Line clear

From TetrisWiki
Revision as of 02:14, 10 August 2006 by *>Tepples (→‎Triple: B2B might be better below hurdle)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The object of Tetris is to last as long as possible before the screen fills up with tetrominoes. To do this, you must assemble the tetrominoes to form one or more rows of blocks that span the entire playing field, called a line clear. When you do so, the row will disappear, causing the ones above it to settle.

Types of line clears

Single

A single is the act of clearing one line at a time:

gggt
ggggggggtt
ggggggggt
gggt
----------
ggggggggt
gggt
ggggggggt


Double

A double is when two lines are cleared at once:

g
gggzggg
ggggzzgggg
ggggzggggg
g
gggzggg
----------
----------
g
gggzggg


Triple

A triple is three lines cleared simultaneously. Most games allow only I, L, and J tetrominoes to complete a triple, but newer games with SRS allow S, Z, and T tetrominoes to twist into seemingly impossible positions.

g
ggggggg
ggllgggggg
ggglgggggg
ggglgggggg
g
ggggggg
----------
----------
----------
g
ggggggg

Tetris

A tetris is four lines cleared simultaneously. In most games, this can only be done with an "I" tetromino.

ggggggg
ggggggg
gggggggg
gigggggggg
gigggggggg
gigggggggg
gigggggggg
ggggggggg
ggggggg
ggggggg
gggggggg
----------
----------
----------
----------
ggggggggg
ggggggg
ggggggg
gggggggg
ggggggggg

Hurdle

In Tetris DS mission mode, the act of clearing two or three lines separated by one or more rows with gaps is called a hurdle. Any tetromino that can complete a triple can complete a hurdle:

gg
ggggggg
ggllgggggg
gglgggggg
ggglgggggg
gg
ggggggg
----------
gglgggggg
----------
gg
ggggggg
gglgggggg

Back-to-Back

Back-to-Back clears are any combination of two or more T-Spin Single, T-Spin Double, T-Spin triple, or Tetris, in the case of the recent games Tetris Worlds and Tetris DS. In certain Tetris game modes, you can earn extra points or deal an additional line of garbage by clearing Back-to-Back.

For example, a player can clear a line with a T-Spin Single using the T tetromino, then clear four lines with an I tetromino, still earning him a Back-to-Back tetris.

Line clear gravity

Naive

  • Most games

Sticky

Cascade

See Also