netris(6)

📦 version 0.52, in debian bookworm, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 netris — the manual, but make it a group chat 💖

okay bestie, so this is the page for netris(6) — that's the manual name right there, netris, section 6, which is where all the games live ✨ and it's literally the networked version of Tetris, which is so iconic of it.

🌈 NAME 🌈

netris — Tetris but you're playing it over a network with other people 🦋

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

netris [-wFDSCHR] [-c host] [-p port] [-k keys] [-i sec] [-r robot] [-s seed]

like. that's the whole vibe. that's it. 💅

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so the object of the game Tetris — and yes this is the whole point — is to fit the shapes together so you make complete rows, and then those rows just vanish. gone. ate. 💀

and when the shapes fill all the way up to the top? game over, bestie. that's the end.

but this version of Tetris has main character energy because you can play it against other people over a network 🫶

👑 OPTIONS 👑

  • -w — wait for a connection from another host that's running netris. you're just sitting there, being patient, waiting for your bestie to show up 💜
  • -c host — initiate a connection to a waiting netris running on host. you go to them, slay 🌸
  • -p port — set the port number to use for connecting to netris. the default port is 9284 🎀
  • -k keys — remap keys! the argument is a prefix of the string containing the keys, in this order: left, rotate, right, drop, down-faster, toggle-spying, pause, faster, redraw and new game. use the ^ character to prefixes controls. the default is to use "jkl mspf^ln" ⌨️✨
  • -i sec — set the step-down interval, in seconds ⏱️
  • -r robot — execute robot (a command) as a robot controlling the game instead of the keyboard 🤖🔥
  • -F — use fair robot interface 🤝
  • -s seed — start with given random seed 🌱
  • -D — drops go into drop mode, which means that sliding off a cliff after a drop causes another drop automatically 😭 (it's giving gravity, no cap)
  • -S — disable inverse/bold/color for slow terminals 🐌
  • -C — disable color 🌈➡️🚫
  • -H — show distribution and warranty information 📜
  • -R — show the rules of the game 📖

🌸 RULES 🌸

🦋 Two player mode 🦋

it's just like normal Tetris except — and this is the part where it gets spicy — when you clear more than one row with a single piece, the other player's board is moved up and junk rows are added to the bottom 💀

if you clear 2, 3 or 4 rows, then 1, 2 or 4 junk rows are added to your opponent's board, respectively. the junk rows have exactly one empty column. and for each group of junk rows given, the empty columns will line up. this is intentional ✨ (yes, really, they thought about it)

the longest surviving player wins the game. periodt 👑

🧚 One player mode 🧚

okay so. this mode is currently very boring, because there's no scoring and it never gets any faster. this will be rectified at some point. the author isn't very motivated to do it right now because they're sick of one player Tetris 😭 honestly? valid.

for now, use the "f" key (by default) to make the game go faster. and heads up: speed-ups cannot be reversed for the remainder of the game ⚠️ so like, commit, bestie 💅

💜 AUTHORS 💜

Netris was written by Mark H. Weaver <mhw@netris.org> 🫶

This manual page was written by Edward Betts <edward@debian.org>, for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by others) 🎀

and that's the whole thing!! this was version 0.5, dated 3 Aug 2001 — shoutout to the Netris era, fr fr. go clear some rows, bestie, and remember: junk rows have exactly one empty column, no cap 🌈⭐💖

📦 where this page comes from