Block Fit,
clear rows and columns.

A calm puzzle with a slow squeeze

Block Fit belongs to the block-placement family of puzzles: no timer, no gravity, just a 10 by 10 board and three pieces at a time. You place all three, three more arrive, and full rows and columns clear. The run ends when none of your remaining pieces fits anywhere.

Because nothing falls, it's tempting to think the game can't rush you. It can, through the pieces you're dealt. Each new piece is drawn at random from a fixed set of nineteen shapes, with no regard for your board. The game never hands you the piece you need on purpose. Your job is to keep the board able to take whatever comes.

Know the pieces that end runs

The nineteen shapes are a single square, straight lines of two to five cells lying flat or standing up, a 2 by 2 square, a 3 by 3 square, and small and large corner pieces turned all four ways. Pieces never rotate, so a flat five-line and an upright five-line are different pieces.

Most of those fit almost anywhere. Three kinds cause nearly every loss:

• The 3 by 3 square needs a clear block of nine cells.
• The five-cell lines need five open cells in a row, flat or upright.
• The large corners need a three-by-three area with one full row and one full column open on the right sides.

So the main habit of good play is to always keep one open 3 by 3 area and at least one clear stretch of five in each direction. If a placement would destroy your last such space, look for another spot.

Order inside the tray

You can place the three pieces in any order, and the order matters as much as the spots.

• Clear first, then place. If one piece completes a line, place it first. The cleared line may make room for a piece that doesn't fit yet.
• Big pieces early. Place the 3 by 3 square or a five-line while the board still has room for it. The small pieces fit later almost anywhere.
• Watch for grey pieces. A piece that can't fit right now turns grey in the tray. That's a warning to clear space before it becomes your only piece left.

Here's a turn played that way. The bottom row has eight cells filled, with a gap two cells wide at the right end. Your tray holds a flat two-line, a 3 by 3 square and a single square. The 3 by 3 fits in only one place, the open top-left corner. Drop the flat two-line into the bottom-row gap first. The row clears for 10 points, and that row is open again for later pieces. Next, place the 3 by 3 in the top-left while the space is still there. Finally, tuck the single square against a wall, where it won't break up the open area your next big piece will need.

Scoring and combos

Each placed cell scores a point. Clearing lines pays a bonus that grows with how many go at once: one line scores 10, two together score 30, three score 60, and the bonus keeps climbing beyond that. Rows and columns count together, so a piece that finishes a row and a column on the same move counts as two lines.

That makes setting up several nearly full lines and finishing them with one piece the best way to score. Just don't build so many near-full lines that you have no free space left to place the next pieces.

Mistakes to avoid

• Leaving single holes. A lone empty cell surrounded by filled ones only takes the single square, which is one shape in nineteen. Avoid making them.
• Filling the middle. Pieces placed in the centre split the board into areas too small for the big shapes. Build out from the edges and corners instead.
• Spreading lines thin. Ten half-full rows clear nothing. Focus on finishing a few lines at a time.

Your best score is kept in this browser, and you can add a finished run to the online top ten if you choose. For a different kind of shape puzzle, Falling Blocks adds gravity and a clock to the same row-clearing idea.