Block Pop

A calm block puzzle with chunky toy blocks and a small square board. Fill a whole row or column and it pops in a ripple of white puffs and paper ribbons. There’s no timer, just three blocks at a time and a best score to beat.

How to play

Drag one of the three blocks at the bottom onto the 8×8 board. Blocks can’t be turned, so each one goes in as it’s shown. While you drag, a ghost shows where it will land and colours in any lines it would finish. Fill a row or a column and it clears. When all three blocks are placed, a new set arrives, and the game ends when none of the blocks left fits anywhere. You score a point for every cell you place and 10 for every line you clear; once you’ve cleared a row and a column in a game, every line after that is worth 30. On a keyboard, press 1, 2 or 3 to pick a block, move it with the arrow keys and drop it with Enter or Space. Your first game starts with three short practice boards.

Tips

• Clear one row and one column early. From then on every line is worth 30 points instead of 10.
• Keep the combo going. Each clear in a streak adds 10 more points than the last, and the streak lasts through three drops without a clear. The fourth one ends it.
• Look at all three blocks before you drop one. If the ones left can’t fit anywhere, the game ends straight away, and boosters can’t help after that.
• About two blocks in three are small and simple: a two-cube bar, a flat bar of three, the 2×2 square or a flat 3×2 slab. Keep spaces those fit into.

Boosters, coins and saves

After the practice boards, four boosters sit by the board. Swap trades your tray for two single cubes and a two-cube bar, Row clears a row, Bomb clears a 3×3 patch and Column clears a column. They score nothing, but they don’t break your combo. Your first use of each is free; after that they cost 25, 50, 100 and 150 coins. You earn a coin for every drop that cleared a line, paid at the end of each game. You only pay once you tap a row, column or spot with blocks in it, so Cancel costs nothing.

The blocks come in 37 shapes, from a single cube to a five-long bar and a full 3×3 square, in nine colours. Every clear brings up a word, Nice!, Awesome! or Incredible!, as more lines go at once, and a Combo ×N sticker while a streak runs. A New best! banner shows the moment you pass your best score. The game saves after every drop, so you can close it and carry on later.