Hatris (Arcade)

Hatris
Developer(s)	Video System Co., Ltd.
Publisher(s)	Video System Co., Ltd.
Platform(s)	Arcade
Release	WW: 1990
Gameplay info
Next pieces	1
Playfield size	6 × 32
Hard drop	Yes

Gameplay

See also: Hatris series gameplay overview

Hat Types

Name	Score (Set Value)	First Set
Helmet	20	0
Bowler	40	0
Sombrero	50	0
Top Hat	100	0
Sorceror's Hat	150	10
Crown	200	15

Fire

In addition to the six hats, there are also two types of fireballs that can appear as part of a piece pair. The standard red fireball burns the topmost hat set in the column it is placed. However, fireballs cannot burn crowns. Every seventh fireball that appears is a special blue fireball. Blue fireballs burn an entire column of hats. Blue fireballs are also extinguished upon reaching a crown in the column.

Each hat burned by either type of fireball is still worth points, albeit one-fifth the value of completing a full set. As such, there is no scoring penalty for burning hats (aside from potentially passing up the opportunity to earn additional scoring multipliers through hatrises or the oversized set bonus).

Sale

Every 15 sets of hats cleared, the Sale menu appears. The player is given the choice to remove all of one hat type from the playfield, or cancel and keep a Sale icon in stock for later use. No points are awarded for hats removed in this way.

If the player removes a hat type from the screen, that hat type will be marked as "Sold Out" on the next Sale screen and will be unavailable for selection; 150 sets of hats must be cleared after selecting a hat on the Sale screen before it will be made available for selection again.

Any unused Sales are represented by top hat icons below the "Sale" meter at the top of the screen. A maximum of six Sale icons can be stocked at a time. If the player has a Sale icon in stock, they can spend one by pressing the B button. Spending a Sale icon removes any actively controlled hats from the playfield, and brings up the Sale menu. As the Sale menu still includes the option to cancel without removing any hats from the screen, spending Sale icons can also be used to strategically skip unwanted pieces.

Bonus

If the cancelling of a Sale screen would award an icon in excess of the maximum stock of six, a score bonus is awarded instead. Bonus values start at 10,000 points, and increase by 10,000 points with each subsequent award up to a maximum of 60,000 points.

The Bonus value is reset if the player expends a Sale icon by pressing the B button. However, the player is allowed to make use of the Sale screen that appears after clearing 15 sets of hats without resetting the value (although naturally the current Sale Bonus will not be awarded in this case).

Clearing 6+ hat sets

Using the Sale system, it is possible to create sets of hats in the playfield that are larger than the normal size of five. Selling a type of hat that separates sets of another type of hat can result in an uncleared 5+ hat set remaining in the playfield. The player must add another hat to the oversized set to to clear it from the playfield.

Clearing a 6+ hat set awards a significant score multiplier of (Hats - 1) the normal value. This score value is also still doubled by clearing a hatris. For instance, while a 5 hat set is worth 1x normally and 2x as a hatris, a 6 hat set is worth 5x normally or 10x as a hatris.