Simple Tetris

A complete, modern Tetris implementation built with LÖVE 11.5, featuring SRS rotation, full controller support, and customizable themes.

Running the Game

love .

Make sure you have LÖVE 11.5 installed on your system. Download from love2d.org.

Developer Notes

Key Implementation Decisions

Rotation System: Implements the Super Rotation System (SRS) with complete wall kick tables for all tetrominoes. The I-piece uses its own specialized kick table, while J, L, S, T, and Z pieces share the standard JLSTZ kicks. The O-piece doesn't require wall kicks.

Lock Delay Policy: Default 500ms lock delay activates when a piece is grounded. Any movement (left/right) or rotation resets the lock timer, allowing skilled players to maneuver pieces horizontally while grounded and place them underneath overhangs. This enables advanced techniques like infinite movement while grounded until the piece stops moving.

Hold Spawn Behavior: Pieces normally spawn at row 0 (top of the grid). However, when swapping a piece from hold back into active play, that piece spawns 2 rows lower (row 2). This is a deliberate gameplay mechanic specified in the requirements.

DAS/ARR Defaults:

• DAS (Delayed Auto Shift): 150ms - delay before horizontal movement auto-repeats
• ARR (Auto Repeat Rate): 30ms - time between repeated movements once DAS triggers
• These values provide responsive yet controllable piece movement

Gameplay Settings

Setting	Default Value	Notes
Window Size	1280×720	Resizable in windowed mode
Board Size	10×22	10 columns, 20 visible + 2 hidden spawn rows
Lock Delay	500ms	Resets on movement/rotation
DAS	150ms	Delayed auto-shift
ARR	30ms	Auto repeat rate
Fall Speed	1.0s/cell	Increases with level (0.05s faster per level)
Next Queue	5 pieces	Configurable 1-10 in settings
Theme	8bit	Four themes available
FPS Cap	60	Options: 30, 60, 90, 120, 144, 165, 200, none

Board Auto-Scaling

The board occupies 80% of the window height and scales automatically with window resizing. Cell size is calculated as floor(boardHeight / 20) and forced to integer values to maintain crisp pixel rendering.

Controls

Keyboard

Action	Keys
Move Left	← (Left Arrow)
Move Right	→ (Right Arrow)
Soft Drop	↓ (Down Arrow)
Hard Drop	Space
Rotate Clockwise	↑ (Up Arrow), X
Rotate Counter-clockwise	Z
Hold/Swap	C, Left Shift
Pause/Menu	Escape

Controller (Gamepad)

Action	Buttons
Move Left	D-Pad Left, Left Analog Stick Left
Move Right	D-Pad Right, Left Analog Stick Right
Soft Drop	D-Pad Down, Left Analog Stick Down
Hard Drop	A Button
Rotate Clockwise	Y Button, Right Shoulder
Rotate Counter-clockwise	B Button, Left Shoulder
Hold/Swap	X Button
Pause/Menu	Start Button

Controllers automatically detected. Both keyboard and gamepad can be used simultaneously.

Settings Persistence

Settings are saved to love.filesystem storage:

• Linux: ~/.local/share/love/simple-tetris/settings.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\LOVE\simple-tetris\settings.json
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/LOVE/simple-tetris/settings.json

Settings persist between game sessions and include:

• Theme selection (8bit, 16bit, pale, monochrome)
• Fullscreen/windowed mode
• Window resolution
• FPS cap
• Border style (outside, all cells, none)
• Next queue length (1-10)

Themes

Four visual themes available:

1. 8-bit: High contrast, crisp pixel-art style with vibrant colors
2. 16-bit: Softer palette with subtle shading
3. Pale: Desaturated pastel colors for a gentle aesthetic
4. Monochrome: Grayscale blocks with strong borders for clarity

All themes feature customizable borders (outside only, all cells, or none) to maintain block distinguishability, especially important in monochrome mode.

Scoring

Line Clear	Base Points
Single	100 × Level
Double	300 × Level
Triple	500 × Level
Tetris (4 lines)	800 × Level
Soft Drop	1 point per cell
Hard Drop	2 points per cell

Level increases every 10 lines cleared. Fall speed increases with level (max speed reached at level 18).

Features

• ✓ SRS rotation with full wall kick support
• ✓ Hold piece mechanic with swap-spawn-lower behavior
• ✓ Ghost piece preview
• ✓ 7-bag randomization system
• ✓ Lock delay with movement/rotation reset
• ✓ DAS/ARR input handling for smooth movement
• ✓ Full gamepad support with multiple button mappings
• ✓ Four customizable themes
• ✓ Persistent settings across sessions
• ✓ Configurable FPS cap (30-200 or unlimited)
• ✓ Auto-scaling UI for different resolutions
• ✓ Pause menu with resume/restart/quit
• ✓ Options menu for all settings

Architecture

The codebase is modular and organized for clarity:

├── main.lua              # Entry point, game loop, FPS limiting
├── conf.lua              # LÖVE configuration
├── src/
│   ├── game.lua          # State management (menu/play/pause/gameover/options)
│   ├── board.lua         # Grid logic, collision, lock delay, scoring
│   ├── pieces.lua        # Tetromino definitions, SRS rotation, wall kicks
│   ├── input.lua         # Keyboard/gamepad handling with DAS/ARR
│   ├── ui.lua            # Rendering (board, pieces, UI elements, menus)
│   ├── theme.lua         # Color palettes and theme management
│   └── settings.lua      # Settings persistence (JSON save/load)

Development

No external dependencies required - vanilla LÖVE 11.5 only.

To modify gameplay constants, see:

• Lock delay: src/board.lua line 10
• DAS/ARR: src/input.lua lines 4-5
• Scoring: src/board.lua updateScore() function
• Fall speed curve: src/board.lua updateScore() function

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Credits

Built with LÖVE 11.5 game framework.

Generated with Claude Code.