Block Drop tips: how to clear more lines

Block Drop is easy to start and hard to put down. The first few levels are slow enough that almost any placement works, but as the blocks speed up, small habits decide whether your stack stays low or creeps to the top. These tips cover the habits that matter most, in the order most players learn them.

Learn the controls until you stop thinking about them

On a phone, tap the board to turn a block, drag sideways to move it and flick down to drop it. If you find gestures fiddly, use the five buttons under the board instead: move left, move right, turn, move down and drop. Pick one style and stick with it for a while so your thumbs learn it.

On a computer, the arrow keys move and turn, Z turns the other way and Space drops. Turning the other way often saves two extra turns, which matters at higher levels.

Use the faint landing outline at the bottom of the board. When the outline is where you want it, drop. You don't have to watch the block fall.

Keep the stack flat

The single most useful habit is a flat, even stack. A flat surface has a good place for every shape. A bumpy surface, with tall towers next to deep pits, only fits one or two shapes, and the other five become problems.

Try to keep neighbouring columns within one or two squares of each other. When a step forms, look for the shape that fills it: the L and J blocks fit steps of one, the S and Z blocks fit side steps, and the square fits flat ground.

Avoid covered holes

A hole is an empty square with a block above it. You can't fill it until you clear every row above it, so holes pile up quickly and push the stack higher. Before you drop a block, check that it won't leave a gap underneath.

Sometimes a hole can't be avoided. If so, leave it where it will be easy to uncover, usually near a wall and close to the top of the stack, and clear the rows above it as soon as you can.

Use the half second after landing

When a block touches down, it doesn't lock straight away. You have about half a second to slide it or turn it. This is how you tuck a block under an overhang or twist it into a gap that it couldn't fall into straight. Blocks also nudge sideways or up a little when they turn against a wall or other blocks, so a turn that looks impossible often works.

Build for four-row clears

Clearing four rows at once with the long straight block scores 800 points times your level, much more than four single rows. Two four-row clears in a row score even more. To set one up, stack evenly across nine columns and leave one column empty, usually the one at the edge. When the long block comes, drop it into the empty column.

Don't build too high while you wait. If the stack is past the middle of the board and the long block hasn't come, take smaller clears to bring it down.

Plan with the next blocks

The three blocks shown under Next are coming in that order, and all seven shapes always come before any one repeats. So if you haven't seen a long block for a while, one is on its way. Before you place the current block, glance at the next one and leave a place for it.

Use Hold well

Tap the Hold box, or press C, to keep the current block and take the next one. Good uses of Hold:

• Save the long block for when your empty column is deep enough for four rows.
• Swap out an awkward shape when the board has no good place for it.
• Keep a square or a T block as a spare for repairing a messy surface.

You can hold only once per block, so don't use it every time. A held block you never use is a wasted chance.

Stay calm as the levels rise

Every 10 rows, the level goes up and blocks fall faster. The common mistake is to rush and drop blocks before they are in place. Use the landing outline, decide where the block goes as soon as it appears, then move it there and drop. Fewer moves per block means fewer mistakes.

• Turn first, then move. Turning near the top gives the block room.
• Drop as soon as the outline is right. Waiting only gives the stack time to catch you out.
• Clear what you can when the stack is high. Survival beats a big combo.

Practise in short sessions

Play a few games, take a break, then come back. Your best score is saved on your device, and the game pauses and saves itself if you switch apps, so you never lose a good run to a phone call.

Ready? Play Block Drop now.