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Pazit Novo
Arcade · Oldies · plays in your browser, no download
Pieces made of four squares fall, you turn them and slide them, and a row that is completely full disappears. It is the most-played idea in the history of video games and it was written by a researcher who was supposed to be testing hardware.
Where it comes from
The four-square falling pieces were written in Moscow in 1984, on a machine with no graphics: the pieces were made of brackets and spaces on a terminal. They spread first between research institutes and then, copy by copy, across half the world.
It lasts because its rule fits in one line and you never finish learning it: a full row disappears. Everything else — keeping the well low, leaving yourself one open column, deciding whether to wait for the long piece — is written in no rule at all. It comes out of that one.
How to play
| Move | Left and right arrows. On a phone, the buttons at the bottom. |
|---|---|
| Turn | Up arrow, or tap the piece. |
| Drop faster | Down arrow — soft drop, you keep control. |
| Drop now | Space — hard drop, it lands where the shadow is. |
Fill a row across and it clears. Clear several rows at once and it counts for more, which is the whole tension of the game: the safe play and the profitable play are not the same play.
Our version
The straight game, in a browser tab, with the shadow showing where the piece will land and the next piece shown so you can plan one ahead.
Three things that help
Keep the stack flat. A flat surface accepts any of the seven shapes. A stack with a hill and a trench accepts about two of them, and you do not get to choose what comes.
Never cover a hole. One buried gap costs you every row above it until you dig it out. It is almost always worth placing a piece badly to avoid making one.
Keep one well open, on the side. A single column held empty is where the long piece pays for four rows at once. Keep it at the edge, not in the middle.