Ask HN: Is this Tetris variant novel? Would it be fun?
2 amichail 2 5/27/2025, 9:20:00 PM
Is there a Tetris variant in which each tetromino is assigned a random color, and when a line is cleared (which may contain multiple colors), any contiguous region of squares that is adjacent to a removed square in that line and shares its color is also removed?
Do you think this would be a fun variant?
Super Tetris 3 on SNES has one mode like this called Maglicaliss.
-You have full R/G/B tetrominoes.
-Doing a full 360 rotation of a tetromino cycles it between the three the colours.
-If you make a line that is all one colour, every one of that colour is cleared off the field.
-If you do a line of mixed colours, it is a regular line-clear.
There are also steel (grey) tri/do/monominoes, which complicates things a bit:
-Steel minoes fall at random just like any other tetrominoe.
-Steel minoes do not change colour from 360s.
-Lines with steel blocks allow for regular line-clears with the caveat that the steel blocks stay on screen after a clear. This can lead to combos, since clearing a line will have the above line move down to connect with steel blocks from the previously cleared line.
-The only way to clear a steel blocks is to make a full steel line.
-Full steel lines, like lines of all one colour will clear the entire field of steel blocks.
Super Tetris 3 also has stadard Tetris and Sparkliss, which is mostly like Bombliss on Tetris Blast and Super Tetris 2. Note there are still line-clears in bombliss, it's NOT like NES Tetris 2, which is essentially Doctor Mario with tetrominoes.
The Next Tetris on PSX/SAT/PC has a mode with mixed coloured tetrominoes that fall after a line-clear and make combos. I forget the specifics but that game is heavily broken. Rotations after touching down, reset the lock timer. You can endlessly rotate tetrominoes to take the time to decide where to leave it.
High recommend the Super Tets. They along with Tetris 64, (Not to be confused with Tetrisphere, which sucks), are some of my favourite variants. That said, Nothing holds a candle to Tetris Party Premium or OF COURSE, Tetris The Grand Master series. (IMO)
If you haven't played The Grand Master series and have an interest in Tetris... oh my god, please try it. It does things to my brain that nothing else in life has done.
(edited for formatting)