*Update* Both of these apps have been removed from the app store, most likely due to copyright concerns.

There is an official licensed version of Tetris ($9.99) in the iTunes apps store, but it’s expensive and bloated and has long loading times. There are, however, two free basic Tetris clones, Teto Teto!! and Tris. Here’s a look at both of them:

Teto Teto!!

While both of the Tetris clones are flawed, the better of the two is Teto Teto!!  It won’t win any awards for graphics, but Teto Teto’s button controls are much more accurate than Tris’s, which becomes important when the game speeds up. The buttons rotate and move the blocks left, right, and down. The buttons are in no way comparable to classic tactile buttons, but for Teto Teto, they work well enough to not get in the way of game play.

There is one one minor glitch. If you tap the down button, which accelerates the descent of the blocks, too zealously, it will immediately drop not only the block on the screen and but also the next block in the queue. This is an annoying flaw, but not a game killer, as you learn to be careful and work around it.

Teto Teto also features an interesting strategy twist. There is an area on the right side of the screen called the Stock. Tapping the Stock button will place the next block in the queue in the stock area, and tapping Back will place it back in the queue.  You get 5 stocks, which you keep track of on the left side of the screen.

Overall, what makes Teto Teto superior to Tris is the accuracy of control. This becomes more important in later stages when the pace of the game begins to pick up.

Tris

*Update* Tris has been removed from the iPhone App store due to copyright problems.

iLounge recently took a look at both of these games and listed Tris as the better of the two. While I agree that Tris is the better looking and intially the smoothest, I found it frustrating to control the blocks accurately as the game sped up.

Tris uses finger swipes to move the blocks left, right, and down. Players simply tap the screen to rotate the blocks clockwise (there is no option to rotate them counterclockwise). The problem with Tris’s controls comes with the inaccuracy of the finger swipe positioning. Also, accidental taps tended to be a problem.

Both of these games are very basic (neither features sound) and make for a very average Tetris-like experience. Their controls will take some time to get used to thanks to some control flaws. Since they’re both free, they are a risk-free proposition.

• Name: Teto Teto!!
• Developer: macer software
• Price: Free
• iTunes Download: Click here

• Name: Tris
• Developer: Noah Witherspoon
• Price: Free
• iTunes Download: Click here