Blockout

DOS - 1989

Also available on: Mac - Amiga - Apple IIgs - Atari ST - Commodore 64 - Genesis - Lynx

Alt name	Block Out
Year	1989
Platform	DOS
Released in	United States (1989) Brazil, Germany, United Kingdom (1990)
Genre	Action, Puzzle
Theme	Falling Block Puzzle
Publisher	California Dreams, Rainbow Arts Software GmbH
Developer	P.Z.Karen Co. Development Group
Perspective	Top-Down
Dosbox support	Fully supported on 0.73

4.64 / 5 - 42 votes

Download 101 KB

Play in your browser

Description of Blockout

One of the best Tetris clones ever made, California Dreams' Blockout is essentially Tetris with a third dimension: depth.

In this first official Tetris variant that was not published by Spectrum Holobyte, you must rotate the blocks in 3D in order to fit them on the bottom of the grid. Advanced users can play this game with odd three-dimensional pieces. Trixter said it all in his solid capsule review of the game:

"A very fast and capable simulation, it solved the problem of hidden surfaces by displaying each block as a wireframe before dropping it down. Blockout is also very configurable. You can rotate blocks forward and backward along the x, y, and z axis (although all you really need is the x and y axis), and you can specify how many levels deep or high/wide when you play. A seperate high score is kept for each configuration for fairness. Support for multiple graphics modes is also well done, making Blockout playable on almost any machine. My only complaint with Blockout is that there's no way to see empty spaces underneath the top layer. This is a hard problem to solve visually, so I'm not really blaming the designers (who did a great job). I guess I'm just lamenting my own memory's inability to keep track of 4 or 5 stacks of blocks. :-)"

Tetris fans, eat your heart out with this great variant that is much better than Welltris, the "official" 3D Tetris.

Review By HOTUD

External links

MobyGames

Captures and Snapshots

Comments and reviews

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Henry 2022-11-04 -2 points

Dos version only one that runs at hi res!

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jlivingstonsg 2022-11-02 -1 point

-----------------------------
NAKULA

2D Tetris have today global e-sport tournaments and world champions.
It is not impossible that 3D Tetris will come back as a e-sport.
We just have to wait and see.....

Here is a browser version to try
that have a global scoreboard.

https://blockout.nu

Regards from Sweden
-------------------------------------

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Nakula 2022-06-16 0 point DOS version

Jlivingstonsg, I tried your web version of Blockout. As someone who played the original when it was current, I would say you evoked the feel of this game okay.

The only thing, 31+ years later the Blockout game (be it the original version or one running on the internet) just doesn't grab one anymore.

Those were slower, different times. Now you have games like Smash Hit on Android.

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Alexd 2021-05-10 -1 point

In 2021, the downloaded DOS version worked perfectly with DOSBox v0.74-3-3 on Mac OS Big Sur...

↑ ↓

jlivingstonsg 2021-04-05 2 points

--
Here is a browser version.
https://blockout.nu
Regards MagI
----

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jlivingstonsg 2020-09-15 0 point DOS version

Hi.
I have a version in JavaScript / HTML5.
https://gamereality.se/blockout/index.php
What do you think?
Regards
Master of Science in Engineering Physics

↑ ↓

M.Sc. Magnus 2020-02-10 0 point

I made a Youtube on how to play it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxJfcCYs7bM

Here you can rank yourself globaly.
http://www.blockout.net/blockout2/worldranking/index.php?setupid=458
I am "MagI" at rank 30 on that level called "Out of control"

MagI

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Mr Vampire 2019-02-04 2 points Commodore 64 version

Played this a bit back in the day. 3D Tetris from above. I was not good at this.

↑ ↓

Jolt 2016-12-17 -1 point DOS version

This game is awesome, and there's a remake available...

↑ ↓

Kaploep 2015-07-29 2 points DOS version

I just love this game. I played it every day

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