Tetris Online (Japan)

Tetris Online
Developer(s)	Tetris Online Japan, Inc.
Publisher(s)	Gungho Games
Platform(s)	Windows
Release	JP: June 5, 2007
Gameplay info
Next pieces	1-6 (Default 3)
Playfield size	10 × 20
Hold piece	Yes
Hard drop	Yes
Rotation system	SRS

Tetris Online (テトリスオンライン Tetorisu Onrain) was an official online multiplayer Tetris game for Microsoft Windows. The game's services were shut down on July 5th, 2011.

The game client is in Japanese with a few English text, with an unofficial English translation patch available.

Gameplay

• ARE, IRS and IHS are not present.
• The Random Generator is used for piece distribution.
• Line clear delay is minimal to non-existent depending on the upgrade level.

T-spins

• T-spin recognition is 3-corner T.
• A T-Spin Single that uses a wall kick is a T-Spin Mini, which is less powerful than a normal T-Spin Single in both single player and multiplayer. T-Spin Doubles and T-Spin Triples with a kick are still counted as a full TSD and TST respectively.

Back-to-Back

Tetrises and T-Spins are considered Back-to-Back if the previous line clear was either a Tetris or T-Spin.

REN

• REN is the Japanese term for combo.
• Each consecutive line clear increases REN by 1 regardless of how many lines were cleared at once (Doubles/Triples/Tetrises only add 1 to the counter).
• The REN counter is displayed for a 1 REN or higher. The first line clear is considered as a 0 REN, and thus is not displayed.

Single Player

Single player is only available to Premium users. It consists of the following four modes:

Time Attack

Time Attack is a mode where the goal is to clear 40 lines as fast as possible.

Challenge

Challenge mode is a marathon-based mode with a variable goal system. The mode starts at level 1 with a starting time limit of 2 minutes. In this mode, the player must get a high score before time runs out or passes level 30.

Each line clear will reduce the goal counter based on the action performed (example: double would reduce the goal counter by 3 and B2B Tetris would reduce the goal counter by 12). A level-up will occur should the goal counter reach 0, adding 30 seconds to the timer.

Line Clear	Goal Reduction
Single	1
Double	3
Triple	5
Tetris	8
Tetris (B2B)	12
T-spin Mini	6
T-spin Mini (B2B)	9
T-spin Single	8
T-spin Single (B2B)	12
T-spin Double	12
T-spin Double (B2B)	18
T-spin Triple	16
T-spin Triple (B2B)	24
Perfect clear	24

When the player performs a REN, it reduces the goal by floor(ren# / 2) but not more than 10.

Marathon

Marathon is a 200-line fixed goal mode. A level up occurs every 10 lines. The goal of this mode is to reach level 20 while scoring as many points as possible. There is an endless option available if the player clears 200 lines.

Hori Tetris

Hori Tetris is a mode where the player must clear a set number of garbage lines as fast as possible. Garbage lines may have multiple holes on them.

There are four difficulty levels, each with a varying goal based on the selected difficulty:

• Easy - 100 lines
• Normal - 200 lines
• Difficult - 400 lines
• Very Difficult - 1,000 lines

Multiplayer

Selectable from the main menu, Multiplayer features the following classes/rooms:

Class	Free for All	Team Play	Maps	AI	Miscellaneous
Specials	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Special items available
Beginner	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	15 LPM or under only
Intermediate	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Expert	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	20G
1v1	No	No	No	No	Ratings, 'King of the Hill' format

Each room has a maximum room size of 6 players. Premium users may create password-protected rooms.

In team modes, every team must be the same size before a team match can start.

After topping out, a player may choose to practice while waiting. The practice session continues until the current match ends.

In a 1v1 game room, the winner stays in the round and the loser joins the end of the queue of spectators.

TP earned after every match is calculated as follows:

TP = (players placed below you + 1) x (5 if premium, 1 otherwise) + (# of KOs)

Sending garbage lines

In multiplayer games, performing certain actions will send garbage to other players. The garbage table is as follows:

• Line clears

Action	Lines Sent
Single	0
Double	1
Triple	2
Tetris	4
Tetris (B2B)	5
T-Spin Mini	1
T-Spin Mini (B2B)	2
T-Spin Single	2
T-Spin Single (B2B)	3
T-Spin Double	4
T-Spin Double (B2B)	5
T-Spin Triple	6
T-Spin Triple (B2B)	8
Perfect Clear	+6

• REN table

REN #	Lines Sent	Total Sent
0	0	0
1	0	0
2	1	1
3	1	2
4	2	4
5	2	6
6	3	9
7	3	12
8	4	16
9	4	20
10	4	24
11+	5	29

Getting a KO sends an additional 1, 2 or 3 garbage lines to all players. How many lines are sent depends on the number of players in a room and the player's KO count in the game.

Unlike normal garbage, "to-all" garbage is never used for garbage canceling.

Garbage distribution

In a free for all match, a target cursor that randomly switches between players determines the opponent that the player will send lines to.

Unlike other Tetris Guideline games (eg. Tetris DS, Tetris Splash, and Arena mode in Tetris Friends), the garbage holes do not line up or change randomly. Each line clear sends garbage to a single random column.

Possible garbage fields

1. Tetris, Tetris (B2B)

2. Single, Triple, Single, Tetris, T-spin Single (4 REN)

Training

Training is is a Premium-only game mode for playing against an AI player in a 1v1 match. There are 24 levels consisting of 3 stages each:

• Tetris
• REN
• T-spin

Shop

Premium Membership

A Premium membership gives access to all single and multiplayer modes along with other benefits such as increased TP from games and the ability to create password-protected games.

Premium Time	Cost
30 days	315 yen
90 days	945 yen
180 days	1,890 yen
24 hours	1,000 TP

Note: When inviting a friend to join TOJ and provided the friend has successfully registered, both players will receive 3 days of free Premium Membership.
90-day and 180-day tickets are only sold on certain periods; if you have a Yahoo! Japan ID, you can purchase a 30-day ticket for 210 yen.

Lottery Balls

Lottery balls can be opened to give a random amount of TP. The amounts of TP given per lottery ball are 500, 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000. This is the quickest way to buy upgrades.

Lottery Balls	Cost
3	315 yen
6	630 yen
12	1,260 yen

VS Item

There are 3 items packs for Specials Mode available for purchase either through lottery balls or TP:

• Sword (Offensive set)
• Shield (Defensive set)
• Happy Face (Interference set)

Multi-player Items: (available through lottery)

• Garbage Tetris: When performing a Tetris in VS COM or Multi mode, garbage lines with 2 gaps with a probability of ?% is sent for ? games.
• Garbage REN: REN clears in VS COM or Multi mode, garbage lines with 2 gaps with a probability of ?% is sent for ? games.
• Garbage B2B: Back-to-Back actions will send garbage with 2 gaps in the probability of ?% in VS COM or Multi modes for ? games.
• Garbage T-Spin: When performing a T-Spin in VS COM or Multi mode, garbage lines with 2 gaps with a probability of ?% is sent for ? games.
• Anti-Miss: Prevents accidental hard drops for ? games.

Upgrades

All upgrades start at level 0 except for piece previews which starts at level 2. 5 Upgrades are available:

• Next piece previews - each level gives you (level + 1) piece previews
• Sensitivity - each level will increase DAS speed
• Soft drop speed - each level increases soft drop speed
• Line clear delay - each level reduces line clear delay
• Lock delay - This has very little effect in 0G gameplay. Lock delay upgrades will increase the amount of time before the piece will lock after it touches the floor.

It is recommended to upgrade sensitivity first, then soft drop speed if you use many T-spins and finally, line clear delay or previews depending on personal preference.

Level	Cost in TP
1	200
2	500
3	1,000
4	3,000
5	5,000

Closing and legacy

On July 5th, 2011, Tetris Online Japan shut down their servers.
Currently, you can play TOJ using the fan-made client Tetris Online Poland. This client has all Premium features and items available by default.

Links

• GungHo Games Tetris site
• Official Site
• Blink's New Player Guide