TETRIS(6)

📦
version 2.17 · 3 versions
, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 TETRIS(6) 💖

okay bestie, so this is the Games Manual page for tetris — yes, that tetris, section 6, the good stuff. pull up a chair, we're doing blocks 🧱✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

tetris — it's the game of tetris. that's it. that's the whole name. iconic, no notes 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

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

look at that little one-liner. so demure. so mindful 🎀

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so tetris runs a display-based game, and heads up — it must be played on a CRT terminal. no CRT, no vibes, no game. 😭

the goal? fit the shapes together to form complete rows, and when a row is complete it just… vanishes. poof. gone. and when the shapes fill all the way up to the top, the game ends. that's it, that's the whole arc 🌈

you can optionally pick a level of play, or custom-select your own control keys if the defaults aren't giving what you need.

the default level of play is 2.

the default control keys are literally these, memorise them:

  • j — move left
  • k — rotate 1/4 turn counterclockwise
  • l — move right
  • ⟨space⟩ — drop
  • p — pause
  • q — quit

and now the options, bestie:

  • -k — the default control keys can be changed using the -k option. the keys argument must have the six keys in order, and — important — remember to quote any space or tab characters from the shell. for example:
tetris -l 2 -k 'jkl pq'

will play the default games, i.e. level 2 and with the default control keys. and cute bonus: the current key settings are displayed at the bottom of the screen during play, so you can always double check 💜

  • -l — select a level of play.
  • -s — display the top scores. 👑
  • -p — switch on previewing of the shape that will appear next. (this is the good one, fr fr)

🎀 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. (and as the game goes on, things speed up, no matter what your initial selection — so don't get comfy 😭)

when this shape “touches down” on the bottom of the field, another will appear at the top. endless supply of shapes, we love that for us 🫶

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. and when the blocks stack up to the top of the screen? game over. the end. bye 💀

⭐ SCORING ⭐

okay so the math here is genuinely generous:

  • 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. just saying. dropping = free points 🔥)

your total score is the product of the level of play and your accumulated points — so 200 points on level 3 gives you a score of 600. math girlies rise 🧚

now the leaderboard rules, and they're specific:

  • 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
  • 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. periodt. 👑

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. and scores which are the highest on a given level are marked with asterisks “*”. so if you see a star, that's a legend. 💫

🍓 FILES 🍓

  • /var/games/bsdgames/tetris-bsd.scores — high score file

💀 BUGS 💀

the higher levels are unplayable without a fast terminal connection. not me warning you about level 9 on a slow connection 😭🙈

💜 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.
  • code for previewing next shape added by Hubert Feyrer in 1999.

okay that's the whole page bestie!! this one's from the Debian crew, dated May 31, 1993 — vintage but still serving 💖✨ go stack some blocks, you're gonna slay 🫶🎀

📦 where this page comes from