What is a T-spin in Tetris?

The T-spin is the signature advanced move of modern Tetris. It turns the humble T piece into a scoring machine by rotating it into gaps that look impossible to fill.

Below you will find the short version first, then a fuller walkthrough with clear Tetris examples, a few closely related questions, and a link to try it yourself. Everything here is free to play right in your browser.

The short answer: A T-spin is when you rotate a T piece into a notch that it could never have reached by moving sideways. Modern Tetris detects it with the three-corner rule: if three of the four corners around the T are blocked after the spin, it counts. T-spins clear lines while scoring far more than an ordinary clear of the same size.

Rotating into a gap

Instead of dropping a T flat onto the surface, you carve out an overhang, slide the T underneath, and rotate it so it snaps into the pocket. Because a normal slide could never reach that spot, the game recognizes the rotation as something special. Setting up the overhang in advance is what separates a planned T-spin from a lucky one.

The three-corner rule

Guideline Tetris confirms a T-spin using the corners of the three-by-three box around the T. If at least three of those four corners are filled at the moment the piece locks, it registers as a T-spin. That rule keeps the bonus honest, rewarding a genuinely snug fit rather than any old twist.

Why T-spins score big

A T-spin double clears two lines but pays out more than a flat four-line clear in some scoring systems, and it keeps your back-to-back chain alive. That makes T-spins a cornerstone of high-level play. See exactly how the numbers stack up in the scoring breakdown, or study the term in the glossary.

Practice T-spins in Marathon

People also ask

How does scoring work in Tetris?

Guideline Tetris pays more for bigger clears: roughly 100 points for a single, 300 for a double, 500 for a triple, and 800 for a four-line Tetris. Those base values are multiplied by your current level, and extra bonuses come from T-spins, back-to-back difficult clears, combos, and dropping pieces. That is why efficient big clears massively outscore many small ones.

What is back-to-back in Tetris?

Back-to-back, often shortened to B2B, is a bonus for performing difficult line clears one after another without an ordinary clear in between. Tetrises and T-spins count as difficult; a plain single, double, or triple breaks the chain. Each qualifying clear during a back-to-back streak earns roughly fifty percent extra points.

What is SRS rotation in Tetris?

SRS stands for the Super Rotation System, the official guideline standard for how pieces rotate. It fixes each piece's rotation states and, crucially, adds wall kicks, which nudge a piece sideways or up when a plain rotation would be blocked. SRS is what makes moves like the T-spin possible and consistent across modern Tetris games.