How to Play Blockudoku
Blocku Doku puts block-fitting on a sudoku board. You are given three shapes at a time and a 9x9 grid divided into nine 3x3 boxes. Place a shape anywhere it fits, and any row, column or 3x3 box that ends up completely filled clears away. Pieces never rotate and there is no falling: the only decision is where each shape goes and in what order you use the three you have.
Scoring rewards clearing several units at once. Filling a single row is worth a modest amount, but a placement that completes a row and a box together, or two rows at the same time, pays substantially more per cleared cell. There is also a streak bonus that grows while every placement you make clears something and resets to nothing the moment a placement clears nothing at all.
There are three levels, all on the same 9x9 board, separated by their target score, their clock and the shapes they hand you. Level 1 needs fifty points in a minute and draws from simple pieces of one to four cells. Level 2 asks for a hundred and twenty points in seventy-five seconds and adds L, T, S and Z shapes to the pool. Level 3 wants two hundred points in ninety seconds and adds five-cell lines, large corners and the full nine-cell square. A new set of three pieces appears once all three of the current ones are placed, and the level ends the moment none of the pieces you are holding can fit anywhere.
Controls
- Tap one of the three shapes below the board to pick it up.
- Tap a square on the grid to place it. That square anchors the top-left corner of the shape, which extends to the right and down from there.
- The grid highlights the cells a shape would occupy, and a placement that does not fit is ignored rather than penalized.
- Pieces cannot be rotated or flipped, so the orientation you are given is the orientation you must use.
- The bar above the board tracks your score against the level's target, and each level has its own countdown.
Tips & Strategy
Plan all three pieces before placing one
You always hold three shapes and a fresh set only arrives when all three are gone, so the set is really one puzzle rather than three decisions. Check whether the awkward piece in the set still has a home after the other two are placed. Placing the easy shapes first and discovering that the five-cell line has nowhere left to go is the most common way that a level ends early.
Guard one open box
The largest shape in the game fills an entire 3x3 box, and several of the level 3 pieces need a clear five-cell run. Keeping one 3x3 box completely empty as a landing zone costs you very little and it means an unplaceable set almost never happens. When the board tightens, that reserved box is what buys you the extra turn to clear a row and reopen space.
Aim at the seams between boxes
Cells sit in three overlapping units at once: a row, a column and a box. The high-value placements are the ones that complete two or three of them together, and those tend to sit where a row crosses the edge of a box. Filling a row from the far end of the board is worth the same points per unit but sets up nothing; filling it through a box that is already nearly complete can cash both at once.
Keep the streak alive
The streak bonus grows with each consecutive placement that clears something and drops back to nothing as soon as one placement clears nothing. Once a streak is running it is often worth taking a slightly worse placement that still clears a unit rather than a stronger placement that clears none. Over a level, an unbroken streak contributes a meaningful share of the target score by itself.
Clear from the edges inward
Fill outer rows and columns before the middle of the board. Debris around the rim is what strands large pieces, whereas a partly filled center is still reachable from several directions. This also matches how the targets scale: on level 3 you need two hundred points, which realistically means several multi-unit clears, and those need a workable center to build in.
Global Leaderboard
Each run submits a single score. Clearing a level pays a completion bonus tied to its target score, so the level 3 bonus dwarfs the level 1 bonus, plus a time bonus of up to eight percent for clearing quickly. If a level ends before you reach the target, it still pays half credit in proportion to how far toward the target you got.
The completion bonus is capped at the target and ignores any overshoot, which means racking up a huge score on an easy level never beats a player who actually reached the next one. A full three-level run scores in the tens of thousands of points, and submissions are accepted up to a ceiling of 45,000 per run.
Only your best run holds a position on the board, so an off attempt costs you nothing. Every score is written to the weekly, monthly and all-time lists together, and you attach a nickname of up to sixteen characters when you submit it. There is no sign-up and nothing to install.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Blocku Doku free?
Yes, it runs in the browser with nothing to download and no account. A nickname is the only thing you provide, and only if you post a score to the leaderboard.
Can I rotate the pieces?
No. Every shape must be used in the orientation it is given, which is what makes the choice of where to place each piece the real decision in the game.
What clears from the board?
Any complete row of nine, any complete column of nine and any completely filled 3x3 box. A single placement can complete several of them at once, which is where the large scores come from.
How is the score calculated?
Placing a piece scores a point per cell. Clearing scores by the number of units completed together, plus a bonus per cleared cell and a streak bonus that grows while every placement keeps clearing something.
When does a level end?
When none of the pieces you are holding fits anywhere on the board, or when the level's timer runs out. Reaching the target score first clears the level and moves you on.
Do the pieces get harder?
Yes. Level 1 draws only simple one to four cell shapes, level 2 adds L, T, S and Z pieces, and level 3 also includes five-cell lines, large corners and the full 3x3 square.
Is this the same as sudoku?
No. It borrows the 9x9 grid and its nine boxes, but there are no numbers and no deduction. You are fitting shapes and clearing filled units under a clock.
