Although not the first Tetris game to feature "easy spin" (see The
Next Tetris), or also called "infinite spin" by critics, Tetris Worlds
was the first game to fall under major criticisms for it. Easy spin refers to the
ability of a tetromino`s lockdown time to regenerate after left or right movement
or rotation, and this has been implemented into The Tetris Company`s official
guideline. This new type of play differs from traditional Tetris because
it takes away the pressure of higher level speed. Some reviewers even went so
far to say that this mechanism broke the game. The goal in Tetris Worlds
however, has to do with completing a certain number of lines as fast as possible,
so technically the ability hold off a piece`s placement will not make achieving
that goal any faster. Later, critics would receive "easy spin" more openly, saying
"though the infinite spin issue honestly really affects only a few of the single-player
gameplay modes in Tetris DS, because any competitive mode requires you to lay down
pieces as quickly as humanly possible." [2] In response to the issue, Henk Rogers
stated in an interview:
So the problem is you get part way through the game, make one small mistake,
`Aw shit, I blew it,` and restart. I think that`s an annoying way to play the
game. So we decided it`s better to give them a way to recover from that small
mistake, but you`re losing time. So if you sat there and rotated for, I don`t
know, five seconds, you`ve just taken five seconds out of the game that you
needed to score so many points. So you won`t find in the top games any gratuitous
spinning going on, it just doesn`t happen. It helps the beginning player who`s
trying to figure out what to do. It`s a useless feature (for competitive play);
it only helps if you`re taking the time to think. The better players don`t take
that much time to think, that`s the difference." [3]
Despite this, some recent games neglect the way he meant for it to work. Modes
lacking a timer such as marathon in Tetris Deluxe or also marathon and
line mode in Tetris DS make problems for his statement. The fact that "you`ve
just taken five seconds out of the game that you needed to score so many points"
isn`t true. Losing time by gratuitously spinning a piece will not hurt the player
in modes that do not reward better times with better scores.
Gravity
Traditional versions of Tetris move the stacks of blocks down by a distance
exactly equal to the height of the cleared rows below them. Unlike Newtonian gravity,
blocks may be left floating above gaps. This behavior is known as "na??ve gravity."
Original algorithm.
Some variants implement a different algorithm that uses a flood fill to segment
the playfield into connected regions and then makes each region fall individually,
in parallel, until it touches the region at the bottom of the playfield. This opens
up additional "chain-reaction" tactics involving blocks cascading to fill additional
lines, which may be awarded as more valuable clears.
