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Quadrapassel Manual

1. Introduction

Quadrapassel comes from the classic falling-block game, Tetris. The goal of the game is to create complete horizontal lines of blocks, which will disappear. The blocks come in seven different shapes made from four blocks each: one straight, two L-shaped, one square, and two S-shaped. The blocks fall from the top center of the screen in a random order. You rotate the blocks and move them across the screen to drop them in complete lines. You score by dropping blocks fast and completing lines. As your score gets higher, you level up and the blocks fall faster.

To run Quadrapassel, select Applications ▸ Games ▸ Quadrapassel, or type quadrapassel in the command line.

Quadrapassel is included in the gnome-games package, which is part of the GNOME desktop environment. This document describes version 2.8 of Quadrapassel.

2. Playing Quadrapassel

You can score through two actions: completing lines and dropping blocks quickly.

2.1.  Moving the Blocks

To play the game, you only need the four arrow keys.

  • Left and Right move the block correspondingly across the screen.
  • Up rotates the block. The default rotation is counterclockwise. You can change the rotation under Settings ▸ Preferences and deselecting Rotate blocks counterclockwise.
  • Down and the Space Bar move the block down the screen faster.Down moves the block down faster. Space-bar moves the block directly to the bottom.

2.2. Starting a New Game

To begin a new game, go to Game ▸ New Game. The game will begin dropping blocks from the center of the top of the window. The default start-up of the game has no blocks in the game window and shows the next block that will fall in the upper right hand corner. Score shows the number of points you have earned. Lines shows the number of lines you have completed. Level shows the level of difficulty you are on.

2.3. Pausing the Game

To pause your game, go to Game ▸ Pause Game. You can only pause a game when you are playing. The time limit on pausing your game is unlimited. To unpause the game, go back to Game ▸ Pause Game.

2.4. Ending the Game

Go to Game ▸ End Game to end your current game without quiting Quadrapassel.

2.5. Quiting the Quadrapassel

To completely quit Quadrapassel go to Game ▸ Quit. If you are in the middle of a game when you quit, you will end your game without saving your score.

2.6. Scoring Points

You score points through two methods: dropping blocks faster and deleting complete lines of blocks. When you delete lines, you get more points, but dropping blocks faster will quickly add up. As you level up, the blocks will begin falling faster. The highest level is 10, at which point you will only have just over a second to manipulate each block.

2.7. Viewing Past Scores

You can view the top ten scores played on your computer through Game ▸ Scores. The names of the users are shown next the their score and the date they played.

3. Customizing Quadrapassel

3.1. Customizing Game Start-up

By going to Settings ▸ Preferences, you can customize a variety of features for the start-up of each Quadrapassel game: number and density of pre-filled rows, and starting level. "Pre-filled rows" refers to how many rows will already have blocks in them when you start each new game.

3.1.1. Number of Pre-filled Rows

You can change the number of rows that already have blocks at the start-up of each new game by using the spin box. You can start with up to 19 rows pre-filled at the start-up of your game. The default number of pre-filled rows is zero.

3.1.2. Density of Pre-filled Rows

You can change the density of the blocks in the pre-filled rows at the start-up of each game. You can choose a density up to 10 blocks. You should first choose how many rows you want pre-filled under Number of Pre-filled Rows. The default density of blocks is three.

3.1.3. Level to Start On

You can adjust the level of difficulty you start on. The highest level you can start on is 10, which is the highest level you can play to. The default starting level is one.

3.2. Customizing the Gameplay

From Settings ▸ Preferences, you can customize a variety of features related to the blocks: previewing the next block, block colors, and block rotation.

3.2.1. Enable sounds

Turn the sound effects on and off using this option. If you are playing this game in any area which you share with other people, you should probably select off.

3.2.2. Preview Next Block

Choose this option if you want to see the next block that is going to fall. This feature helps you plan the placement of your blocks.

3.2.3. Use Random Block Colors

Choose if you want the various block configurations to be color coded or randomly colored. If you use the colors to help you identify blocks, random colors will make the game more difficult.

3.2.4. Choose Difficult Blocks

Choose this option if you want to select mode that is designed specifically to annoy the player. With this feature enabled, you never get the piece you want, and very seldom complete a row. Next block preview doesn't correspond to actual piece you get next, but to the one you probably wish to get.

3.2.5. Rotate Blocks Counterclockwise

Choose this option if you want the blocks to rotate counterclockwise or not.

3.2.6. Show where the block will land

If this feature is used a grey image of the block will show you where the block will land. This feature is very useful for beginning players, but experienced players will find it a distraction.

3.3. Customizing the Look of Quadrapassel

Under Settings ▸ Preferences, you can customize the look of Quadrapassel: images for the blocks.

3.3.1. Block Image

You can change the style of the blocks, including image and size. There are a variety of pre-made styles.

3.3.2. Background

If you drag your favorite image into the Quadrapassel window it will be used as the background. If you want a solid color as the background drag one in from either the color picker or from nautlilus' Backgrounds and Emblems dialog (the reset item from that dialog also works).

4. Authors

Quadrapassel was written by J. Marcin Gorycki in 1999 and maintained by Gnome Games Team since then. This manual was written by Angela Boyle. To report a bug or make a suggestion regarding this application or this manual, follow the directions in this document.

5. License

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the gnome-help:gpl as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

A copy of the GNU General Public License is included as an appendix to the GNOME Users Guide. You may also obtain a copy of the GNU General Public License from the Free Software Foundation by visiting their Web site or by writing to

Free Software Foundation, Inc. 59 Temple Place - Suite 330 Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA

  • Quadrapassel Manual