Pieces made of four squares drop into a narrow well, and you have a few seconds to decide where each one should land. Complete a row and it disappears. Leave holes and the stack creeps up toward the top.
Block Drop unblocked is Jake Gordon's compact take on the falling-block puzzle, written in plain JavaScript as a tutorial project. There are no menus or sound, just the well, a next-piece box and your score, which keeps it light enough for almost any computer.
How to play Block Drop
Press Space or click the start message. A piece shows up near the top and sinks one row at a time. Move it sideways, spin it, or press Down to pull it lower faster. Once it can't fall any farther, it locks and the next piece enters.
The well is ten squares wide and twenty tall. Each row you fill completely is removed, and everything above it drops down. A landed piece earns 10 points, and clearing one, two, three or four rows at once earns 100, 200, 400 or 800.
Pieces start out falling slowly and pick up speed with every row you clear, until they are dropping several times faster than at the start. New pieces enter at a random column, not always the middle. The run is over when a piece has no space to appear.
Controls
| To… | Keyboard | Mouse |
|---|---|---|
| Start a new game | Space | Click "Press Space to Play." |
| Move the piece left or right | Left and Right arrows | — |
| Rotate the piece | Up arrow | — |
| Drop the piece one row faster | Down arrow (hold to keep dropping) | — |
| End the current game | Esc | — |
Tips
- Plan two pieces at a time. The preview box shows what comes next, so place the current piece where the next one will also fit.
- Keep the top of the stack low and even. Small steps are easy to fill. Deep one-wide gaps usually wait too long for the right piece.
- Leave one column open for a four-row clear. Dropping the long straight piece into that gap is the biggest score in the game.
- Rotate while there's room. Spinning fails when something blocks the turn, so rotate near the top before sliding it into a tight space.
- Watch the whole top edge. Since pieces can appear anywhere across the top, a tall pile on one side can end the run as easily as one in the center.
Block Drop questions
Can I drop a piece instantly?
No. Down moves the piece one row per press, so you tap or hold it to speed things up. That gives you a chance to stop on the exact row you want.
How do I quit a run and start over?
Press Esc to end the current game, then press Space or click the start message for a fresh well.
Will Block Drop work on a phone or tablet?
Not well. There are no touch controls, so you need a keyboard. A laptop, desktop or Chromebook is the right fit.
Does it keep a high score?
No. You see the score and row count for the current run, but nothing is stored between visits, so jot down a number you want to beat.
