Block Effect

How to play

1. 1

   Line up four

   Every piece has two halves. Stack them so four or more of one color line up across or down, and the whole run clears — viruses included.

2. 2

   Set off cascades

   Halves left hanging fall once a clear settles, and anything they line up clears too. Each link in the chain multiplies its points: 1×, 2×, 3× and on.

3. 3

   Cash in combos

   Chains earn power-up charges, up to five of each. Save them for the moment the stack gets out of hand.

4. 4

   Clear every virus

   Take out the last virus and the board is yours. Let the stack block the top and the round is over.

Power-ups

• Focus

  The next three pieces fall ten times more slowly. Time to think.

• Bomb

  Arrives as your next piece. Steer it into place and set it off to clear the 3 × 3 around it, whatever the colors.

• Electric

  Electrifies your next piece. Release it and lightning runs from each half through every touching block of the same color — no line of four needed.

• Laser Cannon

  Aim down a column and fire. It punches through up to four blocks, one on each sixteenth note of the soundtrack.

Ways to play

• Campaign · 25 levels

  Starts at 4 viruses and climbs to 90, a board about 70% full. Each level has its own mix of power-ups and hazards, with a briefing before it starts.

• Quick Play

  Any level, any theme, and your own rules: speed, acceleration, wildcards, charged blocks, power-ups and hazards are all adjustable.

• Endless

  Clearing the board doesn't end it. Fresh rows of viruses rise from the bottom, faster every minute. Survive as long as you can.

• Custom levels

  Place the viruses yourself, then share the board as a text code a friend can paste in — or use it for an online match.

• Local · 2–4 players

  Pair a controller for each player and share one iPhone or iPad, or put the boards on a TV over AirPlay or HDMI. Play in teams, fill empty seats with AI, and keep a household leaderboard.

• Online · 2–16 players

  Quick Match or invite friends over Game Center. Big clears send garbage, tetrominoes and freeze bombs at your opponents; first to three wins takes the match by default.

Themes

One board, twelve looks. Themes change the scenery, the pieces and the viruses, never the rules. Or choose Multi-theme and move through all of them, one every 30 seconds.

Also in the game

• Hazards

  Color Shift repaints the board, Board Shuffle scrambles it, tetrominoes drop in from above, and each theme has a bomb that freezes blocks for five pieces.

• Special blocks

  Starred wildcards match any color. Charged blocks set off a blast across the board when you clear them.

• Music that plays along

  Nine soundtracks, each paired with a theme or picked on its own. Clear sounds are tuned to the music's harmony and land on its beat, and bigger combos layer in extra accents.

• Controllers welcome

  Pair an Xbox, PlayStation or MFi controller and the touch controls step aside for a bigger board. Every button can be remapped, and every menu works from the controller.

• Stash

  Stash a piece you can't place and swap it back when there's a spot for it.

• Tutorial and Codex

  A playable tutorial walks through every control and power-up. The Codex shows off each theme's artwork, animation and effects up close.