Twists, called "spin moves" in The New Tetris's manual, let a player fix some otherwise difficult situations. These examples cover recent games, but some of them may not work for earlier Tetris games that use little or no wall kick.
For a tutorial video of SRS twists, see:
Rewards for twists
Some games give scoring rewards for twisting a tetromino into a tight space. Two basic algorithms, with slight variations, have been used in newer games to detect and reward in-place spins:
- Immobile, used in The New Tetris: A twist is recognised if a tetromino locks in a position where it cannot move left, right, or up. There is only a reward if rows are completed in this way.
- 3-corner T, used in Tetris DS and other SRS based games: A T-spin bonus is awarded if all of the following are true:[1]
- Tetromino being locked is T.
- Last successful movement of the tetromino was a rotate, as opposed to sideways movement, downward movement, or falling due to gravity. (Canceling lock delay in games that allow it, such as Tetris DS, does not count as a movement.) The tetromino doesn't even have to end up in a different orientation than it was dropped in; setting up the "well-known twist" below in Tetris Worlds or Tetris DS and pressing both rotate buttons (B–A or A–B) will trigger the T-spin bonus even without any net rotation.
- Three of the 4 squares diagonally adjacent to the T's center are occupied. (In Tetris DS, the walls and floor surrounding the playfield are considered "occupied", while in Tetris Worlds for GBA, they aren't.
Different games add further restrictions:
- 3-corner T no wall, used in Tetris Worlds: The walls and floor surrounding the playfield are not considered "occupied". This means that if a wall kick places the T tetromino with its flat side against the wall or floor, the T-spin will not be recognized. (Kicks that place the flat side against blocks in the playfield still work.)
- 3-corner T no kick, used in Tetris: New Century, iPod Tetris, and Tetris Evolution: The final rotation must not involve a wall kick, that is, it recognizes only the "well known twist" below.
(The names for the algorithms are unofficial, taken from the fan game Lockjaw.)
Tetris Stardust awards a Spin Rank when the player performs twists with any tetromino, if the twist moves it below its previous lowest position. The score associated with Spin Rank is separate from action scores such as line clears.
In some of these diagrams, especially those involving S and Z tetrominoes, the "center" corresponding to the center of rotation in SRS is marked with a circle (
).
Twists with T (or T-Spin)
A well-known twist involves the tetromino T. In fact, these are the only twists that games that use "3-corner T no kick" reward.
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Drop
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Rotate once
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Or twice
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In SRS games that reward kick T-Spins like Tetris DS and Tetris Zone, making use of a wall kick saves a bit of dropping time. This will not count in newer games like Tetris Evolution or Tetris Splash.
This works in Atari Rotation and SRS:
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Drop and slide
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Rotate left
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The following works in Tetris DX, TGM rotation, and SRS, but it is not scored as a T-spin in Tetris Worlds if performed on the floor of the playfield.
The above move must be done differently in The New Tetris and games using the ARS rotation. As this does not involve a wallkick in TGM, it also works in Sega rotation:
This example from SRS is not a T-spin under the old rule, as the tetromino could have been rotated before being dropped, but SRS games from Tetris Worlds through Tetris Online (Japan) count it anyway:
This one is a T-spin in Tetris DS but not Tetris Worlds due to the difference in how the playfield walls are handled:
Triples may not seem possible, but especially games using SRS will allow them regardless. Notice that the ending position of the T tetromino does not overlap the starting position. Later guideline games don't recognise this, either by not counting triples made with this twist as a T-spin (Tetris Zone), or by not recognising this twist as a T-spin at all (Tetris Evolution).
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Drop and slide
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Rotate left
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This one works in Atari rotation:
And this works in both SRS and Atari rotation (assuming there is a rotate right button):
A complicated SRS example:
Twists with I
Works in TGM and SRS:
If changing position to the second row, rotate three times so to twist on lower-middle square.
If changing positions to the right columns, turn right. If left, turn left.
In SRS, I tetrominoes can be rotated on their end blocks:
This one works in SRS and Atari rotation:
SRS has a slight asymmetry with how end-block rotation is handled. See I-spins in SRS.
This one is silly but should work (with minor variations) in most systems, even if it is not rewarded:
The minor variation required for TGM and Sega rotation systems is to do a mirror-image version. This also works in SRS, as well as other systems where I rounds to the right and has no wallkick:
In games that use Atari rotation, a similar maneuver can produce a triple:
Twists with S and Z
Game Boy, Sega, TDX, TGM, SRS
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Rotate left
and drop
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Rotate left
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NES, Sega, TDX, TGM, SRS
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Rotate right
and drop
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Rotate right
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SRS and DTET:
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Rotate right
and drop
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Rotate right again
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SRS and DTET:
SRS only:
No overhang method
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Rotate left and drop
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Rotate left
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Twists with J and L
Works in virtually all versions¹, including Tetris (Game Boy):
¹The L-Spin shown below does not work in Atari Rotation.
Works with TGM and SRS:
(For the last one, the block highlighted in red is needed in TGM, but is optional in SRS. The edge of the field may also be used in place of that block.)
Works with TGM and TOD:
Works with SRS only:
SRS and DTET:
Like other spin triples, this works with SRS only:
Also works with higher overhang:
In The New Tetris overhang is not required:
Atari rotation unevenball (video):
SRS only:
Twists with O
Most Tetris games do not move the O tetromino when rotated or allow it to kick. However, Tetris 64 and Tetris Stardust use custom rotation systems allowing O twists.
In Tetris 64, "Rotate Center" and "Offset Turn" must be enabled.
For all O twists in Stardust, always rotate in the direction of horizontal movement.
T64 and Stardust:
For the mirrored setup, rotate right in T64. This is because rotating 0->R in T64 naturally moves the O tetromino down, then allows it to kick in either direction.
T64 and Stardust:
- In T64, double-tap any rotation button to perform. Requires "Double Turn" to be enabled.
Stardust only:
180° Twists
For games with 180° rotation buttons other twists are possible. These are most commonly used in Nullpomino because it has an option to reward all-spins. Other games besides Nullpomino may or may not have rotation systems that support the types of 180° twists listed here.
All of these twists are for SRS-X.
T-Spin Single
T-Spin Double
T-Spin Triple
I-Spin Single
I-Spin Double
S-Spin Single
S-Spin Double
S-Spin Triple
Z-Spin Single
Z-Spin Double
Z-Spin Triple
L-Spin Double
J-Spin Double
Teleporting
With 180° spins it is possible to pass through solid walls. This is called teleporting.
Twist Option
Sometimes there is more than one way to twist a piece into a hole. Think about which twist is best for the situation. Which cells should be filled, and which should be left behind?
See also
).
