mobiTetris block names: all seven pieces
Every falling-block game uses the same seven pieces, and each one is named after the letter it looks like: I, O, T, S, Z, J and L. Here is each block, the other names it goes by, the standard colours, and the made-up names that fooled a quiz show.
The seven blocks
Each block is four squares joined along their edges. These are drawn straight from Tetris Boo, in the way each block first appears at the top of the well.
Why there are seven
A shape made of four squares joined edge to edge is called a tetromino, from “tetra”, Greek for four, the same way a domino is two squares. There are exactly seven of them, as long as you count mirror images as different. S and Z are mirror images of each other, and so are J and L. If you could flip pieces over, there would only be five.
In Tetris you can only turn pieces, never flip them, which is why both halves of each pair are in the set. Turning gives the blocks different numbers of looks: the O looks the same every way up, the I, S and Z have 2 looks each, and the T, J and L have 4.
Official Tetris games spell the word tetrimino, a spelling they have used since about 2001. Mathematicians stick with tetromino, and most players just say block or piece.
The colours
Early versions of Tetris coloured the blocks however they liked. Since about 2001, official games have used one standard set, and many other block games copy it. Tetris Boo keeps most of it, but makes the J orange and the L pink to fit our sticker palette.
| Block | Standard colour | In Tetris Boo |
|---|---|---|
| I | light blue | sky blue |
| O | yellow | yellow |
| T | purple | purple |
| S | green | green |
| Z | red | red |
| J | blue | orange |
| L | orange | pink |
Orange Ricky, Hero and Smashboy
Search for Tetris block names and you will find a second set: Hero, Smashboy, Teewee, Orange Ricky, Blue Ricky, Cleveland Z and Rhode Island Z.
They are not real. On February 24, 2019, a Twitter user posted what looked like a page from the original Tetris instruction booklet giving the blocks these names. It was a joke, and a well-made one. It spread so far that in October 2019, Jeopardy! asked which game’s blocks had “names like Orange Ricky, Hero, and Smashboy”, in an $800 clue. No official Tetris game has ever used any of these names, though they are still passed around online.
What each block is good for
- I: the Tetris maker. It is the only block that can clear four rows at once, a Tetris, worth eight times a single row. Leave one column empty and save the I for it.
- T: the T-spin.Turning a T into a slot it couldn’t drop into straight is a T-spin, and Tetris Boo pays a bonus for it. It is also the easiest block to fit anywhere.
- O: never turns. It needs a flat patch two squares wide. Keep one somewhere on your stack.
- S and Z: the hole makers. Laid flat on a flat surface they leave a gap under them. Put them where the stack already steps up or down by one.
- J and L: the corner fillers. They tuck neatly against a wall or into a step two rows deep.
Tetris Boo shows the blocks coming next and a faint outline where the current one will land, so you can plan ahead. And if the block you have is wrong for the stack, put it in Hold and use it later.
Where Tetris came from
Tetris was created by Alexey Pajitnov, a Soviet software engineer at the Dorodnitsyn Computing Centre in Moscow. He remembers first making it in 1984, on an Elektronika 60 computer. The name joins “tetra”, for the four squares in every block, with tennis, his favourite sport. The Game Boy version of 1989 made it a worldwide hit, selling around 35 million copies.
Tetris is a trademark of The Tetris Company. Tetris Boo is an independent falling-block game made by free2mobi, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by The Tetris Company.
Tetris block questions
What are the 7 Tetris blocks called?
They are named after the letters they look like: I, O, T, S, Z, J and L. The I is also called the straight or long piece, and the O is the square.
Are Orange Ricky, Hero and Smashboy the real Tetris block names?
No. Those names come from a joke posted on Twitter in February 2019, a made-up page from the old Tetris instruction booklet. The joke spread far enough that Jeopardy! used the names in an $800 clue in October 2019. No official Tetris game has used them.
What is a Tetris block called?
Mathematicians call a shape made of four squares joined edge to edge a tetromino. Official Tetris games spell it tetrimino. Most players just say block or piece.
What colour is each Tetris block?
In official games since about 2001: I light blue, O yellow, T purple, S green, Z red, J blue and L orange. Older versions used other colours, and other block games pick their own. In Tetris Boo the J is orange and the L is pink.
Why are there only 7 Tetris blocks?
Seven is every way to join four squares edge to edge, counting mirror images as different. If you could flip pieces over, S and Z would be the same, and so would J and L, leaving five.