Tetris

Arrange falling blocks to complete rows and clear the board. The classic puzzle arcade game.

About this game

Tetris is the timeless block-stacking puzzle invented in 1984 by Soviet computer scientist Alexey Pajitnov. Seven tetromino shapes (I, O, T, S, Z, J, L) fall from the top of the playfield; rotate and slide them to fill complete horizontal rows, which clear and award points. Speed increases with level; the game ends when the stack reaches the top of the well. Our implementation uses the modern guideline rotation system with hard-drop, soft-drop, and hold mechanics.

How to play

  1. Use the Left/Right arrow keys (or A/D) to slide the falling piece.
  2. Up arrow rotates clockwise; Z rotates counterclockwise; X rotates 180°.
  3. Down arrow soft-drops (faster fall); Spacebar hard-drops (instant lock).
  4. C or Shift holds the current piece for later (one-swap-per-piece).
  5. Complete horizontal rows to clear them and score points.
  6. Multi-row clears (Tetris = 4 rows at once) score bonus points.

Tips and strategy

  • Build flat. Avoid leaving single-column gaps; they're hard to fill.
  • Always leave a column open for the I-piece (the long bar) to score Tetrises.
  • T-spins (rotating a T-piece into a tight slot) score huge if your stack supports them.
  • Hold a useful piece (usually I or T) until you can score with it.
  • Speed scaling is exponential past level 9; learn to soft-drop fast and place precisely.

History and context

Tetris is part of the Ice Cheetah Gaming House library — a free, ad-supported collection of 74 browser games launched in 2026.

Free to play. Tetris is part of the Ice Cheetah Gaming House library — 74 free browser games across nine categories. No real-money wagering, no signup, no downloads. Play instantly in your browser.