How to play HTMLTetris

Learn the controls, clear your first lines and use Hold and the ghost piece to plan ahead.

Clear rows to keep playing

Blocks made of four squares fall onto a board that is 10 columns wide and 20 visible rows tall. Move and rotate each block to fill a horizontal row without gaps. A full row disappears and the blocks above it move down. Keep the stack low: the game ends when there is no room for a new piece.

Press Start game when you are ready. The board waits for you. Press P whenever you need a pause.

Keyboard controls

Controls for playing HTMLTetris with a keyboard
Key	Action
`←` / `→`	Move left or right. Hold a key to keep moving.
`↓`	Soft drop: move down faster.
`↑` / `X`	Rotate clockwise.
`Z`	Rotate counterclockwise.
`Space`	Hard drop: place the piece instantly at its landing position.
`C`	Hold the current piece or swap it with your saved piece.
`P`	Pause or resume the game.
`R`	Start a new game while playing or after game over. Resume first if paused.

You can also use the Pause and Restart buttons next to the board.

On a phone, use the buttons below the board to move, rotate and drop pieces. You can also swipe left, right or down on the board, tap to rotate, or hold your finger still briefly for a hard drop.

Use Hold, Next and the ghost piece

Hold saves the current piece for later. Press C to store it. If you already have a saved piece, C swaps it with the active one. You can use Hold again after placing the active piece.

Next shows the next three pieces. Look ahead before committing to a placement. Each shuffled set contains all seven piece types, helping you plan for the pieces still to come.

The ghost piece is the faint copy below your active block. It marks where a hard drop will land. Check this preview before pressing Space.

Scoring and levels

Line-clear points before the current level multiplier
Lines cleared at once	Base points
1 line	100
2 lines	300
3 lines	500
4 lines	800

Line-clear points are multiplied by your current level. For example, four lines at level 2 earn 1,600 points. Soft drops add 1 point per row moved; hard drops add 2 points per row. These drop points are not multiplied by the level.

You start at level 1 and gain a level every 10 cleared lines. Higher levels make pieces fall faster.

Tips for your first games

Keep the surface of your stack fairly even so you have more places to put the next block.
Avoid covering empty squares. Enclosed gaps are harder to clear.
Use Hold when the current piece does not fit, and check Next before deciding.
Leave space for a vertical I piece when you want to clear four lines at once.
At higher speeds, use the ghost piece to check your hard drops.

Play HTMLTetris for free