Gameplay
Use the ← → buttons to shift the pieces — you can press them quickly or use the automatic shifting function called DAS by holding the ← → buttons. The charging time of the DAS and the speed of shifting depends on the selected Game region and the shifting speed settings in the Game options screen. To rotate the pieces, use the B and A buttons (counterclockwise and clockwise respectively).
If you are a more advanced player or just want to play faster, you can use ↓ to drop pieces faster (this is called soft-drop). The soft-drop feature, unlike in the original game, is not reset between spawns, so to drop few pieces in a row without shifting them and get the maximum number of “push-down” points, you can hold the ↓ button for several spawns.
Pressing the Select button during the game allows you to show or hide the next piece. The Start button is used to suspend the game and open a Game pause menu where you can conveniently restart the game, and if you need to, also enter the Game options screen. You can also leave the current game and return to the Gameplay setup screen.
During the game, various statistics are visible on the left and right sides of the playing field.
On the left side is TOP displaying your highest score for the current game region and RNG type. Below it there is a BURNED counter for lines burned in a row, i.e. lines cleared other than four lines at the same time using the longbar piece. Below it is the TETRISES counter, which is a percentage of points obtained using tetrises, and below it is a GAIN counter displaying the number of points obtained for the last clearing of lines and/or push-down points. At the very bottom of this column there is a thumbnail of the controller, which is a live preview of the input.
On the right side there is a SCORE counter, showing the current total number of points achieved. Below it is the LINES counter, displaying the number of lines cleared so far, and the LEVEL counter, informing about the current level. At the very bottom of this column is the NEXT field, displaying the piece that will be spawned next.
The game ends when the current shape of the stack prevents the next piece from spawning, i.e. when any brick of the stack takes the place for the spawned piece. In this case, the top out sound is played and the game waits for you to press the button and go to the Game summary screen.
After beating level 137, i.e. clearing over 1,300 lines, the game starts rendering the stack and pieces using unusual color palettes. These glitched colors are used until level 255. This is a feature consistent with the behavior of Nintendo Tetris®, whose developers did not predict that anyone would be able to get this far.
Fairtris 2 uses exactly the same glitchy color palettes, but due to the capped maximum falling speed of the pieces to a reasonable and playable one, it allows you to play theoretically endlessly, including at such far levels. However, this does not change the fact that to reach levels with glitched colors, you not only need to have strong skill, but also endurance, because it will take about an hour of stacking. The ultimate achievement is to reach and beat level 255, which requires approximately two hours of gameplay and will be rewarded with a secret screen!