivalents on desktop and mobile.