Ceiling

The ceiling is the top of the visible portion of the playfield. Not all games have the pieces interact with the ceiling the same way.

Enter above ceiling

In most newer games and a few older games, pieces enter the playfield at least partially in the vanish zone.

• Tetris (Atari) and its NES port
• Puyo Puyo
• Most games produced with BPS involvement:
  • Tetris 2 (North America)
  • Tetris 2 and Bombliss (Japan) and Tetris Blast (North America)
  • Tetris 4D
  • The New Tetris
  • Games based on the Tetris Guideline
• SuperLite 1500 Series: The Tetris

Enter below ceiling

The majority of games produced prior to 2001 placed new pieces with their top edge touching the ceiling. This also includes Tetris The Grand Master 3 Terror-Instinct (2005), as one of the several Guideline exemptions that it received for consistency with previous games in the series.

In Tetris 99 pieces normally spawn below the ceiling, but if the spawn area is blocked they may spawn up to two rows higher.

Enter below solid ceiling

In some games, the ceiling can prevent a piece from rotating. It's common that these games lack wall kicks as well. Classic games with these rules include Tetris (IBM PC) and Tetris (Sega).

L cannot rotate

It falls a row

Now it can rotate freely

Modern games do not have this restriction.

Free to rotate

Partially solid ceiling

Tetris Plus 2 is notable for having a solid ceiling with a hole through which pieces spawn. In Endless mode pieces spawn in the first row below the ceiling, and can still interact with the ceiling if they are rotated before falling another row.

L can rotate

L can move right

Blocked by ceiling