Same Game Blocks
Same Game Blocks starts with a box packed full of colored squares and ends when you have emptied it or run out of moves. The code is by James Harvey and ships as part of Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection, where every puzzle is free and open source.
You can open it in a normal browser tab and play right away, no install needed. Short rounds and an undo button make it a relaxed choice for a quick break, while the larger boards reward real planning.
How to play Same Game Blocks
Click any square to highlight its whole group: every same-colored square linked to it by a shared side. The status bar previews how many squares that is and what they would score. Click the highlighted group again to clear it.
Gravity takes over after every clear. Squares above the gap drop down, and if a column empties completely, everything to its right shifts left. A single square with no matching neighbor cannot be removed.
Empty the box and the status bar reads COMPLETE beside your score. If only isolated squares remain, the round is over. The first board is 5x5 with three colors, and the Type menu offers bigger boards up to 20x15.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse | Touch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highlight a group | Arrow keys, then Space or Enter | Left-click a square | Tap a square |
| Clear the highlighted group | Space or Enter again | Click the group again | Tap the group again |
| Cancel a highlight | — | Right-click | Press and hold |
| Undo, redo, new board | U, R, N | Menu bar buttons | Menu bar buttons |
Tips
- Points climb steeply with group size, so pick one color to save and clear the others around it until its squares fall together.
- Start low on the board. Clearing near the bottom shifts everything above, which often merges groups that were apart.
- Keep an eye on the last few squares of each color. One stranded square of a color means the box can never be fully cleared.
- Use the preview. Click a few groups to compare their scores before you commit to one.
- With the standard scoring, a pair earns nothing, so use pairs to reshape the board rather than for points.
- Try the bigger Type menu boards once the small one feels easy. Four colors on a 20x15 box leave far more room for long, planned combos.
If you like Same Game Blocks, try these
Flood Fill PuzzleColor groups are still the focus, but you grow one patch by recoloring until the whole board matches.
Color Tile MatchClearing colored groups gets a timer in this one, with swaps between neighbors and boosters for long lines.
Questions
How is Same Game Blocks scored?
Larger groups score much more than small ones, and a two-square group earns zero under the default rule. Custom settings let you switch to a different scoring system.
Can every board be cleared?
By default the game only deals boards that have a full clear. Custom settings can turn that guarantee off.
What happens if I make a bad move?
Press Undo or U as many times as you need. Redo brings moves back if you change your mind again.
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