How to Play SANDTRIS: Controls and Rules

SANDTRIS is a browser-based color-matching puzzle game on sandtris.com, made by Franco Miranda with p5.js and inspired by Setris by mslivo. You play by steering falling blocks with the arrow keys, rotating them with the Up Arrow, and clearing lines by connecting the same color across the screen. The controls below are listed on the game's own start screen, so you can begin immediately without creating an account.

Controls at a Glance

The game screen also shows Pause, Resume, and New Game buttons, plus MUS (music) and SFX (sound effects) toggles, so you can silence audio or restart a run without reloading the page.

How a Round Works

1. Start a game. Use the START option on the welcome screen, or NEW GAME if you are already in a session.
2. Steer the falling block. Use Left/Right to position it and Up to spin it into the orientation you need.
3. Speed up when ready. Hold Down to drop faster, or Shift/Ctrl to slide sideways more quickly — useful when you need to reposition before the block settles.
4. Connect colors across the screen. The stated goal is to "connect the same color across the screen to clear lines." Unlike classic Tetris, where any full row clears, here the colors themselves must link up, so plan placements around matching hues rather than just filling gaps.
5. Pause if needed. Press P to stop the action, then resume from the on-screen button.

Practical Tips

• Think in color paths, not rows. Because clearing depends on same-color connections spanning the screen, a block that fills space but breaks a color chain can hurt more than help.
• Use Shift/Ctrl before committing. The faster sideways movement is most valuable in the moment before a block locks, when a small adjustment decides whether a color link completes.
• Toggle SFX off if audio distracts you. The start screen notes that sound effects now work on mobile, so the toggles matter on phones too.

Playing on Mobile

The page states that SFX now works on mobile, indicating the game is playable on phones and tablets. The control list is keyboard-based, so on a touch device you will rely on whatever on-screen input the game provides rather than arrow keys.

Scoring and Leaderboard

After a run ends, the game shows a GAME OVER screen with a NEW GAME option and a SUBMIT YOUR SCORE field with a Submit button. A Weekly Leaderboard and Your Rank display let you compare results with other players. The page does not state whether submitting a score requires an account, so treat that as unconfirmed until you try it.

A Note on the Name

The page explicitly says SANDTRIS is "NOT AFFILIATED WITH Tetris®." It is an independent color-connection puzzle inspired by Setris, so expect different clearing logic from the Tetris games you may know.