Tetris+ AR (not to be confused with the other AR+Tetris, which is a different game) is what its name suggests, a classic Tetris augmented reality game. The game was developed using ARKit, thus require an ARKit-enabled device running iOS 11.
Tetris+ AR Augmented Reality Experience
When you start up Tetris+ AR, the game will ask you to scan the environment to find an optimal surface. The time it takes to find a place for the game related to the type of surfaces and size where you plan to play it, the lighting, etc. I wasn’t able to place the game on my table, but it worked fine for some reason near my window and worked almost straight away when I spawn it on the floor.
I didn’t have any issues with the AR experience. The game is simple, you have the transparent grid area which the pieces are falling from the top area. I didn’t find any way to resize the game and it’s quite large. I recommend playing the game in a place which is at least one meter wide and like 1.5m high.
I had a few issues with the game. The first issues that I wasn’t able to drag the game to another position, some AR games allow that. I was wasn’t able to rotate it, so I was stuck at the place that the game has decided to put it. It’s very inconvenient and I found myself pressing back to start it all over again, and as a reward, I got to see another full-size advertisement. This is certainly not a good AR experience.
Another issue that I had is that sometimes that game put the level facing the wrong direction, so now the left is right and right is left. The only two options you have is either start all over again and hope it will work OK next time or just move around to the other side and play it from that position. Again, not a good AR experience to say at least.
Tetris+ AR Gameplay
The goal of the game is to position colorful blocks in a way that the can enclose a straight horizontal line. Once that line is formed it’s removed from the grid. If one piece touches the topmost part of the grid, it’s game over.
The hard part is that the blocks come in different shapes and you need to carefully place them in a way that they can create a full horizontal line so they won’t stack up too much. Remeber, if one piece crosses the top part you lose.
The player has an option to rotate the block piece using a swipe up gesture and move the block right or left by tapping on the screen. Block will continuously and slowly fall down from the top. You can increase the fall speed of a particular block by using the swipe down gesture.
The controls work really well in AR because you can use the entire screen as an input device. There is no need to swipe or tap at a specific area on the screen. I found it really easy to use, even using my iPad.
As you play you go up the level. I think it would nice to have a global leaderboard so players can compare their achievements to those of others, rather than just having a local leaderboard.
The game does remember your best score, which is nice.
Graphics and Sound
The graphics look simple and nice. I love the blocks’ rounded corners and the choice of colors. It’s a Tetris game, so I put my expectations accordingly. That being said, there is always room for innovation, isn’t it?
I also liked that the block container is transparent and not solid. It was nice playing the game while looking outside the window. If I had a better view it would be a much better experience obviously.
I just want to add one note about the sound. The only sound in the game that I’ve got was when I got to remove a line. I wish there were more sound effects.
Tetris+ AR doesn’t even have any music. This really made the experience much less fun, to be honest. Just playing the game with no sound effects and music make it pretty boring, to be honest. What I remember liking about Tetris when I was a child, and I can still remember it until this day is the sound when I rotate the block and when I moved it down one step at a time. I think the developer should add some arcade-style sound effects, it can really help to freshen up the experience and make it more enjoyable to play.
Conclusion
Tetris+ AR is a very simple augmented reality take on the classic Tetris game. It doesn’t try to invent the wheel or anything, just bring you the same good old Tetris experience but in augmented reality.
The game has some AR issues and the lack of sound effects and soundtrack really put me off. It’s a nice Tetris game for those who want to try out and see how a classic Tetris plays in AR and it’s also free-to-play, so you might want to give it a shot.
As you know, there are many other Tetris-like arcade-style mobile games that took the Tetris gameplay and enhanced it Candy Crush, The Kaya (By M.H.) and many others, but there aren’t many for ARKit just yet.
I personally wasn’t convinced to play it in AR. I would rather just play it normally while siting on the couch (although with the right place you can do that as well).
I am still waiting for the Tetris game that will take to player’s positioning aspect into account, so it we can see a different version of Tetris that takes advantage of the gameplay mechanics that can be implemented using this amazing augmented reality technology (ARKit). That being said, there is nothing wrong staying loyal to the game’s roots.
Tetris is a fun and challenging game and the time I played it I did had fun. Again, nothing overwhelmy exciting to talk about and I do recommend this game for people who love playing Tetris and search for an AR version of it.