Basic questions

[Chojin]

Hi,
I am a beginner and I am currently trying to get better at the Game Boy Tetris.
Overall I think I approved already but my highscore is still only about 283k, one "online friend" keeps telling me the counter stop (999k) would be easy to reach on that Tetris and that I should just play more.
But no matter how much I play, I feel like I rather lack a solid strategy and that all achievements are kind of based on luck. Llke when you play let's say 20 runs, one of them oviously must be rather good in terms of your standards, and that is exactly what makes me think even on the level I am, I can not play constantly in terms of always playing as good as I am so far). Also I have to become faster though I think. Whenever I reach Level 13 or something, I panic and soon I'm dead.
I did hit the guides already but in theory everything I read seems obvious (proper upstacking for instance), practically it is not that simple of course.

Another major problem I have is the following: In order to avoid the so called crap (useless gaps) while at the same time not always being able to stack up properly, I have that style of play that when being "unlucky" (which brings me back to lacking a solid strategy that always works) my stack ends up being several stacks that are hard to stack down so I restart or die trying to make up with that mess. It looks like this then for instance:


Or sometimes even when I am lucky enough to stack up even and just perfectly, then sometimes it doesn't give me an I (the long piece one need for tetris) and I go game over with a perfect stack with the gap for Tetris on the side.

Would be cool to talk to you guys about that here, hope you dont mind me not using all the specific proper terms yet. Thx!

[Okey_Dokey]

HardDrop's Gameboy Tetris highscore thread

one "online friend" keeps telling me the counter stop (999k) would be easy to reach on that Tetris and that I should just play more.

Your online friend is wrong. The original GameBoy Tetris is hard to max out. Maybe (s)he confuses it with Tetris DX (GB Color game from 1998) or thinks it's the same like Tetris 1989 mode on Tetris Friends. The latter is more of a copy of Tetris DX besides the retro looks. It's easy to get 999,999 points (resp. 9,999,999) in said versions. One way to optically distinguish between original Gameboy Tetris and Tetris DX is too look where the next piece is displayed: It's on bottom for original Gameboy and on top for DX.

Some tips:

• You are very likely doing it already but it's the meat and potatoes for scoring high in a classic Tetris game with high gravity - so I mention it nonetheless: While you move the current piece, you try to figure out where to put the next piece. So when the next piece spawns, you already know where to put it.
• In level 20 try to make Single line clears NOT Tetris line clears. The gravity doesn't increase anymore after you reach level 20, so there's no disadvantage in playing ineffectively as long as it increases survival chances
• For practicing purposes you can start at level 18 (in this case level 20 comes after 100 lines): Hold Down and press Start at the title screen to access "heart mode".
• Don't use autorepeat. Always tap. Sometimes you have to tap 5 times to get a piece to the right wall (for vertical placements).
• Finger positions matter. Don't use your thumbs to play GameBoy Tetris. Your index/middle/ring fingers have much higher tapping speeds. With thumbs I was stuck at 600,000 points because I couldn't survive level 20. With index and middle finger I improved my record to over 700,000 points pretty quickly. I didn't reach 999,999 points before I began to cross my hands, using the right hand for the D-pad and my left hand for buttons A and B (using the same fingers like playing Tetris on computers).

Regarding stacking: GameBoy Tetris is probably the Tetris game where you have to play as defensive as possible. It's ok to waste lines for keeping the stack nice. On level 9, score is fine as long as you score 2,000 points in average per cleared line (Tetris is 3,000 points per cleared line, Triples are 1,000 points per cleared line). Leave the Tetris gap only on the walls (I prepare the left wall). Don't stack too high - use skimming in this case. On level 9 I try to have 2 Tetrises prepared (height 8 ), afterwards only 1 Tetris (respectively 0 on level 20).

An old comment of mine (check the links):

You usually have a gap on the left or right side where you insert the line pieces (making Tetris line clears). It's best if your stack looks a bit like a funnel. If possible, leave 2 columns empty above the bottom lines, so you can skim with unwanted pieces. After the line piece shows up, you increase the height of the second column, so that you can make Tetris line clears again.

If your stack becomes unstable (not looking like a funnel, not flat enough or containing 3 rows deep wells or too zick-zack ), it's often better to make holes than building towers/skyscrapers . If possible only create holes, that you can get rid of easily (e.g. with platform clears ).