Tetris Elements

Overview

Tetris Elements is a falling-block puzzle game developed by ImaginEngine and published by THQ (along with their ValuSoft brand) for the PC and Mac in 2004.

Part of the Tetris series of puzzle games, and sometimes seen as a successor to the earlier PC Tetris game Tetris Worlds, Tetris Elements builds on the traditional Tetris formula with five new variations based on the five classical elements. Each variation has their own unique perks to help the player, along with their own special obstacles to hinder them.

Game Modes

Each game can be played in "Marathon" (endless, scored), "Line" (40 line limit, timed), or "Ultra" (4 minute time limit, scored) modes.

• Classic - Standard rules.

• Tempest - The game cycles between two different playfields on the "windmill" at certain intervals. Hold Piece functionality is disabled, with the button instead sending the piece to the other playfield's queue.

• Fire - Pieces can be "superheated" through high Hard Drops, and clearing an entire line of superheated blocks causes additional lines above to be cleared (with the possibility for 8-line clears). Garbage block rows are added to the playfield at certain intervals.

• Ice - Icicles begin forming above the playfield, which eventually break apart and fall down on the playfield, catching falling pieces along the way. Each block in the caught piece falls down to the bottom-most empty space of the column, allowing them to clear lines. A giant icicle also forms at the center, which creates a full row of ice where it lands (which can only be cleared by clearing the line directly below it).

• Earthquake - Similar to Cascade Tetris in Tetris Worlds, clearing a line causes all tetrominos (broken and unbroken) above it to unlock and fall, potentially causing a chain reaction. Slow gameplay causes earthquakes that shake the screen (and the falling piece) while adding garbage block rows and shifting the playfield to create gaps.

• Stratosphere - As players clear lines, Meteors can drop into the playfield to help (and sometimes hinder) the player. Similar to block-breaking games, these Meteors can bounce along the playfield and be influenced by the player's falling pieces (with hard drops destroying the Meteors outright). There are four types of Meteors: Garbage (green) that leaves garbage blocks, Breakimino (red) that destroy tetrominos they bounce off of, Breakthrumino (blue) that destroy tetrominos they pass through, and Explosive (white) that destroys all tetrominos on the playfield.