Tetraminos

Genre: Falling Block Puzzle

Players: 1-4 Competitive (Local)

.

Review:

Tetraminos is a Falling Block Puzzle game released in 2016 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, ported to PC in 2017, then ported to Nintendo Switch in 2019. This game has players guiding falling blocks in a well, trying to get them to form complete lines so they’re cleared, with the game ending when the blocks fill the screen. Or as most people would refer to it… Tetris. Yeah, this is a pretty obvious Tetris clone. However, as I often say, it’s okay to be a copycat as long as you’re a good copycat, so… is Tetraminos a good Tetris copycat? Let’s have a look…

The presentation here is a mixed bag. On the one hand, the 2D visuals have a slick modern look with a lot of color and generally look pretty nice. On the other hand, the upbeat synthesized music gets annoying really fast, making me want to reach for the mute button.

The gameplay itself is… well, Tetris, for the most part. I say “for the most part” because mixed in with the standard four-block shapes are single blocks, two-block shapes, three-block shapes, and even a plus-shaped five-block shape. This kinda’ messes with the usual flow of Tetris’ gameplay, as it’s not only harder to accommodate the appearance of this five-block shape, but it means it could be a while before you get a particular shape you’re waiting for. I also think the gameplay feels a bit stiff and clunky, not as fluid as I tend to look for in a good Tetris game’s controls.

However, on the upside, this game not only features the standard Endless mode, but also a Puzzle mode and a Challenge mode that each offer their own unique way to play the game. Challenge mode was a particularly nice addition, as it pushes players to clear lines quickly before a timer elapses. Plus, the 4-player local competitive mode support is nice too.

On balance I think Tetraminos has some nice qualities that keep it from being a lazy knockoff, but some of its unique elements also work against it. This definitely wouldn’t be among my top tier of Tetris games, but fans of Tetris looking for something a little different might still find Tetraminos worth trying out.

tl;dr – Tetraminos is a Falling Block Puzzle game that’s pretty clearly a copycat of Tetris. There’s some good and bad here – on the good side, the visuals are decent, and there are some nice game modes and features. On the bad side, the music is terrible, the controls are a bit clunky, and the addition of a bunch of other shapes messes with the “flow” of a good game of Tetris. Overall, I think that fans of Tetris may find some stuff to like here that will make this worth trying, but this definitely isn’t a truly great game of Tetris.

Grade: C+

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Jamie and His Cats, Ben, Ilya Zverev, Andy Miller, Johannes, Jaka, Jared Wark, Gabriel Coronad-Medina, Francis Obst, Kristoffer Wulff, Seth Christenfeld, and Vince Verrinoldi. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}