The Soviet Block

Moby ID: 70846

Released

1990 on DOS

Credits

8 people

Publishers

U.S.E.D. Software

Moby Score: n/a
Collected By: 1 players

Genre: Action
Puzzle
Perspective: Side view
Visual: Fixed / flip-screen
Gameplay: Falling block puzzle
Interface: Direct control

Business Model: Freeware / Free-to-play / Public Domain
Media Type: Download
Input Devices Supported/Optional: Keyboard
Number of Offline Players: 1 Player

Description

The Soviet Block is a single player, freeware, Tetris clone.

While gameplay is virtually identical to other games of this genre this implementation does have some game configuration features worthy of note:

The player can start at any level, there are ten in all
The game speed can be adjusted to cater for processors ranging from 4.77 to 33 MHz
The 'Next' or 'Look Ahead' feature that shows the next shape is optional.
There are two sets of shapes, Standard and Extended
The action keys can be redefined
The falling pieces can be set to rotate either clockwise or counter clockwise

The game has a 'Boss key', high score table and optional sound effects.

Groups +

Screenshots

Credits (DOS version)

8 People (1 developers, 7 thanks)

Game by	Robert Konigsberg
Instructions by	Robert Konigsberg
Apologies go out to	Alexey L. Pajitnov (for ruining his good idea with this shamble of a parody. ) Jonathan Payne (Where ever you may be - for reasons that should be obvious to those familiar with JOVE.)
Thanks go out to	Mom Of Course. Everyone at The Coca Cola Company. Anyone who thinks this game is shareware and sends money.
Dedication	I dedicate this game in the name of my brother Joel and his wife Jane. Since Jane will not let my dear sibling have a Nintendo my next project is to re-write every single Nintendo cartridge for the 80286. Not.

Trivia

Name

A little wordplay is in effect here: in English, the phrase "the Soviet bloc" was applied to the sum of satellite states (eg. Warsaw Pact signatories) to the USSR which would, eg., support it in votes at the United Nations or inflate the rankings assigned the East German figure skating team. But this game's inspiration, Tetris, originated from a Soviet context, and was undoubtedly the falling-block game that broke the mold, making tetrominoes Soviet Blocks.

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Identifiers +

MobyGames ID: 70846

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by piltdown_man.

Additional contributors: Pseudo_Intellectual.

Game added January 31, 2015. Last modified January 24, 2024.