How to play Sand Tetris
The seven familiar pieces drop into a well 15 wide and 20 deep, half as wide again as Tetris’s, but each one crumbles into sand the moment it lands, and the grains pour down into slopes and piles. There are no lines to fill. Instead, join one colour from the left wall to the right and that whole patch washes away.
The sand comes in four colours: red, blue, green and orange. When the sand piles up to the top, the game is over.
Rules
- A colour clears when a connected patch of it touches both walls. The whole connected patch goes, not just the strip across, and grains that meet only at a corner still count as connected.
- Each clear scores 10 points for every block’s worth of sand removed, times the level plus one. The level goes up every 5 clears.
- Pieces arrive already turned and at a random column, and you can still move and turn them on the way down.
- Pieces start at one row every 0.8 seconds and fall faster with each level. Soft drop earns 1 point a row and hard drop 2.
- The game ends when a new piece has no room to come in.
Controls
- ← →
- Move the piece
- ↑ / X
- Rotate clockwise
- Z
- Rotate anticlockwise
- ↓
- Soft drop
- Space
- Hard drop
- P / Esc
- Pause
- Enter / Space
- Start or play again
- Touch
- On-screen buttons for move, rotate, soft drop, hard drop and pause
Tips
- Grow one colour into a wide mass before you close the gap to the far wall. A bigger patch scores more in one clear.
- Sand slumps sideways, so a piece dropped on a peak spreads down both slopes. Use the slopes to reach a colour you want to join.
- Watch the Next box: it shows the colour coming up, so you know where to park it.
- The dashed outline shows where the piece will land. Untick Drop preview above the board to play without it.
Sand Tetris strategy
Build big, bridge late
A span removes the whole connected patch of that colour, not just the strip that touches both walls. Points follow the amount of sand removed: 10 for each block’s worth, multiplied by level plus one. So grow one colour into a wide mass and close the last gap to the far wall only when the mass is large. Grains that touch only at a corner still count as connected. The preview shows the next colour, so you know where to park it.
About Sand Tetris
Sand Tetris is our own twist on Tetris, which Alexey Pajitnov wrote in Moscow in 1984: the same seven pieces in a wider well, but they turn to sand when they land, and you clear colours instead of rows.
It started as a mode of our Tetris and became a game of its own. Scores from the old Sand mode carry over.
Questions
How do I clear sand?
Join one colour from the left wall to the right wall. The whole connected patch of that colour washes away, and the sand above it falls into the gap.
How is the score calculated?
Each clear is worth 10 points for every block’s worth of sand removed, times the level plus one, and the level rises every 5 clears. Soft drops add 1 point a row and hard drops 2. The Expert target is 2,500 points and Pro is 20,000.
How do I play on a phone?
Use the row of buttons under the board: move, rotate, soft drop, hard drop and pause. Tapping rotate or hard drop starts a game.
Are my scores saved?
Yes, in your browser, including your scores from the old Sand mode of our Tetris. Send your link from the profile menu to a colleague and the two of you see each other’s bests; nobody else does.
