For Super-Casual Players No pressure. No theory. Just the basics — explained simply.
94 pages of content!
No AI text or image generation was used in this book.
Coming Soon on Amazon!
Free digital version released on this website on 27 Jan 2026!
The print version will be out on Amazon soon!
A Short, Ultra-Casual Introduction to Tetris
First Steps to Tetris is an ultra-casual beginner guide by Tetris researcher Galactoid (3000+ hours of playtime), written for players who want to understand the game without being overwhelmed.
If you’ve ever opened Tetris and thought, “I don’t really know what I’m doing,” this book is for you.
✦ WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:
✅ How Tetris works, explained plainly ✅ Simple stacking habits that keep your board safe ✅ How to make clean Tetrises without complex planning ✅ What to do when your board gets messy (basic downstacking) ✅ What perfect clears and T-spins are — without needing to master them ✅ Core tricks reduced to their simplest form
Everything is taught step by step, with clear diagrams and zero assumed knowledge.
✦ WHY THIS BOOK IS DIFFERENT:
🔹 Other beginner guides still overload new players. 🔸 This book removes complexity until only the essentials remain.
Short, friendly, and non-intimidating — this book is designed to help you feel comfortable playing Tetris.
No AI text or image generation was used in the creation of this book.
✦ BONUSES INCLUDED:
📘 Free companion resources: website content and gameplay demonstrations.
First Steps to Tetris is Book A in the How to Tetris series and comes before How to Start Tetris (Book 1).
Key Book Features
1. Learn from an Experienced Tetris Educator
Galactoid—Tetris researcher and guidebook author—shares beginner-friendly explanations refined through years of teaching players across all skill levels. Everything here is stripped down to what truly matters.
2. Understand How Tetris Actually Works
Learn how pieces move, rotate, and clear lines without jargon or theory. This section removes confusion, so the game makes sense from the start.
3. Stack Safely Without Overthinking
Discover simple stacking habits that keep your board low, clean, and manageable—no advanced planning required.
4. Make Clean Tetrises the Easy Way
Learn the simplest way to build and clear Tetrises without complex setups or extensive memorization.
5. Fix Messy Boards Calmly
Understand basic downstacking—how to clear mistakes and recover when things go wrong, explained in plain language.
6. Learn What “Advanced” Things Are (Without Needing to Do Them)
Get a gentle introduction to perfect clears and T-spins so they’re no longer mysterious—no pressure to master them.
Today, as we prepare for Book 4’s launch this week, I would like to share with you a story of such improbable origin that its convergence seems beyond coincidence.
I do not exactly believe in fate, but as someone who has investigated afterlife studies (near-death experiences, etc.), it has occurred to me that many major milestones in life are pre-planned before birth. This includes the people, and in my case, the Tetris players that one would eventually converge and collaborate with.
This is the story of how everything began – the genesis of which everything transpired to make me the person I am today.
About six to seven years ago, when I first started playing Tetris, I began making straightforward guides, starting with perfect clear research, using the Paint app. Back then, while I was watching Wumbo stream on Twitch, I accidentally ran into someone named Cosin. Cosin is now, alongside Davdav, the founder and creator of four.lol.
Cosin was impressed by my guides and research, and he invited me to join his Discord group. Now, this Discord group turned out to be of the most serendipitous mix and convergence of many great Tetris minds that would shape the course of Tetris history forever.
And, therefore, I find this Discord group to be the wellspring and provenance of many prominent Tetris players who would eventually shape the game. I present to you the following individuals who were once part of this esteemed Discord group. I do not know if the Discord group still exists. Still, once you hear my tale, you will forever have an understanding of Tetris history that has only been unveiled today. Most people do not know this, but I have found the story interesting and vital enough to document on this website for historical purposes.
Cosin and I were both the owners of this mythical Discord group back then. However, I have long left it to forge my independent path.
Here are the players who used to be part of this Discord group and their accomplishments:
Galactoid: Created howtotetris.com and galactoidtetris.wordpress.com. Wrote out and published 5 Tetris guidebooks and created 40+ Tetris YouTube tutorials. Has one of the best mid-game strategic vision among most high-level players in guideline Tetris.
Garbo_can: Became one of the co-creators of TETR.IO. Also created many Tetris tutorials and zealously promoted Tetris.
Cosin: Was the co-founder of four.lol. Was the first person to do 100 consecutive perfect clears back-to-back, using the King of Stackers.
Davdav: Was the co-founder of four.lol. Highly respected and skilled Tetris player.
Mine_Tetris: Was the creator of Tetra Esports and its earlier variant, which was formerly published on Steam. He was a child prodigy because he created the game at 16.
Jimothy_Jimothy: Became the best perfect clear player in the world, surpassing Nilgiri with over 50 to 53+ back-to-back perfect clears on Jstris.
Blaarg (added on 6 Feb 2026 – I remember now!): Became one of the top TETR.IO players. I think almost everyone knows him.
Amie: Known for her BT Cannon loop spam. Became one of the best Western Puyo Puyo Tetris players. Is she Amy H. from Red Bull Tetris? I’m not sure.
Onizuka: Became one of the best T-spin players on King of Stackers.
Dagero: A very skilled and, to my knowledge, still active Tetris player from our original Discord.
SaltedBread: Known to host many tournaments and is typically the gatekeeper for many Tetris competitions.
Baseballboy: One of the best all-spin players on King of Stackers. Takes part in many Tetris events.
RJ (RadicalJReamer): Also in the above 5 players’ clique, still very active.
Mat1jaczyyy: If I am not wrong, he was not in our server, but was affiliated with Cosin and me. He created the Zetris AI bot.
Other players: Wumbo, z2sam, PokeDialga, Captivate, etc., were in our group once, but they were already famous and skilled before joining the group. In fact, Wumbo was the one who approached me for perfect clear guidance back then and joined the Discord group.
Others: My memory is fuzzy, and I cannot remember everyone. I am sure I missed out quite a bit. I will edit and add more names if I remember them in the future.
So, as you all can see, a single Discord server spawned many of the world’s most prolific Tetris content creators and many high-level players, who are still active today as of Jan 2026.
In fact, Captivate, one of the most efficient players back then, once said that our Discord group was the fastest growing (in terms of skill).
Such an unlikely convergence and provenance are unlikely to be explained away by mere chance. If there is a spiritual law that I have learned in this life, it is the notion that there really are no coincidences. Perhaps, by some pre-planned life agreement, the souls of the aforementioned individuals have assembled in this life to evolve and promote Tetris. And it is from this unusual predestiny that we have an ebullient, enthusiastic group of individuals who have carried Tetris to what it is today.
I do not know if this mythological Discord server still exists today. Still, at the very least, I have shared an untold side of Tetris history that I feel must be documented and recorded for future generations to peer into.
With this, I conclude my tale, but ponder, if on a deep spiritual level, that the threads of this occurrence had been arranged long before birth to shape the course of Tetris forever.
Note: A free digital version is available on this website. Purchase only if you want a physical copy or wish to support me.
This is not a Tetris gameplay or strategy guide. It explores spirituality and philosophy through Tetris as a purely metaphorical device.
What if a simple game could reveal profound truths about consciousness, love, and the interconnectedness of all things? In this groundbreaking work, Aquila Goh—known globally as Galactoid, one of the leading Tetris educators and thinkers—uses Tetris as a living metaphor to illuminate the universal spiritual laws that shape our inner world and the world around us.
This book goes far beyond abstract spirituality. It shows how these spiritual principles apply directly to life, personal well-being, social relationships, collective healing, and global harmony. Through clear, insightful teachings, Galactoid guides readers to understand life through the lens of cosmic oneness, universal love, and spiritual alignment — demonstrating how inner transformation can ripple outward into families, communities, and even geopolitics.
With accessible concepts, reflective exercises, and a uniquely cross-disciplinary approach, The Tao of Tetris reveals how every choice—like every Tetris piece—contributes to the evolving pattern of your life, society, and the planet itself.
Whether you are a Tetris player, a seeker of spiritual wisdom, or someone striving for a more peaceful world, this book offers an original, intellectually rich, and profoundly uplifting journey into the nature of existence.
A companion “Book 0” to my Tetris guides—spiritual, not technical—and fully human-written with no AI text or images.
Some chapters explore the afterlife through accounts of Out-of-Body (OBE) and Near-Death Experiences (NDEs). These perspectives are offered for reflection and may not resonate with all belief systems.
To access the free book chapters, go to my main page at howtotetris.com and scroll down until you see this:
Scroll down for the full list of 20 chapters and details!
✦ A COMPREHENSIVE TETRIS GUIDE FOR ADVANCED INTERMEDIATES & ASPIRING EXPERTS
You’ve built a strong foundation. Now it’s time to achieve absolute mastery.
This 480-page guide by Tetris researcher Galactoid (3,000+ hours of mastery) brings you into the realm of full-fledged mid-game prowess.
Perfect for players who’ve outgrown intermediate strategies and want to master all-spin setups, advanced Tetris theory, and key concepts like parity, field harmony, consistency, and efficiency optimization.
✦ WHAT YOU’LL MASTER:
✅ All-spin mastery — uncover every major practical and meta all-spin setups, hybrid spliced all-spins, 4-wide all-spin methods, and how to sustain back-to-backs with all-spins
✅ Overcoming physical & mental limits — ergonomic and working memory shortcuts to hasten thinking and finger input speed.
✅ Expanded field harmony, parity, & efficiency — maintain smooth and clean stacking, minimize dead-ends, and maximize attack-per-piece efficiency.
✅ Parity mastery — create T-spins out of parity imbalances, manage jagged dead-end patterns, and maximize stacking and downstacking continuations.
✅ Advanced PC and opener integration — master the first advanced PC patterns and T-spin to 4-line PC openers
✦ WHY THIS IS MORE AMBITIOUS THAN OTHER GUIDES:
🔹 Other books: Single-technique dumps that focus on the what. 🔸 This guide: Shows you the why, when, and how of Tetris methods.
You won’t just learn setups; you’ll understand when they succeed, when they fail, and how to adapt them in any mid-game field.
✦ WHAT MAKES THIS DIFFERENT:
Coherent curriculum and conceptual integration — not mere superficial tricks that involve no understanding.
Experience-backed methods — techniques have been tested for practicality and competitive use.
Deep conceptual layering — parity, field harmony, T-spins, downstacking, and all-spins aren’t isolated chapters but interacting systems.
Rich diagrams and annotated examples explaining everything in depth.
No AI text or image generation was used in this book.
✦ BONUSES INCLUDED:
Free companion resources: website content and gameplay demonstrations.
This is Book 4 in the How to Tetris series — intended to conclude the core tetralogy. Still, future expansions (Book 5, philosophy supplements) are already sketched out.
To Save Your Money:
I won’t waste your money, so the below chart shows which physical books to buy to save the most money and get the most outcome:
Your Skill Level
Which Physical Book to Buy
Casual beginner
Book 1 (e-book free on this website, but you can buy to support me!)
Late beginner to mid-intermediate
Book 2
Late intermediate
Books 2 and 3
Advanced
Book 3
Entire skill range
Book 4
If you wish to support me
All Books; thank you so much!
Key Book Features
1. Learn from a 3,000-Hour Tetris Researcher
Galactoid—Tetris educator, theorist, and creator of the world’s largest independent Tetris guide database—shares refined insights built on years of structured experimentation and teaching.
2. Command Parity Like a Pro
Go beyond simple parity awareness. Learn advanced parity theory, create T-spins out of jagged shapes, and avoid the game-ending dead-end patterns.
3. Harness the Power of All-Spins
Unlock every major all-spin system—all-spin donations and props, hybrid spliced setups, back-to-back maintenance with all-spins, and 4-wide-protected all-spin setups.
4. Perfect Clear & Opener Synergy
Apply advanced first PC patterns and T-spin-protected PC openers.
5. Sustain Field Harmony and Flow
Learn to create balanced, stable stacks that support both survival and offense. Understand how field harmony underlies every efficient and safe placement.
6. Be a Master of Efficiency and Consistency
Understand advanced Tetris theory to boost your attack-per-piece and minimize mistakes that devastate one’s mid-game.
7. Includes Bonus Content & Videos
Access Galactoid’s free companion resources—interactive diagrams, video explanations, and online supplements that expand on every chapter:
howtotetris.com
galactoidtetris.wordpress.com
galactoid_tetris YouTube Tetris channel
8. Book Chapters
Chapter Number
Title
1
Overcoming Physical and Mental Limits
2
How Not to Play Tetris
3
Vital Points to Tetris Mastery
4
Field Harmony Expanded
5
Improving consistency
6
Increasing Efficiency
7
Managing Parity Expanded
8
Advanced Parity Theory
9
Spins and Parity
10
Strategic Dirtiness
11
Ultra-Advanced T-spin Props and Setups
12
Yakine-style T-spins
13
All-spin Mid-game Chances
14
Hybrid All-spin Spliced Setups
15
Practical All-spin Stacking Forms
16
All-Spin-Spliced 4-Wide
17
Sustaining Back-to-backs with All-Spins
18
20 T-spin Double Sprints
19
Advanced First Perfect Clear Patterns
20
T-spin to 4-Line PC Openers
9. Book Sample Content Screenshots
How NOT to play Tetris:
How to master any method properly and quickly:
How to stack properly (advanced field harmony theory):
Applied advanced parity theory:
Advanced T-spin props:
180-degree rotation T-spins and other Yakineries:
All-spin donations and props:
Spliced all-spin setups:
All-spin repeatable stacking forms:
Advanced first PC patterns:
(Because the traditional first PC pattern has only a 61% chance to PC, which is too low!)
T-spin-protected PC openers:
10. How My Tetris Guidebooks Differ from Other Existing Guides
Domain
My Guidebooks
Other Guides
1
Experience-backed by a single expert with 3000+ hours
Most written by amateurs and not experience-backed
2
Principles-focused
Most guides have no principles at all and just collate methods
3
Practical
Contains a mix of semi-practical and completely impractical methods
4
High quality and proctored; fact-checked thoroughly with reason and computer software
Many are not fact-checked and have incorrect mistakes or low-quality examples
5
Thoroughly streamlined
Mostly cluttered and messy
6
Curriculum-based to foster easy and real topical improvement
Mere documentation of methods, scattered without thematic unity or coherence
7
Comprehensive and covers all major areas of Tetris
Scattered guides on various topics
8
1700 pages of relevant and important content
Most guides show less relevant information and are sparse on detail
9
Extreme details: 15,000 total Tetris fields
Many guides struggle to meet a fraction of this output
10
Created with great love, commitment, perseverance, devotion, and passion
Maybe
11
Ongoing series unified by a single person and vision
Many Wiki guides are written by 50 to 100 different people with inconsistent vision and standards
My goal is to democratize Tetris knowledge so the game can thrive for generations to come. Although I may no longer play competitively, I hope these guides help others surpass me and achieve their own goals.
If you’ve enjoyed the books, I’d greatly appreciate a review on Amazon or Goodreads (simply search for the title there).
If you’d like to support me in keeping the website free and funding future books (including Book 5), you can do so here: https://ko-fi.com/galactoidtetris
You can also subscribe to this website or follow me on my other social media platforms (YouTube, etc.) for future updates on Book 5 and more.
Below is a quick guide to help you choose the most relevant book for your skill level:
Book Number
Target Audience
Purchase link and release
Book 1: How to Start Tetris
Casual beginners: If you want a book free of technicalities, and just want immediate, streamlined details to play for quick fun. Get this if you don’t care about technical details like parity management or field harmony.
This book is a streamlined, beginner-friendly summary of my larger Tetris guides (mainly Book 2, with some content from Book 3). The complete digital version is free on this website — purchase this only if you prefer a physical copy or wish to support me. If you already own Book 2, there’s no need to buy Book 1.
Avid beginner and Intermediate players: If you are ready for the next step and want more detailed and technical information, as well as a nuanced understanding and application.
Tournament or competitive players: If you are playing competitively, I recommend Book 2 as it covers the foundations that apply to 80% of the mid-game.
Advanced players: If you are already super strong in your foundations and just want to cover the other 20% of cases, this book is for you.
Enthusiasts: For those who just want to know everything (all kinds of props for 20 T-spin double runs, freestyle T-spins, etc.). Also, for those who want plenty of technical details and nuanced, optimized, and practical methods that suit the rare 1% of situations.
All-spin Enthusiasts: 6 long chapters dedicated to all-spin setups. Includes back-to-back maintenance with all-spins, all-spin props and donations, spliced all-spin setups, etc.
Generalists: Covers foundational methods in greater detail, which I have not been able to do in Books 2 and 3. Includes things like field harmony, parity, consistency, efficiency, 20 TSD sprints, etc.
Spiritual Seekers: For readers interested in the spiritual laws underlying existence, explored through Tetris as a living metaphor. Draws on insights from Buddhism, Theosophy, Hinduism, Sufism, Christian Mysticism, Taoism, and Zen.
Informed by the author’s Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs), with discussion of Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) and afterlife studies.
Spirituality book using Tetris as a metaphor; does not teach gameplay.
Welcome to WordPress! This is a sample post. Edit or delete it to take the first step in your blogging journey. To add more content here, click the small plus icon at the top left corner. There, you will find an existing selection of WordPress blocks and patterns, something to suit your every need for content creation. And don’t forget to check out the List View: click the icon a few spots to the right of the plus icon and you’ll get a tidy, easy-to-view list of the blocks and patterns in your post.
Welcome to WordPress! This is a sample post. Edit or delete it to take the first step in your blogging journey. To add more content here, click the small plus icon at the top left corner. There, you will find an existing selection of WordPress blocks and patterns, something to suit your every need for content creation. And don’t forget to check out the List View: click the icon a few spots to the right of the plus icon and you’ll get a tidy, easy-to-view list of the blocks and patterns in your post.
Welcome to WordPress! This is a sample post. Edit or delete it to take the first step in your blogging journey. To add more content here, click the small plus icon at the top left corner. There, you will find an existing selection of WordPress blocks and patterns, something to suit your every need for content creation. And don’t forget to check out the List View: click the icon a few spots to the right of the plus icon and you’ll get a tidy, easy-to-view list of the blocks and patterns in your post.
Welcome to WordPress! This is a sample post. Edit or delete it to take the first step in your blogging journey. To add more content here, click the small plus icon at the top left corner. There, you will find an existing selection of WordPress blocks and patterns, something to suit your every need for content creation. And don’t forget to check out the List View: click the icon a few spots to the right of the plus icon and you’ll get a tidy, easy-to-view list of the blocks and patterns in your post.
How to Tetris 