BlocKnock 1.3 - User Guide and FAQ

Building Tips

• When taking down blocks, be sure that they fit right into the slot unless it is urgent to get it down at all.
• You get more points by clearing 4 rows at a time than you would get by clearing 1 row four times.
• Since you are trying to clear 4 rows at a time you will want to create a channel for the long bar piece to fit into. It is best to place this channel at the far right or far left. If the channel is in the center it will give you two smaller areas to work with which give you actually less play opportunities than one large area when placing other blocks.
• Pentix and Roto modes are much harder to play but as a reward you will get more points for every row you remove
• You want the pieces to build up in a solid wall without creating any holes. This is a skill that you must develop over time. You will have to develop an eye to quickly find where the pieces can fit.
• Use preview next piece. To get really good scores you must learn not to place the piece that is falling until you are sure it will allow you to place the next one also. You must avoid creating holes. So sometimes you must place the falling piece in an place that you normally wouldn't, so as to afford the next piece a place that it fits. Not as hard as it sounds. Remember you are still only mentallly fitting one piece in the same amount of time. You are just one step ahead, thats all.
• Overhangs are bad but holes are worse. Sometimes no matter what you do there just isn't a good place to place that next piece. When this happens you must minimize the damage. The object is to create a solid wall with no holes or overhangs; once you create a hole it is impossible to get rid of it until you clear the blocks above it. If you create an overhang instead of a hole then at least there is a chance that it won't create a hole. You can sometimes fill in overhangs later by sliding pieces left or right as they fall.
• As the speed gets very high you will need to abandon the 4 rows at a time approach and concentrate on keeping the wall totally knocked down to the very bottom. Once the blocks start falling this fast you will need the most amount of time possible to place it correctly.
• When fate deals you a bad block by forcing you to create a hole in your wall, it is best to deal with that quickly. Don't wait till later to get rid of it, go ahead and try not to place anything on top of it. Clear the block which will usually be one or two rows cleared at a time, but thats the way the pieces fall.
• Once you get good and quick at tetris you will want to move your starting level higher. This will give you more points because the higher the level that you are on, then the more points you get by clearing a line.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Game settings

• Level - this is a starting game level
• Speed - starting game speed. Increase it to get more points for each removed line
• Roto - switches on/off roto mode. When turned on, the playfield will rotate after each dropped block. It is more difficult to play but gives you more points for each line you removed
• Pentix - when turned on, you play with pentix shapes instead of original tetris blocks
• Cylinder - when turned on, there are no side edges. When moving a block to the far right, it will start to appear from the left when you reach the right edge. Turn it on and see how it works if you are not sure.
• Clear bottom - When checked, every time you clear all rows, some new junk will appear at the bottom. This makes the game a little harder.