how far can a clone go?

[Beastin_Shen]

Hi, ive been considering building a "new block puzzle game" with new elements. so i need to know this:

what rules cant be broken when creating a tetris game?

im sure theres a list already out there

[caffeine]

Hi, ive been considering building a "new block puzzle game" with new elements. so i need to know this:

what rules cant be broken when creating a tetris game?

im sure theres a list already out there

• Only one-sided Tetrominos (AKA no reflection)
• Short of wallkicks, and within reason, pieces shouldn't be able to go through other pieces (AKA no deep drop)
• Try not to make the user unlearn too much (AKA lean towards using already popular rotation systems)
• Simple is good.

That's all I got.

[Beastin_Shen]

ok let me rephrase it, what guideline rules cant be broken, how similar can  it actually be to tetris if i plan to put it on a market

[caffeine]

ok let me rephrase it, what guideline rules cant be broken, how similar can  it actually be to tetris if i plan to put it on a market

Ah, well... good luck is all I can say. In the past, TTC only went after games that used "tetr" or "tris" affixes, but recently they successfully took on Blockles on the basis of trade dress. Not too long ago they got Quinn, too.

...Wait. What are you asking exactly?

[Jupiter_Joe]

Ah, well... good luck is all I can say. In the past, TTC only went after games that used "tetr" or "tris" affixes, but recently they successfully took on Blockles on the basis of trade dress. Not too long ago they got Quinn, too.

...Wait. What are you asking exactly?

I suspect he's asking if there are required elements under the guidelines.

[Beastin_Shen]

i want to develop a tetris game.

im asking what elements i cant include in it for ttc or someone to take it down

[caffeine]

i want to develop a tetris game.

im asking what elements i cant include in it for ttc or someone to take it down

Okay. According to this article, Tetris claimed these elements were part of Tetris's trade dress in their lawsuit against Blockles.
[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]- "Geometric playing pieces formed by four equally-sized, delineated blocks;"
- "The long vertical rectangle playing field, which is higher than wide;"
- "The downward, lateral and rotating movements of the playing pieces;"
- "The appearance of a shadow piece at the bottom of the playing field matrix to indicate where the Tetrimino will drop;"
- "The appearance of a trailer effect after the Tetrimino during a 'hard drop' command;"
- "The display of the next Tetrimino that will fall down the matrix in a small box next to the playing field;"
- "The disappearance of any completed horizontal line;"
- "The display of a flash effect when a completed horizontal line disappears;" and
- "The subsequent consolidation of the playing pieces remaining on the playing field as a result of the downward shift into the space vacated by the disappearing line."[/quote]

[Rosti_LFC]

Ah, well... good luck is all I can say. In the past, TTC only went after games that used "tetr" or "tris" affixes, but recently they successfully took on Blockles on the basis of trade dress. Not too long ago they got Quinn, too.

...Wait. What are you asking exactly?

AFAIK they didn't actually successfully take Blockles. They just managed to press hard enough to get them to back down into a settlement (which, importantly, doesn't set a legal precedent).

This sort of thing is a huge grey area Shen. Plus it's civil law, so who is actually technically in the right or wrong plays second fiddle to who can afford to throw away the most money in legal fees.

The biggest issue is that even if it's actually pretty different to Tetris, if your average joe would look at it and say "that's Tetris", then you're in the firing line (this has recently been backed in the Apple v Samsung legal wrangling). Technical differences don't mean a great deal because they can still screw you over for violation of trade dress (which is horribly messy area of law) and dilution of brand image. If they can prove that people can confuse it for official Tetris products then it'll be enough to stick you in a tight spot.

[Beastin_Shen]

such a pain in my arse. given my love for tetris, i can make a crazy fun game.

ill just have to get creative, i hate being creative /endsarcasm

[Rosti_LFC]

To be honest, unless it gets epicly popular and/or you start making money from it, it's unlikely they'll actually bother to C&D you.