Block Puzzle

Block Puzzle gives you a ten-by-ten grid and three shapes at a time. Place all three, get three more, and keep going until nothing fits. Filling an entire row or column clears it.

There is no gravity, no timer and no falling. Every placement is a decision you get to think about.

How to play

1. Tap one of the three shapes at the bottom to select it.
2. Tap the grid square where the shape’s top-left corner should sit. A preview shows whether it fits.
3. Complete any full row or column to clear it.
4. When all three shapes are placed you get a new set. The game ends when none of your shapes fits.

The 3×3 rule

The single most useful habit is keeping an empty three-by-three region somewhere on the board at all times.

The nine-square block turns up often enough that you will see several per game, and it needs a completely clear 3×3 area. Runs almost never end because the board is full — they end because the board is full in the wrong shape, and the nine-square block is usually the shape that exposes it.

Fill outward-in

Space against a wall is worth less than space in the middle, because a wall square can only be approached from fewer directions. So place large pieces along the edges early and keep the central region open as long as you can.

The corollary is that single stray squares are expensive. A lone gap left in a row you were building costs you that row until a 1×1 happens to show up, and the 1×1 is one shape among nineteen.

Look at all three first

The most common avoidable mistake is placing a shape without checking whether the other two will still fit afterwards. The three shapes are dealt together for a reason — they are a set, and the order you play them in frequently decides whether you clear two lines or get stuck holding a five-long bar with nowhere to put it.

Tips

• Protect a clear 3×3 area at all times. The nine-square block appears regularly and having nowhere to put it is the most common way a good run ends.
• Fill from the edges inwards. Holes against a wall are hard to reach later, while holes in the middle can still be approached from four directions.
• Look at all three shapes before placing any of them. The order you place them in often decides whether the third one fits at all.
• Clearing two lines at once scores four times as much as clearing one, so it is worth holding a nearly-full row for a turn when you can see the piece that completes it alongside another.