Pocket Games
10×10
A ten by ten grid and three pieces at a time to fit into it. Complete rows and columns disappear and free up space. No timer, no gravity, no rotation: pieces go down exactly as they come.
How to play
The grid is 10×10 and starts empty. Three pieces at a time appear below it, drawn from a catalogue of nineteen shapes: single squares, bars of two to five, 2×2 and 3×3 squares, corners. You drag them onto any free spot. Once all three are placed, three more arrive.
Any row or column that is completely full disappears and frees up the space. The game ends when none of the three pieces in hand fits anywhere — and since pieces cannot be rotated, that happens sooner than you would think: a horizontal five-bar goes down horizontal, full stop.
Scoring works like this: one point per cell placed, plus a bonus for the lines cleared in the same move. The bonus is not linear, and that is the interesting part of the game:
- 1 line: 10 points
- 2 lines together: 30
- 3 lines: 60
- 4 lines: 100
- 5 lines: 150
Clearing five lines one at a time is worth 50 points; clearing them in the same move is worth 150. People who score high are not playing faster: they are setting up double clears.
There is one undo per session, useful when a piece lands in the wrong place because the drag slipped. Your best score is saved, and a game in progress picks up where you left it.
Strategy
Look at all three pieces before placing any of them. That is rule one. Putting the first piece somewhere comfortable and then discovering the 3×3 square no longer fits is the standard way to lose.
The big piece is the enemy. The 3×3 square and the five-bars need compact space. Always keeping a 3×3 area free somewhere — usually towards the middle — is more important than gaining ten points now.
Fill from the edges inwards. Edges and corners are where small pieces do the least damage: parking them there keeps the middle clean for the big ones.
Do not leave single-cell holes. A lone cell trapped between two pieces can only be filled by the single square, which may not turn up for five turns. An incomplete row beats a grid full of pinholes.
Set up double lines. A row and a column both missing the same crossing cell: the right square there scores thirty points instead of ten. It costs a few turns of patience and doubles your final score.
Common mistakes
- Playing to clear lines immediately. Lines are not the score: they are space. Clearing early and badly leaves the grid fragmented.
- Treating the middle as ordinary space. Nowhere else can host a 3×3, and once it is dirty it does not easily come back.
- Forgetting the third piece. You place three before receiving more: if the third does not fit, the turn is dead even if the first two were perfect.
Frequently asked questions
Can pieces be rotated?
No, and it is not an oversight: it is the rule that makes this a fitting problem rather than a reflex game. Every piece goes down in the orientation it arrives in.
Is there a time limit?
None. You can stare at the grid for a minute before every move, which is exactly what you should do once space gets tight.
What counts as a good game?
A thousand points. The jump to two thousand does not come from more precise moves but from multiple clears: ten lines removed one at a time are worth 100 points, the same ten removed in pairs are worth 150.
Is it the same game as Tetris?
No. There is no gravity, no timer and no rotation: what Tetris asks of your reflexes, this asks of your planning.
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