Of all the falling blocks in Tetris, the Four-Block-Long-Tetris Piece is probably the one that brings both the most joy and the most heartache to players. It is the double decker bus of Tetris pieces. You wait for one for ages, then three come along all at once.

It really is the odd piece out, and is the piece which causes the most arguments between Tetris players. Many’s the time a Tetris player has been berated by an over the shoulder player who has a difference in opinion of the use of this piece. Cries of “There’s a gap on the right” or “No! You shouldn’t have put it there” tend to accompany the Four Block Long Tetris Piece more than any other.

Some players like to lay it horizontally, to fill a line more quickly, whilst others prefer to slot it in vertically, in the hope that they may be able to remove four lines in one go. Indeed, removing four lines in one go is only possible using this piece, making it an event only slightly less rare than completely clearing the play area of blocks completely.

If the Tetris blocks were people, then the closest friend of the Four-Block-Long-Tetris-Piece would probably be the Square-Tetris-Piece. Indeed, you could consider them as the Laurel and Hardy of Tetris. The Square-Tetris-Piece, like Oliver Hardy, is the one that tries to fit in with all the other blocks around it, but sometimes is just at odds with the little lumps and bumps created by the other pieces. The Four-Block-Long-Tetris-Piece is the Stan Laurel, quiet and berated by the other pieces, often generating “another fine mess” as players wait for it to appear, but yet also capable of saving the day at the last minute.

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