Marathon
Marathon is a game mode where the player plays the game either until completing a fixed level, or endlessly. It is the main mode in most Tetris games. Here, players clear as many lines and get the highest score possible. If the player stacks pieces to the top or reaches the goal, the game ends.
Marathon in the Tetris Guideline
The Tetris Guideline defines two types of Marathon modes. The variable-goal system was common in the earlier years of the guideline, but since around 2010, it has largely been phased out in favor of the fixed-goal system.
- In the fixed-goal system, each level requires 10 lines to clear. If the player starts at a later level, the number of lines required is the same as if starting at level 1. An example is when the player starts at level 5, the player will have to clear 50 lines to advance to level 6. In most cases, the level caps at 15 (or a total goal of 150 lines if Endless is toggled off), but the maximum level can go as high as 30. If Endless is toggled on or the line clear goal amount is set higher than 150 lines in games with Level 15 cap, the gravity stops increasing for the remainder until top out or reaching the goal.
- In the variable-goal system, each level requires a specific goal to clear, which is 5 multiplied by the level number. In games after the introduction of the current scoring system, the amount of goal given by a line clear is equal to its base score value divided by 100 and rounded down. Excess goal is not carried over between levels. In most cases, the level caps at 15 (or a total accumulated goal amount of 600 lines).
Speed curve
Most Guideline games have a speed curve based on the curve used in Tetris Worlds. In this speed curve, the time for a piece to move down by one row is given by the following formula:
Time = (0.8-((Level-1)*0.007))(Level-1)
Though the values produced by this formula have a huge number of decimal places, the following approximate G values retain frame-accuracy and are therefore indistinguishable from the formula.
| Level | Speed (unit: G) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0.01667 |
| 2 | 0.021017 |
| 3 | 0.026977 |
| 4 | 0.035256 |
| 5 | 0.04693 |
| 6 | 0.06361 |
| 7 | 0.0879 |
| 8 | 0.1236 |
| 9 | 0.1775 |
| 10 | 0.2598 |
| 11 | 0.388 |
| 12 | 0.59 |
| 13 | 0.92 |
| 14 | 1.46 |
| 15 | 2.36 |
| 16 | 3.91 |
| 17 | 6.61 |
| 18 | 11.43 |
| 19 | 20 |
There is no concrete rule on how to handle the speed curve after level 19. Tetris Online (Japan) would continue 20G with fixed lock delay in Endless Marathon, while Tetris at tetris.com and Tetris Ultimate reduce the duration of lock delay between levels 20 and 30. Other games, such as Tetris Effect and Tetris Party, may also include a variant of Marathon mode where the gravity is constant 20G, with each speed level having a shorter lock delay value than the previous level. Some variations on the speed curve have been observed: Tetris DS, for example, offsets the curve by 1 level and rounds the speed values to the nearest frame; Tetris 99's 999 Line Marathon mode expands the speed curve scale further to be gradual in the first 50 levels before quickly speeding up to 20G in the last 49 levels.