sandtris.com

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.

Yes. SANDTRIS runs in a web browser and needs no install, and the site states that sound effects (SFX) now work on mobile. The bigger caveat is controls: the game is built around keyboard input, so a phone or tablet can load and play it, but the intended experience is on a device with a physical keyboard.

What SANDTRIS Is and How It Runs

SANDTRIS is a browser game made by Franco Miranda using p5.js, inspired by Setris by mslivo. The page describes the goal as connecting the same color across the screen to clear lines, and it notes the game is not affiliated with Tetris®.

Because it is a p5.js web project, there is nothing to download or install. You open sandtris.com in a browser and start a game from the start screen. The page also includes music and SFX toggles, a pause option, a new game option, and a score submission area with a weekly leaderboard.

What You Need to Run It

The page does not list system requirements, so treat the above as the practical baseline rather than an official spec.

Controls and the Mobile Trade-off

The listed controls are:

• Move block: Left/Right arrows
• Spin block: Up arrow
• Move down faster: Down arrow
• Move sideways faster: Shift/Ctrl
• Pause: P

On a phone, these keyboard actions have no direct equivalent unless the browser or an on-screen keyboard provides them. The site's mobile note is specifically about SFX, not about a touch control scheme, so do not assume touch controls exist. If you want to play on mobile, expect to test whether your setup can send the needed key inputs; if it cannot, the desktop experience is the reliable one.

Practical Checklist Before You Start

1. Open sandtris.com in an up-to-date browser.
2. Confirm the start screen loads and the music/SFX toggles respond.
3. On desktop, test the arrow keys and P for pause before committing to a run.
4. On mobile, check whether you can trigger movement and rotation at all; if not, switch to a keyboard-equipped device.
5. Keep the tab active and the connection stable so assets and the leaderboard load properly.

If the page stalls at "LOADING," a refresh or a stronger connection is the first thing to try.

SANDTRIS lets you submit a score after a game ends, then shows your position on a Weekly Leaderboard alongside a personal rank. The score screen includes a Submit button and a Load More option, plus a share entry. The leaderboard is weekly, and the exact ranking rules are whatever the page displays at the time you play — the site itself doesn't publish a detailed scoring formula.

Where the score and leaderboard features appear

These elements are part of the game-over flow rather than a separate site section:

• GAME OVER screen with a NEW GAME option
• SUBMIT YOUR SCORE field with a Submit button
• LOADING state while the leaderboard fetches
• Weekly Leaderboard panel
• Your Rank display
• share control

The same screen also carries the MUS (music) and SFX toggles, so you can adjust audio before or after submitting.

Step by step: submitting a score

1. Finish a game. Play until the board fills and the GAME OVER screen appears.
2. Enter your score details. The screen shows a SUBMIT YOUR SCORE prompt with a text field and a Submit button.
3. Press Submit. The page moves to a LOADING state while the leaderboard data is retrieved.
4. Check your placement. The Weekly Leaderboard appears with your entry, and Your Rank shows where you sit.
5. Load more entries if needed. Use Load More to pull additional leaderboard rows beyond the first view.
6. Share the result. Use the share control to pass the score or page along.

Expected result: your score is recorded for the current week and your rank is displayed. If the leaderboard stays on LOADING, the fetch likely failed — reload the page and try submitting again after your next game.

What the leaderboard does and doesn't tell you

Because the site doesn't spell out the weekly reset schedule or submission limits, treat the on-screen leaderboard as the authoritative source. If a score doesn't appear, the most likely causes are a failed load or a submission that didn't register — retry rather than assuming the score was rejected.

Practical tips before you submit

• Play a full game first. The submit prompt only appears on the GAME OVER screen, so there's no mid-game submission.
• Know the controls so the score reflects your play. Move with Left/Right Arrows, spin with Up Arrow, speed up descent with Down Arrow, move sideways faster with Shift/Ctrl, and pause with P. The goal is connecting the same color across the screen to clear lines.
• Check audio settings. MUS and SFX toggles sit on the same screen; SFX is noted as working on mobile.
• Use the About and MUS/SFX panels if you want context on the game — it's made by Franco Miranda in p5.js, inspired by Setris by mslivo, and is not affiliated with Tetris®.

The leaderboard is a light competitive layer on top of the core color-connecting puzzle, so the useful takeaway is simple: finish a game, submit on the game-over screen, confirm your rank in the weekly panel, and use Load More or share as needed.

SANDTRIS is a free browser-based falling-block puzzle game at sandtris.com, made by Franco Miranda with p5.js and inspired by MSLIVO's SETRIS. You can play it directly in the browser, submit a score to a weekly leaderboard, and share the game. The twist: instead of clearing rows by filling them with any blocks, you clear lines by connecting blocks of the same color across the screen. The site explicitly states it is not affiliated with Tetris®.

How the game works

The core mechanic differs from standard Tetris. Each block has a color, and a line clears when the same color connects across the screen. That means placement decisions are driven by color matching as much as by fit, so you'll often pass up a tidy stack to keep same-colored pieces adjacent.

The page credits the concept as inspired by SETRIS by MSLIVO, and notes the game was built with p5.js.

Controls

What you can do on the site

• Start a game — the start screen offers START, plus ABOUT and MUS/SFX toggles.
• Pause and resume — press P or use the on-screen PAUSED menu, which also offers RESUME and NEW GAME.
• Toggle music and sound effects — MUS and SFX switches; the page notes SFX now works on mobile.
• Submit your score — enter a score via the SUBMIT YOUR SCORE field.
• Check the weekly leaderboard — the site shows a Weekly Leaderboard and your own rank.
• Share the game — a share option is available from the game-over screen.

Who it's for

SANDTRIS suits players who want a short, no-install puzzle session in a browser and who enjoy a color-matching twist on falling-block games. If you're looking for classic Tetris rules, the color-connection requirement will feel different — and the site makes clear it isn't a Tetris product. The page doesn't list pricing or account requirements, so check the site itself if you need to confirm access details before playing.

SANDTRIS differs from Tetris in one core rule: you do not clear lines by filling a row. Instead, you clear by connecting the same color across the screen. The game is a browser-based project made by Franco Miranda using p5.js, inspired by SETRIS by mslivo, and the page explicitly states it is not affiliated with Tetris®. If you expect standard line-clearing Tetris, the color-connection rule is the first thing that will change how you plan every move.

The clearing rule is color-based, not row-based

In Tetris, a line disappears when every cell in that row is filled, regardless of piece color. In SANDTRIS, the page instructs: "Connect the same color across the screen to clear lines!" That means your objective is to build a continuous path of one color that spans the play area, not to pack rows tightly.

This shifts the puzzle from row management to color routing. You are tracking where each color sits and whether it can reach across the screen, rather than watching for gaps in horizontal rows.

What this changes in practice

• Placement matters by color, not just by fit. A piece that fits neatly may still be the wrong color for the connection you are building.
• You plan paths, not rows. Think of the board as a set of color networks that need to reach from one side to the other.
• Mixed stacks are less useful. Filling space with alternating colors does not advance a clear the way a filled row would in Tetris.

Falling and stacking still feel familiar

The control scheme on the page is close to classic falling-block games, so the moment-to-moment handling is not the hard part:

Because movement and rotation match what most players already know, the adjustment period is mostly mental: you are relearning what a "good" placement looks like when the win condition is a color connection rather than a completed row.

It is an independent project, not a Tetris product

The page states "NOT AFFILIATED WITH Tetris®" and credits the work as "MADE BY FRANCO MIRANDA USING P5.JS INSPIRED BY SETRIS BY MSLIVO." So SANDTRIS is a standalone browser game with its own rules, built as a tribute rather than an official Tetris variant. The inspiration credit points to SETRIS, which is where the color-connection concept originates.

Other details worth knowing before you play

• Audio and mobile support: The page notes "SFX now works on mobile!" and includes MUS and SFX toggles, so sound effects are available on phones.
• Scoring and competition: There is a "SUBMIT YOUR SCORE" option and a "Weekly Leaderboard" with a "Your Rank" display, so scores can be compared over a weekly cycle.
• Game flow: The interface includes START, PAUSED/RESUME, NEW GAME, and GAME OVER states, plus ABOUT and MUS/SFX menus.

If you want a falling-block game where the challenge is color planning rather than row packing, SANDTRIS is the right fit. If you want the classic row-clearing loop, it will feel like a different puzzle wearing familiar controls.