Tetraminos
Developer(s)	Sanuk Games
Publisher(s)	Bigben Interactive
Release Date(s)	8 Mar, 2016
Platform(s)	PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, PC
Gameplay Info
Next pieces	1
Playfield dimensions	10w x 16h
Hold piece	No
Hard drop	Yes
Rotation system	Custom
Has 180 rotation	{{{180}}}
Adjustable tuning	{{{tuning}}}
Garbage attack type	{{{garbage}}}
Garbage blocking type	{{{blocking}}}
Website	{{{website}}}

Tetraminos is a Tetris-based clone for PC, PS4 and Xbox One with the 7 classic Tetriminos plus 5 additional shapes. It's not a licensed Tetris game, so it doesn't follow the Tetris Guideline. The most notable absent rules are the 7-bag system, SRS rotation system, hold system and the ability to perform T-spins. Tetraminos uses a mechanic where players are rewarded for completing lines in just one color. Controls are customizable and there are global (online) leaderboards for Endless Mode and Challende Mode. The background graphics look very nice although they can be distracting from time to time. The music is well done although a little repetitive. The draw-back of Tetraminos is that there's only one rotation direction, that the pieces move pretty slowly and that the modes are not such a big challenge.

Mechanics in Detail

There's no hold piece and the next piece queue contains only 1 piece. The randomizer is either memoryless randomizer (totally random piece sequence) or pretty close to it. All modes hand out the Monomino, the Domino and the 2 unique Trominoes additionally to the 7 Tetrominoes. Endless Mode also deals out the X-shaped Pentomino from time to time.

Pieces can only be rotated in clockwise direction. The pieces spawn in random orientations. I, S and Z piece have only 2 orientations (horizontal + vertical). The game uses some basic Wall kicks whereas those kicks seem to shift the piece center only in horizontal direction. Pieces are randomly colored (red, green, yellow, pink). In Endless Mode and Local Multiplayer Mode, the player is rewarded for completing a line with one color only (all 10 blocks having the same color).

DAS and ARR are both set to 10 frames, that means a piece moves one column every 10 frames, as long Left or Right are kept pressed down. Because of the slow ARR, tapping should be faster than using auto repeat. Entry delay is 40 frames long, that means a player has to wait pretty long between the locking of a piece and the spawning of the next piece. Lock delay is around 30 frames long but seems to be entry reset. This means the game counts the frames in which the piece has touched the ground; and the piece locks when this number reaches 30. The piece also locks immediately, if Soft drop is pressed when it hits the ground.

Modes

Endless Mode

The goal is to reach as many points as possible. Gravity (falling speed) maxes out after level 10 whereas this speed isn't that challenging for a skilled Tetris player. This is the only mode that includes the the X-shaped Pentomino. A Single scores 100 points, a Double 400 points, a Triple 900 points and a Tetris 1600 points (100 x n² points for n cleared lines). Those points are multiplied by the current level. There's an additional score multiplier, if at least one completed line is monochrome (all 10 blocks having the same color). In this case, the score multiplier is 4 + (#monochrome lines) / (#completed lines). For example, completing a Tetris with only one monochrome line gives a score multiplier of 4.25, thus the Tetris scores 1600 x 4.25= 6800 points (multiplied by the current level). Consecutive pieces in the sequence have often the same color, so this is not too difficult to do. A Tetris with 4 monochrome lines is much harder but barely yields more points (8000 points).

Challenge Mode

The goal is to clear as many levels as possible whereas you have to clear a certain amount of lines to advance to the next level. The time to clear a level is limited but this time is expanded for every cleared line. Line clear goal and gravity (falling speed) are maxed after around level 18 whereas a skilled Tetris player will not have much problems to clear a level at this point.

Puzzle Mode

There are 50 puzzles in total. Each puzzle has some blue-colored blocks on predefined positions and the first pieces of the piece sequence are also predefined. The goal is to get rid of all blue-colored blocks (by clearing the corresponding lines) with the least amount of pieces possible (resulting in a Perfect Clear in half of the puzzles). A player is rewarded with 3 stars in this case. A puzzle is still counted as solved, if it is cleared with 30 pieces instead of the least possible amount. However, this will only result in 1 star.

Local Multiplayer

Up to 4 players can play against each other. Note that this is offline multiplayer only. The playfield width is reduced to 8 columns so that all playfields fit side by side. The goal is to top out the opponents before you get topped out. Every placement that clears at least one line sends one line. This sent line has as many holes as how many lines were cleared at once (e.g. a Triple results in only one garbage line but with 3 holes). If at least one of the completed lines was monochrome, then 2 lines are sent instead of 1.