0724: "Hell"

[Tirian]

That's not hell. You've got the high score.

Yeah, I'm wondering what's so hell-like about a version of Tetris that is really easy to walk away from. To me, Hell is the original The Sims, where I laboriously spent hours making my characters learn useful skills and form large circles of friends and climb their respective career ladders, and then look up and see that two weeks had passed in the real world and I all I had been doing is playing a computer game by myself.

[Introbulus]

That's not hell. You've got the high score.

Yeah, I'm wondering what's so hell-like about a version of Tetris that is really easy to walk away from. To me, Hell is the original The Sims, where I laboriously spent hours making my characters learn useful skills and form large circles of friends and climb their respective career ladders, and then look up and see that two weeks had passed in the real world and I all I had been doing is playing a computer game by myself.

So...Hell is NO other people?

[miles]

wow this reminds me of hatetris
http://qntm.org/hatetris

very similar..?

good job on the comics over the past few weeks, better quality

EDIT: YES!! just in the nick of time

[Patashu]

Here's an online version of 'tetris that wants you to lose': There is no gravity, only suffering.

http://qntm.org/hatetris

EDIT: Beaten by three minutes! Oh well.

[Zhatt]

Since we're all posting our Tetris clones, the comic reminds me of Triptych by Chonic Logic. The pieces are "squishy", so even on the level the comic has, you could squeeze the pieces together!

[skeptical scientist]

It's been proven that you can't play forever with an endless SZ spawn.

Yes I know. That's why it's my version of tetris hell. Although the 1d tetris variant is in some ways equally bad.

[Rat]

No, this game is hell:
http://spongebob.nick.com/games/play/sp ... at-o-cross

wow. i can't even make it past the first dip.

at least i know to be cautious of somersaults the next time i go driving underwater.

[sourmìlk]

On the subject of horrible versions of tetris:
http://www.firstpersontetris.com/

instead of the piece rotating and the background staying still, the background rotates and the piece stays still. The camera tracks the piece, and is not static

[Me321]

On the subject of horrible versions of tetris:
http://www.firstpersontetris.com/

instead of the piece rotating and the background staying still, the background rotates and the piece stays still. The camera tracks the piece, and is not static

This one just made me dizzy and gave me a headache.

[hexalm]

TMHBITALOL!

Spoiler:

(throwing my head back in the air laughing out loud!)

I didn't stop laughing until I clicked through to page 2 of this thread and the page finished loading. Good stuff--I guess it struck a chord with me.

[WendelScardua]

Yeah, someone should make tetris with a physics engine just to fuck with people.

There actually are some Tetris levels made on LittleBigPlanet. Even the best ones are hellish because of the physics.

[hexalm]

Here's an online version of 'tetris that wants you to lose': There is no gravity, only suffering.

http://qntm.org/hatetris

EDIT: Beaten by three minutes! Oh well.

Argh! I still lose after a couple games. It's hard to unlearn well-reinforced tetris thinking, though it's coming to me, somewhat.

[Yodaboy64]

Funny thing about the alt text, that actually happened to me in Mario 64. I was doing the 100-coin on the sewer level, and got the 100th coin when I was hanging from the top of the map. The star spawned above the playable area. had to do it completely over. Words that should never be repeated were uttered.

[Flayer]

More Tetrissy goodness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO2kZ6e9JUI (turn down your volume)

[vrek]

World of Warcraft Hell: ...well isn't playing normal world of warcraft hell enough??...

On a different idea if hell was specifically designed to torture each individual what would be your hell? Famous people's hell? Like the Gary Gorgax's(I know I have that wrong and will be flamed but I mean the creator of D&D) hell would be a world where every dice he rolled would come up 1.

[Jorpho]

Since we're all posting our Tetris clones, the comic reminds me of Triptych by Chonic Logic. The pieces are "squishy", so even on the level the comic has, you could squeeze the pieces together!

I was about to mention that! It is far more apropos than Bastet.

After years of waiting I finally bought a copy when the price was lowered recently. It could really use some more bells and whistles, but it's a great concept.

I suppose someone should link to The Tetris God, though its execution isn't quite spot-on.

[logixoul]

Yeah, someone should make tetris with a physics engine just to fuck with people. Although to my mind, tetris hell is just like ordinary tetris, but the blocks alternate between s blocks and z blocks.

A friend made this: http://phystris.com/

[tastelikecoke]

there are lot's of tetris with physics games out there. How about a game where you are being squished by Tetris?

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/514128

but Mario doctor seriously was worse.

[trooperer]

Topple anyone?

[reevey]

A level in sonic where it's all steps.

As long as it's original Sonic music, and the volume is just a touch too loud.
*boing*
*boing*
*boing*
*boing*
*boing*
*boing*
... and so on.

[psyEDk]

I really want to play this game.

I think it'd be possible (although difficult) to create a level surface by starting in the middle and only building up from there.

There would definately be an element of luck involved with getting just the right shaped pieces but it's surely possible.
I wanna play this game too!

[Plasma Man]

A Mario level with a star just out of reach? No worries, I'd just carry on without it to the flagpole at the end of the level.

[metaphysicist]

Also, it's not just Tetris, but Bastet.

Great comic.

weird, it falls into a pretty simple pattern for me. and man, its just not right to have the probability of an I to drop at 0 whenever there is a tetris available. perhaps thats neccissary or else the game would be too easy.

[Critically|Ashamed]

I smiled at the comic itself. Alt text was reasonable too, the Mario star thing reminds me of all the time I spent playing it on my brothers DS. Particularly that last castle level where it repeats the same part over and over until you realise you need to go in a specific order based on the sounds. Drove me crazy.

[phlip]

and man, its just not right to have the probability of an I to drop at 0 whenever there is a tetris available.

Did you not read the page? It specifically tries to give you pieces that aren't useful. Of course it's not going to give you an I piece if you have a Tetris available. That's pretty much the opposite of not useful.

[Krishty]

Well, I've seen something pretty similar at viruscomix: "Welcome to Hell", 3rd panel, one of the doors in the background: "Tetris with occasional triangles".

Some nightmare are just weirdly common ...

[GunJack]

C' mon, two pages of posts and no one remember tetrisphere?... that is tetris hell indeed

ps: don't know why but in my head appeared leonidas saying: "Tonight, we dine in tetris hell!"...WTF?

[Flectarn]

A Civilization game where you are on a single tile of land at the start.

.

I think that actually happened to me once.

[Dave_Wise]

I think what we have to do is somehow build a flat surface using the blocks as 'rubble', then somehow paving over the top.

[TheAbstractor]

Puck's Peak on pogo.com is actually like this, at least in the higher levels. The trick is to lay something flat in the middle of the concave surface at the start of the game. And to be an 8 year old kid who'd actually find this kind of game challenging.

(Pogo's multi-player Monopoly, on the other hand, is addictive enough to make you lose your career and custody of your children.)

[Mishrak]

Ghosts 'n Goblins

From Wiki:

The player can only be hit twice before losing a life. If the player loses a life, he is returned to the start of the level, or the halfway point if he has managed to get that far. Furthermore, each life can only last a certain length of time (generally around three minutes), the clock being reset at the start of a level. If the clock does run out, the player instantly loses that life.

After defeating the final boss for the first time the player is informed that the battle was "a trap devised by Satan". The player is then forced to replay the entire game on a higher difficulty level before finally reaching the genuine final battle.

The SNES version was not any easier at all. Brutal. It's one game, that even on an emulator, takes a long long time to beat.

[thevicente]

I was going to post "Defender. As it is", but this above post reminded me that Ghosts 'n Goblins is hellier than hell

[CzarMatt]

I had to register for this comic. As an avid tournament level Tetris player I literally had shivers running down my spine.

[jqavins]

lmao. This is the best xkcd comic in a long time!

This gave me my fisrt LOL in weeks, XKCD or otherwise. Thank you, Randall.

[capefeather]

This is the most awesome xkcd I've seen in a while.

[Asday]

I cried like a little fucking girl.

[alahos]

I guess Liquid Tetris would be the exact opposite of this...

[Jorpho]

I was going to post "Defender. As it is", but this above post reminded me that Ghosts 'n Goblins is hellier than hell

This is where somebody might link to the TV Tropes article on Nintendo Hard, but that would be wrong.

I thought there was a Wikipedia list, but there isn't. There's a Gamasutra article that's pretty good, though. Consider:
Solomon's Key
The Tower of Druaga (entertainingly described here)
And I can only hope to avoid Wizardry IV.

[kiwilake]

Ahhhh this comic really scared me. I foresee bad dreams tonight. :s

[Slpee]

On the subject of horrible versions of tetris:
http://www.firstpersontetris.com/

instead of the piece rotating and the background staying still, the background rotates and the piece stays still. The camera tracks the piece, and is not static

NO FAIR! I was gonna post that one. Well whatever, I love that one so much.
Also, in what seems to be a common theme today, Randall has read my mind with this one, I was recently (Saturday) able to come across a copy of tetris DS and have played
what I shall define as too much tetris over the past few days.

How do i know it's too much? Because I am seeing tetris *everywhere* I am mentally moving things around in the real world, when I close my eyes I see the inferno of falling blocks.

Help...me....