How To Play Tetris: Tips on How To Get Started and Clear 4 Lines

Gaming

June 11, 2024

Andrew Ogunnaike

For such a simple game, learning how to play Tetris properly can be a surprisingly daunting task if you’re new or have taken a break. From complex strategies, to high-level strategies to get you to the end game, there’s a lot of nuance in the simple world of Tetrominos.

What’s more, the objective best way to play is to stack four lines at a time – no easy feat. Luckily we’re here to help. Here’s a guide and refresher on how to best stack four line clears in Tetris.

How to play Tetris

Tetris at it’s core is a survival puzzle game. The game keeps going until you fill your screen. This is known as ‘topping out,’ or in battle versions of the game, are the ‘last one standing.’

To prevent topping out, players have to make a full horizontal (left to right) line of blocks. These blocks will then clear out and cause the stack to move down, giving you more space to work with. Clearing four lines at once using the line block is called a “Tetris”, and is the best way to clear space.

Credit: Arika/Nintendo

Depending on whether you’re playing older or newer Tetris games, knowing all your controls is important. In addition to left and right, rotating clockwise and anti-clockwise, some games give you more options. Quick dropping has much more use in the battle games due to speed being of the essence. And modern Tetris has the ability for you to hold a piece to save for later. Rather than just having to make do with what you’ve been dealt like the originals.

The fundamental move is to try and set up one side of the screen with a full gap, ready for the four line Tetronimo. This way, when you get those pieces, you can quickly clear. This is called a setup.

There have been instances of making the NES version crash through specific setups. A feat that was only achieved in 2024.

Gameplay Basics

Fit the Pieces: Your goal is to fit Tetrominos together to complete horizontal lines.
Clear Lines: Completed lines disappear, giving you more room to keep playing. For scoring, aim to stack your pieces so that you can make full blocks that can be eventually cleared with a line piece. Most of the time this means building so that it leaves the sides or centre open.
Don’t Top Out: If your stack reaches the top, it’s game over. If you have to give up on a big score just to keep the game going, its worth it.

Tips for Success:

Think Ahead: Instead of blindly dropping, trying to build mini stacks neatly on top of each other helps you set up for that big 4 line clear.
Stay Calm: As the game speeds up, keep your cool to make quick, smart decisions. Many of the highest scores in the game are found through staying alive and letting the multiplier do the work rather than fishing for big clears.
Watch and Learn: Many of the best players in the game stream their runs, and you can learn a lot about how they approach the game, their setups and techniques from watching them play, grind and compete.

Tetris is one of the biggest franchises in the world for a reason, its surprisingly complex, with even the oldest versions of the game seeing innovation and improvements with every single day.