# Tetris

Tetris is an exciting action game. Throughout the game, pieces fall from the top to the bottom of the playing area. When the pieces form a solid row of blocks across the playing area, that row vanishes.

Rules

Tetris pieces appear one at a time at the top of the playing area and then proceed to fall at a constant speed.

- Each piece continues to fall until it lands on another piece or the bottom of the playing area.

- You can manipulate a piece only when it is falling.

- With the keyboard, you can rotate a falling piece and move it left, right, or down.

- Each time there is a solid row of blocks across the playing area, that row vanishes. Try to manipulate the pieces as they fall so that solid rows form and disappear.

- The game ends when the pieces are stacked to the top of the playing area.

Scoring

The current piece starts with an initial score value, which increases for each successive playing level. Each time you rotate the piece or move it horizontally, its score value decreases. If you drop the piece, its score value increases proportionally to the distance it falls. Therefore, you can achieve the highest score per piece by immediately dropping the piece from the top of the playing area. The lowest score per piece will result when you continually manipulate the piece until it lands on another piece or the bottom of the playing area.
Note: Using the Piece Preview command from the Options menu dramatically lowers the score value of every piece. It is a helpful learning tool, but once you have gained experience, you should turn this command off.
You can earn bonus points by removing multiple rows of blocks simultaneously.

One Row | 100 points
Two Rows | 200 points
Three Rows | 400 points
Four Rows | 800 points

Strategy

- Use the Piece Preview command from the Options menu to gain experience, and then turn it off for higher scoring.

- Avoid building "mountains." Try to keep the pile of pieces level at the top.

- Avoid creating "canyons" that are one block wide and many blocks deep. You may find yourself nervously waiting for the long, skinny piece (which never seems to appear when you need it).

- Always try to leave a "flat spot" at least three blocks wide along the top of the stacked pieces. This way you can drop most of the pieces without leaving any gaps.

- Sometimes it is to your advantage to leave a gap and go on to the next level. If you can make the next level disappear, you may have time to fill the gap afterwards.

- Once a piece lands on another piece, it can still be manipulated for a very short time. You can use this time to "slide" the piece under an "overhang."

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