Tetris The Grand Master 4 Absolute Eye

Tetris The Grand Master 4 Absolute Eye
Absolute Eye Steam banner
Developer(s)	Arika
Publisher(s)	Arika
Producer(s)	Ichiro Mihara
Composer(s)	Shinji Hosoe, Ayako Saso
Series	TGM series
Platform(s)	PC (Steam)
Release	WW: April 4, 2025
Predecessor	Tetris The Grand Master 3 Terror-Instinct
Gameplay info
Next pieces	6 (Adjustable from 0 to 6)
Playfield size	10 × 22
Hold piece	Yes (Toggleable)

Tetris The Grand Master 4 Absolute Eye is a game by Arika in the TGM series. It was released on Steam on April 4, 2025. It is the first TGM game to be released on PC.

Gameplay

Buffer zone

Pieces spawn in rows 20-21 in most cases (with I-pieces in 20), except in Shiranui where they spawn one row higher. Cyclone rotates pieces from 20-21, which can cause I-pieces to reach as low as row 18.

New gimmicks

TGM4 features some new gimmicks that are not seen in TGM, TAP and Ti:

• Initial rotation system (IRS) now allows 180 spins. You can perform 180 degree IRS by pressing two rotation buttons of the same direction.
• An EXTRA button has been added for TGM Rule (ARS). When holding down, Sonic drop becomes Hard drop, and Soft Lock becomes Soft Drop (does not lock on land). Additionally, ARE is reduced to 7 frames.
• Diagonals are now an option. When toggled, diagonal directions will also be recognized as either up or down and preserving DAS of that direction.

Rotation system

Much like its predecessor TGM3, Absolute Eye features two different gameplay styles: Standard akin to TGM3's World rule, and TGM, TGM3's Classic rule.

Rule difference

Aspects	Standard Rule	TGM Rule
Rotation system	Standard Tetris Guideline controls and Super Rotation System	The original Arika Rotation System, modified with extended wall kicks
Drop Method	Hard drop and Soft drop.	Sonic drop and Soft Lock. Hard drop possible by holding down EXTRA when Sonic dropping, Soft drop possible by holding down EXTRA when Lock dropping.
Piece movement limitation	16 move reset, 4 rotation reset. No limitation in Asuka. Reduces during Master (see below).
Randomizer	7BS with no S, Z or O as the first piece IRM (Konoha only)	IRM 7BS with no S, Z or O as the first piece (Shiranui only)
Mode specific differences	No Normal mode. Konoha: Shorter starting time limit (2:00) Shiranui: Stronger attack on T-spins	No Marathon mode. Konoha: Longer starting time limit (4:10) Shiranui: Stronger attack on Tetrises, longer Line Clear delay

Master titles

Some of the modes will award you the corresponding title once a level or a conditions is met, which is shown on the top right when in mode select. Meeting the condition in Standard rule gives you the Silver titles, while doing it in TGM rule will give you the Bronze titles. Meeting the condition in both modes will finally award you the Gold titles.

Masters Title conditions (WARNING: SPOILERS FOR ALL MODES)
Modes	Title Name	Conditions
Asuka	Asuka Master (Am)	Complete the mode (1300 Levels).
Konoha	Konoha Master (Km)	Get 110 or more all-clears in hard mode.
Shiranui	Shiranui Master (Sm)	Defeat tier 101.
Master	Master (m) Grand Master (Gm) Grand Master Rounds (Gm ROUNDS)	Complete 1100 Levels. Complete 2600 levels. Complete the END GAME.

Level advance

In TGM4, the level increase of each line clear depends on the mode:

Line clear level advance

Line clear	Normal, Asuka	Shiranui	Konoha	Master
Single	1	1	2	1	Default Values Varies by medals
Double	2	2	4	2
Triple	4	3	6	4
Tetris	6	4	12	6

Game modes

Absolute Eye features a variety of game modes designed to accommodate different skill levels and playstyles.

Marathon

Marathon is a score based mode found in most Guideline games. This mode is only available in Standard Rule.

Points are scored by manually dropping and locking pieces, and by clearing lines. As the game progresses, line clears will award more points, and gravity will gradually increase. This mode ends after 150 lines are cleared. There is no grading system present in Marathon.

TGM4 Marathon mode screenshot

Normal

TGM4 Normal mode screenshot

Normal is a 999-level mode that resembles the Master mode from previous entries. This mode is only available in TGM Rule.

Grading

At the end of a run, the player is given a grade in the form A of B (for example Five of Eight). Each number ranges from Zero to Ten, with the minimum grade being Zero of Zero and the maximum grade being Ten of Ten.

B is based purely on the player's progress. At every multiple of 111 levels (111, 222, 333, etc.), B will increment by one, eventually reaching Nine at level 999. If the credit roll is reached, B will become Ten if the credits are passed, and stay at Nine if the player tops out.

A requirements (WARNING: SPOILERS FOR NORMAL MODE)

Similar to B, A has nine possible increments based on sections, and one separate requirement for the tenth.

• Every 100 levels is counted as a section for everything except the first 200 levels, which are combined into one section. In each of these sections, the player must score at least six tetrises for A to be incremented.

• If an all-clear is achieved during a section, the tetris requirement is reduced by two. This reduction can only occur once per section.

• If the player reaches the next section within a specific time limit, the tetris requirement is reduced by one. The required time varies depending on what section it is.

In practice this means that there are limited permutations of meeting a section requirement:

• 6 tetrises.
• 5 tetrises and beating the time requirement.
• 4 tetrises and getting an all-clear.
• 3 tetrises and getting an all-clear and beating the time requirement.

If all section requirements are met, A will only reach Nine. A is further incremented if the player reaches level 999 in 5:56 or less. Thus, A will only equal Ten if this time requirement is met, along with every section requirement.

YOU ARE (SPOILERS WARNING!)
Level	b		Section	Time requirement
0-110	Zero		0-199	76s
111-221	One		200-299	39s
222-332	Two		300-399	40s
333-443	Three		400-499	40s
444-554	Four		500-599	39s
555-665	Five		600-699	35s
666-776	Six		700-799	30s
777-887	Seven		800-899	29s
888-998	Eight		900-999	28s
999	Nine		Sum	356s
Completing credits	Ten		Full game	357s

On the leaderboards, this mode is presented as a time-attack mode without displaying grades.

Asuka

TGM4 Asuka mode screenshot

Designed for intermediate players, Asuka features 20G drop speeds, demanding quick and precise placements to level up within a set time limit. It also introduces a rewind mechanic, allowing players to retry piece placements. The unfinished Kamui mode from TGM3 is thought to be an early version of Asuka.

Speed timings

Gravity is fixed at 20G.

Delays

Level	ARE (frames)	Line ARE (frames)	DAS (frames)	Lock (frames)	Line clear (frames)
000 - 099	18	14		30	12
100 - 199	14	8		26	6
200 - 399	12	8		18	6
300 - 399	12	7		18	5
400 - 499	12	6		17	4
500 - 699	8	6		15	4
700 - 799	6	5		15	3
800 - 1099	6	5		12	3
1100 - 1300	5	5		12	3

Kita (Konoha)

Clearing a Tetris gives you a Kita, while doing an All Clear gives a bigger Kita, which is displayed above the level. To advance to the next section, you need to have at least 1 Kita (that is, either clear a Tetris or get an All Clear in the section). Any line clears that would pass a level stop without a Kita will not let you advance sections, and display Kita falling over.

If you do not have a Kita and achieve an All Clear at x99, you will still be unable to advance until the next line clear.

Rewind

During any time in the game, one can use the Rewind button to undo a previously placed piece, or a currently held piece. This can be done infinitely many times for a piece, and you can rewind multiple pieces at once. The rewind animation takes 61 frames to finish.

You cannot rewind to the previous section. The board layout upon a section advance must be played on.

Infinity

Unlike other modes in TGM4, Asuka has infinity, meaning there is no limit on how long you can stall a piece before lock delay will stop being reset.

Vanish (Fading/Invisible Tetris)

Starting from level 1000, the game enters the Vanish phase, where pieces fade out from the stack some time after being placed. Any pieces that are placed before Level 1000 stay unaffected by this fading, and will stay visible until cleared.

Starting from level 1200, all pieces placed become invisible immediately after being placed.

Completing all 1300 levels of this mode awards the player with the ASUKA-MASTER (Am) grade.

Fading speed

Level	Frames taken to disappear
1000 - 1099	180
1100 - 1199	60
1200 - 1300	3

Master

TGM4 Master mode screenshot

Master mode is the ultimate test of Tetris skill, following in the footsteps of T.A. Death and Shirase modes from previous TGM titles. Master mode has a red field border.

The unfinished Rounds mode from the location test of TGM4:MoR is thought to be an early version of Master.

Speed timings

Gravity is fixed at 20G.

Delays

Level	ARE (frames)	Line ARE (frames)	DAS (frames)	Lock (frames)	Line clear (frames)
0000-0099	12	8	12	20	6
0100-0199	12	7		20	5
0200-0299	12	6		20	4
0300-0399	10	6		20	4
0400-0499	9	6		20	4
0500-0599	8	5		20	3
0600-0699	7	5		16	3
0700-0799	7	5		14	3
0800-0899	7	5		12	3
0900-0999	6	5		10	3
1000-1799	12	10		16	3
1800-1899	12	10		14	3
1900-1999	12	10		12	3
2000-2299	12	10		10	3
2300-2600	12	10	4	10	3

• 300, 500, 700-1000: Clears in Pikii still count as clearing lines. Line ARE and Line clear delay apply as usual.
• 1300+: A clean line clear containing no Ice blocks or a Tetris apply Line ARE and Line clear delay. A partial clear that removes no full line applies normal ARE (but the level will still increment as normal).

Piece movement limitations

Level	Limits (Standard)	Limits (TGM)
0000-?	?	?
1200-2600	Step reset	Step reset

Medals

You earn medals by completing corresponding tasks. Medals have two specific effects on gameplay: Line clear level bonuses and Master Pikii freeze times.

Master Pikii's freeze time starts at 2 frames.

Medals

Medals	Conditions	Effects on Level advancing	Effects on extending Master Pikii freeze time
ALL CLEAR!	Perform an All Clear.	+1 LEVEL for all types of line clears per 6 medals owned.	2.5 frames per medal, rounded down.
TETRIS	Perform a Tetris.	+1 LEVEL for all types of line clears per 10 medals owned.	1 frame per medal.
TSPIN	Perform a T-spin Double or T-spin Triple (Standard rule).	+1 LEVEL for all types of line clears per 16 medals owned.	1 frame per medal.
PIKII	Clear a line in the frozen area starting from Level 300.	+1 LEVEL for all types of line clears per 28 medals owned.	3 frames per medal.

Pikii (300-399, 500-599) and Pikii-2 (700-999)

At levels 300-399 and 500-599, the game will enter the Pikii section, where the bottom half of the playfield is frozen; any line clears in the frozen area will not clear until the section is passed, but they do count for levels as if they had cleared. The background of these "frozen" sections have their colors inverted.

When a frozen section is passed, all finished line in the frozen area will be cleared, leaving only the unfinished lines.

At level 700, the game switches to Pikii-2. This section effectively works the same way as standard Pikii, but there are no unfrozen sections in-between. Upon a section pass, frozen lines will clear, but the bottom half will immediately re-freeze. Pikii-2 ends after level 999.

Cyclone (1000+)

Starting at level 1000 the game will enter the Cyclone section, which stays until the end of the game. Some pieces spawned will have their rotation randomized, as shown in the next box. Only the very next piece will show its rotation.

When a pre-rotated piece is held, it will retain its rotation preview.

Reaching level 1100 awards the player Master grade (m) if the game does not reach the end.

Master Pikii (1300+)

Starting at level 1300, game enters the Master Pikii section, which stays until the end of the game. Each placed piece starting at Level 1300 will freeze after a certain time, including its separate minos if the piece is partially cleared. This time varies depending on how many medals you have obtained (see the table above). Pieces placed before Level 1300 stay unaffected.

The frozen minos do not clear when a line clear is made, but non-frozen minos in the line with them will clear as usual.

As a special gimmick, clearing a Tetris in these sections will delete the bottom row of the playfield. This is the only way to remove frozen blocks.

End game (Credits roll)

Master ends at Level 2600.

Reaching level 2600 within certain (currently unknown) conditions will cause the "END GAME" section to begin. Failing or topping out during END GAME, or failing to meet the conditions for its activation, will award the player the GRAND-MASTER (Gm) grade.

During the "END GAME" section, the game will rewind all pieces placed in the last 65 seconds, putting you back at that point in time at the same level you had at that point, with the goal being to reach level 2600 within a 65 second time limit. The piece sequence will be the same. Cyclone and Master Pikii are still active during this, but the playfield at the start of this section will be unfrozen. Medals will not be reversed either. There are no line clear requirements to get past every xx99 level.

It is unknown if there is a line clear required to get past level 2599.

Reaching Level 2600 within the 65 second time limit will award the the player GRAND-MASTER! Rounds grade. An additional number will also be appended (for example Rounds-Six); it is unknown what the number means at this moment.

In practice mode, once 2600 is reached, a 'Congratulations!" is given and the game ends; there is no end game.

Until May 12, 2025, the only way to reach 2600 was to clear a line with no frozen minos. The level would stay at 2599 otherwise. In version 1.4.0, this behavior was removed, and any line clear is now sufficient to reach 2600.

Konoha

Main article: Tetris The Grand Master 4 Absolute Eye/Konoha Characters

TGM4 Konoha mode screenshot

Konoha is a mode centered around big tetrominos, with an emphasis on achieving All Clears. Successfully completing All Clears rewards players with unlockable illustrations, which can be viewed in the Konoha Character Gallery.

Gameplay

The goal of this mode is to get as many All Clears (Bravos) as possible in Big mode under a time limit. This time starts at 2 minutes for Standard Rule, and 4 minutes and 10 seconds for TGM Rule.

Extra time is obtained by performing certain clears. The timer has an upper limit of 5 minutes.

Time Bonuses

Clear Type	Time Awarded (frames)	Time Awarded after Level 1000 (frames)
Single Line Clear	1	0
Double Line Clear	2	0
Triple Line Clear	5	0
Tetris Line Clear	11	60 (1 second)
Single All Clear	300 (5 seconds)	0
Double All Clear	480 (8 seconds)	0
Triple All Clear	660 (11 seconds)	0
Tetris All Clear	900 (15 seconds)	60 (1 second)

Kita Kitsune (Konoha)

In the game, Kita Kitsune will appear beside the playfield if the CPU detects an All Clear sequence is possible, and celebrates when it's achieved or falls over when the opportunity is missed. It should be noted that it is not error-free and may miss some possible All Clears.

An icon of Kita Kitsune in a flower appears below the playfield if the current character illustration is one that has not yet been unlocked.

Assists

There is an optional assist which shows outlines of where to place pieces to achieve the All Clears that the CPU detects. The assist defaults to being turned on, and there is no penalty for using it. The assist mode goes away after the 25th All Clear in a run.

Easy and Hard difficulties

One can select between EASY and HARD mode by using Left or Right when KONOHA mode is hovered on the mode select.

Easy features only L, J, I, T and O pieces. Gravity and timings do not change over the whole course, and Easy mode ends when 110 all-clears are achieved. You only get access to the first 37 Konoha girls in Easy mode.

Hard mode features all 7 pieces and continues indefinitely until the time runs out. Clearing more than 110 All clears (inclusive?) in hard mode awards the player the title KONOHA-MASTER (Km).

Internal Gravity

Level	Internal Gravity (1/256 G)	Level	Internal Gravity (1/256 G)
0	4	101	16
8	5	112	48
19	6	121	80
35	8	132	128
40	10	144	112
50	12	156	144
60	16	167	176
70	32	177	192
80	48	200	5120 (20G)
90	64

Speed timings

Level	ARE (frames)	Line ARE (frames)	DAS (frames)	Lock (frames)	Line clear (frames)
0-?	27	27	17		25

Shiranui

TGM4 Shiranui mode screenshot

Shiranui is a newly introduced mode in TGM4. It is a standard guideline versus mode where players face off against CPU-controlled opponents of varying difficulty. Higher tiers present more challenging adversaries, and under specific conditions, hidden difficulty levels may become available.

Gameplay

Each game is played as a Best-of-3, with a 2 minute time limit on each round. You win the round by forcing your opponent to top out, having more levels than the opponent when time is up, or reaching the Level limit (999) first. The game ends in a draw if both players have the same level count when time is up.

Upon defeating a CPU, stars will appear on the right of the tier where you defeated the CPU, which usually mark how well a player has beaten a tier:

• 5 Stars in a T shaped block: The game is won 2-0 and you topped out the opponent in both games.
• 4 Stars:
• 3 Stars: The game is won 2-1, with both wins being due to topping out the opponent (needs confirmation)
• 2 Stars: The game is won 2-1, with one win being due to time out (needs confirmation)

New tiers will unlock when a bot is beaten, based on your performance. The highest tier unlocked upon a victory is equal to the defeated tier, plus how many stars were gained. This unlock scheme is capped at tier 100.

Ruleset

The gameplay is the same as in standard versus mode found in most multiplayer Tetris game.

Depending on the rule one uses, certain attacks' damage and timings will change:

Ruleset difference

Rules		Standard Rule	TGM Rule
Attacks sent	Single	0	0
	Double	1	1
	Triple	2	2
	Tetris	4	5
	Back to Back Tetris	5	6
	Mini T-Spin Single	1	?
	T-Spin Single	3	2
	T-Spin Double	5	4
	T-Spin Triple	7	N/A
	All Clear	10 not counting last line clear type
T-spins do not receive Back to Back bonus, nor do they maintain Back to Back (despite the text shown). Only Consecutive Tetrises counts as Back to Backs.
Under Konoha settings, T-spins deal no damage. All attack damages are doubled except All Clears, which stay at 10 Lines.
DAS (frames)
ARE (frames)
Line ARE (frames)
Line clear (frames)

Combo/REN	Both Rules
0	0
1	0
2	1
3	1
4	2
5	2
6	3
7	3
8	4
9	4
10	4
11+	5

Special Difficulties

There are several unlockable Tiers.

• Tier 0 unlocks when one has played SHIRANUI 50 times.

Tier 0 is a special bot that is trained based on your past games to play similarly to you. Defeating tier 0 does not award stars.

• Tier 101 unlocks when Tier 100 CPU has been beaten and has collected the first 37 Konoha girls (unverified but said by Mihara).

Tier 101 will play on 60Hz DAS instead of 30Hz DAS like other bots. Defeating Tier 101 CPU awards the player the title SHIRANUI-MASTER (Sm).

• (Version 1.1.3) Tier 102, 103, 104 get unlocked when Tier 101 CPU has been beaten. These three tiers act as exhibition games.
  • Tier 102 plays under 20G settings.
  • Tier 103 plays under Konoha (Hard) settings.
  • Tier 104 plays under Konoha (Easy) settings.

Versus

Compared to previous entries in the TGM series, Versus in TGM4 follows a more modern path with how Guideline Versus works.

As of version 1.0.4, notable differences between TGM4's Versus and older titles are:

• There is only versus rules and no clear rule/Cement Mode.
• There are no items.

To start a versus match, either player picks a mode, and starts as if playing alone. When the second player press their buttons, they will be asked if they want to challenge the other player. If they choose 'yes', then the other player will lose their game, "Here comes a new challenger" will scroll across the screen, and versus mode will start in whatever mode the first player was playing in. Alternatively, you can choose Local multiplayer on the menu to directly access to the regular versus mode.

Other types of versus

If a mode is picked in prior, the versus will use their respective speed curves and settings for each player.

• Konoha Versus: The versus will proceed using big blocks. Selecting Easy or Hard mode will also affect the versus randomizer.
• Master Versus:

Other Modes

Practice

Practice modes allows players to practice and learn game mechanics.

Textbook practice

TGM4 Practice mode screenshot

Main article: Tetris The Grand Master 4 Absolute Eye/List of practices

This submode teaches you common block placements as well as techniques. under TGM rule game will also show the frames taken to complete the task.

Gamemode practice

This submode allows you to play all the main modes with custom starting level, as well with several guide options. Runs completed under this mode will not count towards the leaderboards. The guide options are:

• Prioritizing Tetris;
• Prioritizing T-spins;
• Prioritizing All Clears;
• Prioritizing survival;
• Prioritizing battle modes.

Development

Originally announced as TGM4: The Masters of Round, the game made its debut at the 47th Amusement Machine Show on September 17, 2009. Arika showcased the game installed in arcade cabinets, running on Sega's RingWide hardware. Attendees could rank the games by enjoyment, and the results of each day were posted. TGM4 failed to rank in the first two days but managed to secure tenth place on the third day. Also unveiled during the event was Sega's Tetris Dekaris, which consistently ranked in the top three across all three days.

TGM4 2009 promotional title screen image

TGM4 2009 first promotional ingame image, showing Classic Master mode on the left

TGM4 2009 second promotional ingame image, showing World Master on the left and Classic Rounds on the right

On September 18, 2010, Mihara announced on his blog that TGM4: The Masters of Round had been canceled. According to him, a significant factor was the inability to address the proliferation of unofficial clones overseas.

"We can't release TGM4 because we don't have the capacity to clean up the clones overseas (that's one of the reasons). So I've given up. To put it arrogantly, good money lost to bad money. I'm sorry, but it annoys me when people bring up TGM. Of course, I want to say something sarcastic. So please forget about TGM. I'm the one who's saddest."

The Grand Master 2015

In July of 2015, Arika ran two location tests, one at Round1 in Los Angeles, and one at Taito Hey in Akihabara, Tokyo. The game did not feature Tetris branding.

TGM2015 title screen

TGM2015 ingame

Revival and the Road to Absolute Eye

In the years that followed, Mihara hinted at a possible future for TGM4. On Twitter, he discussed the potential for home console ports of earlier TGM titles, suggesting that their success could pave the way for TGM4 to be published.

In 2022, a home port of TGM1 was announced, followed by TGM2 the following year. These games sold well enough that in November 2024, Arika began teasing a new entry in the series and eventually released a press release confirming the project.

A month later, the game was officially revealed as Tetris The Grand Master 4: Absolute Eye.

Post announcement

Due to licensing restrictions and wanting to get the game out as quickly as possible, Mihara stated that there would be no online connectivity in the game at launch. He then later mentioned the lack of online leaderboards, but there would be a replay feature.

On December 5, 2024, Mihara announced a play test for the versus mode, but did not reveal the location, challenging dedicated players to find it.

Post-release

Development and optimization of TGM4 continued after its official release on April 4, 2025 with updates being delivered through the Steam platform. The full changelog, along with other developer announcements, can be found in the Steam Community page.

Between release and 1.1.0, the announcement for obtaining a grade in Normal mode and all of the M-ranks was adjusted from 'YOU AER', originally a pun for 'Absolute Eye Rank', to the fixed spelling 'YOU ARE'. Version 1.1.0 was pushed on April 11, adding support for custom keybinds, a feature highly requested by players and reviewers upon the game's release.

Master mode would receive the most changes through patches. With version 1.1.0, the Mino Axis Display, referring to an indicator for the rotation state of the current and next pieces, begins to show from the beginning of Cyclone (level 1000) onwards. In version 1.2.0, released on April 30, the probability of a piece not being pre-rotated during Cyclone was increased, though this was only indirectly mentioned as a difficulty adjustment in the patch notes. With the same update, the ability to pass level 2599 by clearing a Tetris was removed, meaning that at the time, the only way to reach level 2600 was by clearing a line without using any frozen blocks. However, on May 12, mere days after the first GM-rank was awarded, Mihara remarked that the 2599 level stop 'forced players into tedious line-clearing tasks, detracting from the intended experience and unfairly hindering skillful players from attaining GM status.' Therefore, the requirement was removed entirely by version 1.4.0, released the same day, and replaced with a normal level stop.

Shiranui mode's 'exhibition tiers' (102-104) were released on April 18 with version 1.1.3, and all tiers would receive minor balance changes in version 1.2.0. Lastly, a harder version of Asuka mode is slated to release following the 2025 Classic Tetris World Championship.

On May 15, following a request from The Tetris Company, the BGM for Marathon mode from level 1 to 8 was changed to Korobeiniki in version 1.4.1, although the original Katyusha remains for level 9 onwards.

Reception

TGM4 was initially met with a mostly negative reception, with less than 40% of all Steam ratings being positive. Many players complained that the game had several bugs upon launch, ranging from minor issues to game crashes. The lack of native keyboard remapping was also criticized, as the default mapping is considered too awkward for keyboard players.

In subsequent versions, almost all reported bugs were fixed, and version 1.1.0 added native keyboard remapping. The game has since grown to a very positive rating on Steam, with 85% of all reviews being positive as of May 8, 2025.

See also

• Tetris The Grand Master 4 The Masters of Round - A cancelled version of TGM4.
• List of Absolute-Eye Grand Masters

External links

• Official website
• Tetris The Grand Master 4 Absolute Eye at Steam