Tetris

Whenever I've had a free minute the last few days, I've done nothing but play Tetris DS. Talk about addictive. Along with the classic game we all know (and hopefully love), Nintendo has added in a few new modes -- Push, Mission, and a few more -- that really add replayability to the game. What really makes the game addictive, is the online play.

When you go online, you can play in one of three modes: Standard (2-Players), Standard w/Items (4-Players), and Push (2-Players). Standard is what you would expect -- normal tetris where the lines you clear get thrown to your opponent. Standard with items is a twist on this where you can also clear "Item Blocks" which give you items you can then use to help yourself or attack others. Finally, Push mode has you playing on the same field as the opponent and the more lines you clear, the further you push into their territory. If you push them far enough, they are burned in fiery goodness down below.

The best thing about this game is how it really gives you a sense of "gaming -- anytime, anywhere, anyone." Picking up the Nintendo DS, flipping it open/on, playing a 3-minute game, and then flipping it back closed. So simple and so nice.

I'll also take this opportunity to wonder out loud how games end up with such great interfaces. The menu system in Tetris DS leaves a lot to be desired, but once you get into the game itself, there are a number of just awesome interface elements that really make the game flow. So without further ado..

The Interaction Design of Tetris DS (Nintendo DS Reference Picture)

Controlling the position of a falling piece is performed using only the d-pad
In Tetris DS, pressing left and right on the d-pad moves the piece left and right. Pressing down speeds the decent of the piece. Pressing up makes the piece instantly fall to the floor of the board. Putting all the positional control on the d-pad and, thus, one-hand allows a clear separation of the two core concepts of Tetris: position and rotation..

The rotation of a falling piece is controlled by two buttons under the right hand
Pressing 'B' rotates the piece counter-clockwise, the 'A' button clockwise. Again, the 'A' button is located to the right of the 'B' button and thus maps to the direction of the rotation -- right and left, respectively.

The Tetris board functions acts as a predictive display with respect to falling pieces
As pieces fall in Tetris DS, a "ghost" piece appears on the stack of blocks below that shows how the falling piece will fit into the current stack of blocks if it is allowed to fall without further manipulation. While some consider this "cheating," it can at least help novice Tetris players to learn where and how pieces may fit into the field.

There are a number of other touches that enhance the multiplayer experience that I won't get into in detail, but to name a few: incoming line notifications, visibility of other player's tetris fields, novel item depictions to convey meaning and action. There are also some downsides, mainly the inconsistent and sometimes extensive menu system to actually get into a game. That being said, Tetris DS rocks.

Posted by fugimax at March 22, 2006 11:45 PM