Crates made of four squares come down the chute one after another. Turn them, slide them and set them down so that they fill complete rows across the dock: a full row is shipped out and everything above it drops. Let the stack reach the top and the shift is over.
How the crates fall
The dock is ten squares wide and twenty high. There are seven shapes — the long bar, the square, the tee, two steps and two hooks — and they come in sets of seven: every shape once per set, in a shuffled order. That means you never wait long for the shape you need, and you can count on it.
The next three crates are shown beside the dock, and you can put one crate aside with Hold (once per crate) and swap it back later. A faint landing shadow shows where the current crate will settle. A crate locks a moment after it touches down, so you still have time to slide it into a gap.
Clearing one, two, three or four rows at once scores 100, 250, 450 or 700 points times the current level. Clearing rows with consecutive crates adds a combo bonus, and emptying the whole dock earns a large bonus on top.
Two kinds of shift
Marathon never ends on its own: the level goes up every ten rows and the crates fall faster each time. Sprint 40 asks you to clear forty rows as quickly as you can and ranks your runs by time. The difficulty sets the starting speed: Easy begins at level 1, Normal at level 4 and Hard at level 8.
Controls
Keyboard: ← → move, ↑ or X turns clockwise, Z turns the other way, ↓ drops faster, Space drops at once, C or Shift holds. On a touch screen tap to turn, drag sideways to move one square at a time, drag down to speed up, flick down to drop and flick up to hold — or use the button pad under the dock.
Stacking tips
- Keep the surface flat. A stack with gentle steps accepts almost any crate; a stack with deep holes and spikes accepts almost none.
- Leave one column open at a side and save it for the long bar: four rows at once is worth far more than four single rows.
- Hold is a tool, not a parking place. Keep a bar or a square there, and swap it in when the next three do not fit.
- Never cover a hole by choice. One buried gap costs you a whole row until you dig back down to it.
- In a sprint, commit. Read the landing shadow, then drop at once instead of letting the crate drift down.
FAQ
Why do numbered shifts always deal the same crates?
Each numbered shift has its own seed, and the order of the crates comes only from the seed — not from how you play. Replay shift #312 and you get the same crates in the same order.
What does Hold do?
It puts the falling crate aside and brings in the one you held before (or the next crate, the first time). You can use it once per crate.
Does the rotation work like other block games?
It is the engine’s own: a plain quarter turn inside the crate’s box, with a short list of small nudges when a wall or the stack is in the way.
Is Dockside Crates free?
Yes, free with no sign-up and no advertising. Records stay in your browser.