How the Block Blast Solver Works, Step by Step

1. It gets your board and your three tray pieces. From a screenshot, or from Manual Mode.
2. It tries every place each piece can go, and every order you could play the three pieces in.
3. After each try, it clears any full row or column, just like the game does.
4. It scores the board that is left, and shows you the sequence with the best score.

That is all it is. There is no luck and no guessing. It just checks far more options than a person can in a few seconds.

For a screenshot, the tool finds the 8x8 grid and decides which cells are filled. It reads the three tray pieces from the picture too. Then it shows you what it found, so you can change any cell before you solve.

In Manual Mode you tap the board and choose your pieces yourself. Nothing is read from a picture. Both ways give the solver the same thing: a board of filled and empty cells, and three shapes.

Pieces are used exactly as they are shown. Block Blast does not let you rotate a piece, so the solver never turns one either.

Tips for the cleanest reading are in our screenshot guide. If you would rather skip the picture, see manual mode.

A piece can go in many places. On an open board, one piece can have dozens of legal spots. The solver checks all of them.

It also tries every order. With three pieces there are six: for example piece 1, then 2, then 3, or piece 3, then 1, then 2.

Order matters because clearing a line changes the board. A piece that had no room a moment ago may fit after a clear. And a piece placed early can take the spot that another piece needed. That is the whole idea behind piece order.

How many positions does it look at? It depends on the board. On our own test boards it checked 238 positions on a crowded board and 7,832 on a more open one. Each answer took under a fifth of a second on our test computer.

Lines cleared. Every cleared row or column counts. Clearing several lines with one piece scores extra.

The board it leaves behind. This part is all about space. The solver likes a board that has:

• many legal spots for the pieces you still have,
• one big open block of empty space.

It does not like:

• single empty cells that have no empty cell next to them,
• holes that are closed in by blocks on every side,
• narrow one-cell gaps between blocks,
• a board that is more than about 85% full.

If two sequences score the same, it picks the one that clears more lines. If that is still equal, it picks the one that clears more lines at once, and then the one that leaves more room for future pieces.

A move can clear a line and still lose points for the holes it leaves behind. That is why the best move is not always the biggest clear. You can see this on real boards in our worked examples.

Most players can leave it on Best choice. If your board is tight and you wonder whether another first move exists, switch to Strategic and compare the two answers.

Sometimes you see two tabs, Best and Keep Combo. Reading the answer explains the difference.

The solver plans your three pieces and tries to leave room for the next turn. What the notes mean.