How to Play Tetris

Developed in Russia, Tetris was the first video game intrduced by Nintendo for their portable video "Gameboy." Video games have advanced since Tetris' debut, but fans of the game continue to be loyal, and improvements to video screens and technology have made the game more enjoyable. The game is now played on computers, iPods, X-boxes, cell phones and Gameboys. You can even play for free online(see Resources.) Follow the steps below to get in the game, and be prepared to become a Tetris addict.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Play a few practice rounds just to see how the arrow buttons can be used to flip shapes around and line them up. Every time you create a seamless, horizontal line, that line will disappear. The object is to survive without having the lines pile up on top of each other. The game is over when the lines have reached the top.

2. Look to the right side of your screen. The shapes that will appear next for play are displayed. Try to make horizontal lines across your screen with no holes or spaces in between shapes.

3. Flip the shapes using your arrow buttons to better create seamless lines. You can use the down arrow, to make the shapes fall faster to the bottom of your screen. At the beginning level, you will have plenty of time to flip the shapes, and see how they might fit together.

4. Flip the long rectangle shape so that it is vertical. It works well to use this shape to fill as many spaces as possible in as many lines as possible. Your score increases the more lines you clear at once. If you keep this shape horizontal, it will only fill space in one line.

5. Just rearrange the shapes as they drop and try to create complete horizontal lines, before the lines fill up the screen and the game is over. Have fun and remember that it is okay to put the game down for awhile.

Tips & Warnings

• Start at Level 1, as the pieces fall faster at more advanced levels.

• You get extra points for pressing the down arrow and bringing the pieces down faster than a particular level's designated speed.

• Don't worry if you are not a great player at first. Like most games, practice makes perfect.

Resources

• Tetris - Non-stop puzzle action