Printable Tetris Guide
A cheat sheet beats a menu when you are learning Tetris. This page is a one-glance reference to the controls, the seven pieces, how each clear scores, and the habits that keep beginners alive - Everything you might want taped to the side of your monitor while you practice.
There are no physical boards to print for Tetris the way there are for a card game, so instead this is a strategy and controls sheet. Press the print button to send just the reference to paper or a PDF, with the site menu and footer stripped out. When you would rather simply play, every mode is one click away in your browser.
Tetris quick-reference cheat sheet
tetris.now · keep this beside your screen while you practice
Keyboard controls
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Move left / right | Left arrow / Right arrow |
| Soft drop (speed up the fall) | Down arrow |
| Hard drop (lock instantly) | Space |
| Rotate clockwise | Up arrow or X |
| Rotate counter-clockwise | Z or Ctrl |
| Hold piece | C or Shift |
| Pause / resume | P or Esc |
On a phone, swipe left and right to move, swipe down to hard drop, tap to rotate, and use the on-screen hold button.
The seven pieces
| Piece | Color | Shape | Best used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Cyan | Four cells in a straight line | Scoring Tetrises and digging deep wells |
| O | Yellow | A two-by-two square | Filling flat, even gaps |
| T | Purple | A row of three with a bump | Setting up high-scoring T-spins |
| S | Green | A zig-zag stepping up | Filling stepped surfaces |
| Z | Red | A zig-zag stepping down | Filling the opposite step |
| J | Blue | An L with its foot on the left | Tucking into left-hand corners |
| L | Orange | An L with its foot on the right | Tucking into right-hand corners |
How clears score
| Clear | Base points | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Single (1 row) | 100 | The cheapest clear - Avoid relying on it |
| Double (2 rows) | 300 | Better value than two singles |
| Triple (3 rows) | 500 | Strong when a Tetris is not ready |
| Tetris (4 rows) | 800 | The best basic clear, made with an I-piece |
| T-spin single | 800 | As much as a Tetris from one row |
| T-spin double | 1200 | The highest points per piece |
| Back-to-back bonus | +50% | For chaining Tetrises and T-spins with no plain clear between |
| Combo | +50 each | Added for every consecutive line-clearing piece |
| Perfect clear | up to 3500 | Emptying the entire well at once |
| Soft drop / hard drop | 1 / 2 per cell | A small bonus for driving pieces down |
All base points are multiplied by your current level, which is why the same Tetris is worth far more late in a game.
Beginner checklist
- Keep the stack low and flat - Height is the enemy.
- Leave one column open on a side and feed it vertical I-pieces for four-line Tetrises.
- Use the ghost outline to line up every drop before you commit it.
- Read the next queue and plan the piece after the one that is falling now.
- Use hold to bank an I-piece, or to swap away an awkward S or Z you cannot place.
- Never bury a hole you cannot dig back out later.
- Clear the surface whenever the well fills past the halfway line.
- Practice finesse - Place each piece in the fewest key presses you can.
Want the reasoning behind these habits? The rules hub explains every mode in full, the glossary defines each term, and the best Tetris strategy guide goes deeper on stacking and clean wells.