NAME

tetris —

the game of tetris

SYNOPSIS

tetris [-cps] [-k keys] [-l level]

DESCRIPTION

The tetris command runs a display-based game. The object is to fit shapes together to form complete rows, which then vanish. When the shapes fill up to the top, the game ends. You can optionally select a level of play or custom-select control keys.

The default level of play is 2.

The default control keys are as follows:

j: move left
k: rotate 1/4 turn counterclockwise
l: move right
<space>: drop
p: pause
q: quit

The options are as follows:

-c

Classic tetris mode, in which shapes rotate clockwise and are drawn with “[]”.

-k keys

The default control keys can be changed using the -k option. The keys argument must have the six keys in order; remember to quote any space or tab characters from the shell. For example:

tetris -l 2 -k 'jkl
      pq'

will play the default game, i.e. level 2 with the default control keys. The current key settings are displayed at the bottom of the screen during play.

-l level

Select a level of play.

-p

Switch on previewing of the shape that will appear next. This penalizes your score.

-s

Display the top scores.

PLAY

At the start of the game, a shape will appear at the top of the screen, falling one square at a time. The speed at which it falls is determined directly by the level: if you select level 2, the blocks will fall twice per second; at level 9, they fall 9 times per second. (As the game goes on, things speed up, no matter what your initial selection.) When this shape “touches down” on the bottom of the field, another will appear at the top.

You can move shapes to the left or right, rotate them counterclockwise, or drop them to the bottom by pressing the appropriate keys. As you fit them together, completed horizontal rows vanish, and any blocks above fall down to fill in. When the blocks stack up to the top of the screen, the game is over.

SCORING

You get one point for every block you fit into the stack, and one point for every space a block falls when you hit the drop key. (Dropping the blocks is therefore a good way to increase your score.) Completing a row rewards you with a bonus corresponding to the number of simultaneous rows completed. Your total score is the product of the level of play and your accumulated points — 200 points on level 3 gives you a score of 600. Each player gets at most one entry on any level, for a total of nine scores in the high scores file. Players who no longer have accounts are limited to one score. Also, scores over 5 years old are expired. The exception to these conditions is that the highest score on a given level is always kept, so that following generations can pay homage to those who have wasted serious amounts of time.

The score list is produced at the end of the game. The printout includes each player's overall ranking, name, score, and how many points were scored on what level. Scores which are the highest on a given level are marked with asterisks “*”.

ENVIRONMENT

LOGNAME: Name displayed in high score file.

FILES

$HOME/.tetris.scores: High score file.

AUTHORS

Adapted from a 1989 International Obfuscated C Code Contest winner by Chris Torek and Darren F. Provine.

Manual adapted from the original entry written by Nancy L. Tinkham and Darren F. Provine.

Shape previewing code adapted from code by Hubert Feyrer.

BUGS

The higher levels are unplayable without a fast terminal connection.