How to play blast (and how to keep a combo alive)
blast is a free block puzzle you play in the browser. You hold three pieces at a time and drag them onto an 8 by 8 board. Fill a whole row or a whole column and it blasts away, so the board keeps opening up for as long as you keep clearing.
No download, no account, no app. It runs on a phone and keeps working with the network switched off.
The goal, in one sentence
Score as much as you can before you are left holding pieces that fit nowhere.
Placing pieces
- On a phone or tablet, press a piece in the tray under the board and drag it up. The piece floats a little above your finger, so you can see exactly where it will land.
- With a mouse or a pen, press a piece and drag it; it sits just above the pointer.
- On a keyboard, press 1, 2 or 3 to pick a piece, move it with the arrow keys, press Enter to place it and Escape to put it back.
While you hold a piece over the board, a faint ghost shows where it will go and every line it would finish glows. Let go and it snaps to the nearest cells. A piece that does not fit there slides back to its slot.
When all three pieces are down, three new ones are dealt. Pieces that fit nowhere on the board are dimmed in the tray, so you can see trouble coming.
Clearing lines
A row or a column clears the moment every one of its cells is filled. Rows and columns clear together, so a single piece can finish two, three or more lines at once. One line pays 100, two pay 300, three pay 600 and four pay 1,000.
Combos
Every placement that clears at least one line adds one to your combo. The combo multiplies each clear: a combo of 2 pays one and a half times, a combo of 3 pays double, and so on. Three placements in a row that clear nothing reset it to zero, so a good combo is about always keeping a line nearly full.
Bomb blocks
Some pieces carry one bomb block, a normal block with a small bomb on it. When a line containing a bomb clears, the bomb also clears the 3 by 3 square around it. A bomb caught in that square goes off as well, so bombs can chain across the board. Every extra cell a bomb destroys is worth 5 points before the combo.
Perfect clears
If a clear leaves the board completely empty, you get a 300 point perfect bonus on top of everything else.
Rocks
On hard the board starts with five grey rocks. They have a pitted texture, so they never look like blocks. A rock counts as a filled cell: it clears with any row or column that runs through it, and a bomb can break it.
Easy, medium and hard
- Easy deals mostly small pieces, and every new hand is guaranteed to have at least one piece that fits.
- Medium deals every shape with no guarantee.
- Hard deals big awkward pieces more often and starts with rocks on the board.
Bombs turn up most often on easy and least often on hard. Each difficulty keeps its own best score.
The daily board
The daily board deals the same pieces in the same order to every player for that UTC day and difficulty. Your first game on each difficulty is the scored one for the daily leaderboard; play it again and it is marked as practice.
How scoring works
- Each piece you place scores 1 point per block.
- A clear scores from the line table: 100, 300, 600, 1,000, 1,500, 2,100, and 2,800 for seven or more lines at once.
- Add 5 for each extra cell a bomb destroys.
- Multiply the clear by 1 + 0.5 for every combo step after the first.
- A perfect clear adds 300.
The game ends when none of the pieces left in your hand fits anywhere. The board turns grey and the result shows your score, lines, best combo and pieces placed.
Frequently asked
How do you place pieces in blast? Drag a piece from the tray onto the board and let go; it snaps to the nearest cells. On a keyboard press 1, 2 or 3 to pick a piece, move it with the arrows and press Enter to place it.
How do you clear lines? Fill every cell of a row or a column. Rows and columns clear at the same time, so one piece can finish several lines at once.
How do combos work? Each placement that clears a line adds one to the combo, and each step multiplies the clear by half again. Three placements in a row without a clear reset it.
What do bomb blocks do? When a line with a bomb in it clears, the bomb also clears the 3 by 3 square around it and sets off any bomb in that square. Each extra cell is worth 5 points.
What is a perfect clear? A clear that leaves the board completely empty. It pays a 300 point bonus.
What are rocks? Grey, pitted cells that start on the board on hard. They count as filled, clear with their line and break in a bomb blast.
What is the difference between easy, medium and hard? Easy deals small pieces and always gives you a move. Medium deals every shape with no guarantee. Hard deals big pieces often and starts with five rocks.
Is the daily board the same for everyone? Yes. It comes from the UTC date and the difficulty. Your first game on each difficulty is scored and later games are practice.
How is the score worked out? 1 point per block placed, plus the line table times the combo multiplier, plus 5 per extra bomb cell, plus 300 for a perfect clear.
Where blast sits
blast is the portfolio’s game about keeping room to breathe. Its siblings test other kinds of nerve. graze is about how close you dare let a shot pass; updraft is about how little input it takes to stay steady; outbound is about reading the order of things under a clock; wreck is about pushing forward under fire; cornered is about thinking two steps ahead of the hunters; ricochet is about seeing the whole path before you let go; deadband is about not overcorrecting; filter is about asking better questions; overload is about spending a limited hand; closure is about which move you are forced to make next; tint is about the cost of correction; and bridge is about blocking and winning with the same move.
Every one of them is free, runs in a browser, and works offline.