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What Are the Different Tetris Blocks? The Seven Pieces Explained

Tetris has seven standard four-square pieces: I, O, T, S, Z, J and L. Learn how their shapes differ and what rotations change.
Length2 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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The seven standard Tetris pieces are I, O, T, S, Z, J, and L. Each is made of four connected squares. Their shapes are often called tetrominoes; Tetris uses the official spelling “Tetriminos.”

The seven Tetris pieces at a glance

Piece Shape How to recognize it
I Four squares in a straight line The only straight four-cell bar.
O A 2-by-2 square The only square piece; rotating it does not change its outline.
T Three squares in a row, with one attached at the middle Its outline resembles the letter T.
S A two-step zigzag The mirror counterpart of Z.
Z The opposite two-step zigzag The mirror counterpart of S.
J A three-square segment with one square attached at an end Its hook faces the opposite way from L.
L A three-square segment with one square attached at the other end Its hook faces the opposite way from J.

These descriptions identify each piece by its outline, not by color. Color palettes can differ between games and versions.

What are Tetris pieces called?

A shape made from four connected squares is generally called a tetromino. The official Tetris spelling is Tetriminos, used on the official Tetris play page. The official Tetris origin page describes seven distinctive geometric playing pieces, each made of four squares, and explains the name “Tetris” as combining “tetra” (four) and “tennis.”

Do rotations create different pieces?

No. Rotation changes a piece’s orientation on the board, not its identity: an I remains an I when turned, for example. The O piece’s outline stays the same when rotated. How rotation works in play can vary by Tetris version, so piece names and shapes are separate from version-specific movement rules.

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Why are S and Z, and J and L, paired?

S and Z are opposite zigzags: one is the mirror counterpart of the other. J and L are opposite hooks, with the single attached square on opposite ends of the three-square segment. These distinctions help identify the pieces regardless of how they are turned.

Are these all possible four-square shapes?

They are the seven standard pieces used in Tetris. Mathematical discussions of tetrominoes can count shapes differently depending on whether mirror images are treated as distinct, but that broader classification is not the same as the standard Tetris set. For identifying the pieces in a Tetris game, use I, O, T, S, Z, J, and L.

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