Tetris 99
Developer	Arika
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform	Nintendo Switch
Release dates	Nintendo eShop: February 13, 2019[1] February 14, 2019[2] February 14, 2019[3] February 14, 2019[4] April 23, 2019[5] April 23, 2019[6] April 23, 2019[?] Physical release: August 9, 2019[2] August 9, 2019[6] August 9, 2019[5] September 6, 2019[7] September 9, 2019[8] October 1, 2019[3]
Languages	English Japanese Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Dutch French (Canada) French (Europe) German Italian Korean Russian Spanish (Latin America) Spanish (Europe)
Genres	Puzzle, battle royale
Ratings	ESRB: - Everyone[9] CERO: - All ages[?] PEGI: - Three years and older[?] RARS: - Six years and older[?] ACB: - General[?]
Mode	Multiplayer
Format	Nintendo Switch: Game Card Digital download
Input	Nintendo Switch: Joy-Con Nintendo Switch Pro Controller
Serial code	HAC-R-ARZNA-JPN (Japan)

Tetris 99 is apuzzle battle royale game for theNintendo Switch. It was originally available only toNintendo Switch Online subscribers, but it was later made available to anyone. It was released on theNintendo eShop on February 13, 2019, and later received a physical release bundled with a 12-month Nintendo Switch Online individual subscription and the Big Block DLC on August 9, 2019.

The game features a selection of themes based on variousNintendo games, including several based on theSuper Mario franchise. New themes have periodically been added since release, usually of newly released games.

Gameplay[edit]

Tetris 99 is a multiplayer puzzle game in which 99 players play against each other at the same time, with the aim to be the last player remaining. As with the traditionalTetris formula, players rotate and drop shaped bricks known asTetriminos onto a board. Players can clear Tetriminos by completing rows across both sides, whereas players will lose if Tetriminos overflow off the top of the board. As with modernTetris rules, players have the option to store a Tetrimino piece to swap out at any time. By clearing multiple lines or performing continuous line clears in a row, players can send "Garbage" to other players, which will appear on their board unless they can quickly clear lines in response. More Garbage can be sent by completing combination moves in succession of making a "Tetris" (matching 4 lines at once) or performing a "T-Spin" (squeezing the T-Tetrimino into a position it would otherwise not fall into by rapidly rotating it).

During gameplay, small grids representing the other 98 players are displayed at the sides of the main board. Players can either choose to target individual players, or have the computer automatically target other players based on one of four criteria: random players, those who are targeting the player, those who are close to being defeated, and those who possess badges. Badges are earned by knocking out a player with Garbage (or gray lines), which earns them a piece of a badge, along with any other badges or pieces that player had. The more badges a player completes and possesses, the more lines they can send to other players at a time (up to a 100% boost). At the end of a game, players will earn experience that will increase their level.

In May 2019, paid downloadable content (DLC) was released for the game, named the Big Block DLC. The DLC adds 4 offline modes in total: Marathon, the traditional single-playerTetris mode where play continues until the stack reaches the top of the well; CPU Battle, where players battle 98bot players; Local Arena, where up to eightNintendo Switch players play in the same arena via local wireless; and Two Player Share Battle, where two players share Joy-Con and play the same game in local co-op.

Themes[edit]

With the exception of Maximus Cup events, themes are obtained by earning tickets through in-game accomplishments alone, with two ticket missions available each day to all players and an additional two missions (for a total of four) that are specific to the single-player modes.

Among the 11 standard themes, "Default Theme" is available from the start, while themes 2 through 11 cost 15 tickets each in the in-game ticket shop. Two of the themes are directly related to theSuper Mario franchise.

Theme no.	Game	Music
9	Super Mario Bros.	99-11: "Ground BGM" arrangement[a] 10-2: "Castle BGM" arrangement Win: "Course Clear" arrangement Lose: "Player Down" remix
11	Donkey Kong	99-11: "Round Start BGM"/"Round 1 BGM" remix[a] 10-2: "Hammer BGM" remix Win: "Round 3 Clear" remix Lose: "Player Down" remix

Super Mario-related special themes[edit]

Several special themes released during Maximus Cup events feature games from theSuper Mario,Donkey Kong, andWario franchises. These themes could be obtained by playing in each event or purchased in the in-game store.

As of August 4, 2025, only themes 5, 10, 11, 17, and 29 have been re-added to the store permanently for 30 tickets each, while the others are unavailable to all players who did not participate in the specific themes' Maximum Cups.

Special theme no.	Game	Music		Maximus Cup no.	Maximus Cup duration
5	Luigi's Mansion 3			8th	October 25, 2019, 12:00 a.m. PT - October 28, 2019, 11:59 p.m. PT[10]
				16th	August 17, 2020, 12:00 a.m. PT - August 19, 2020, 11:59 p.m. PT (round 2)[11]
10	Paper Mario: The Origami King	99-51: "Red Streamer Battle" 50-11: "Event Battle" 10-2: "Boss Fight" Win: Battle cleared fanfare Lose:Game Over		15th	July 31, 2020, 12:00 a.m. PT - August 3, 2020, 11:59 p.m. PT[12]
11	Super Mario All-Stars	99-51: "Ground BGM" (Super Mario Bros.) 50-11: "'Hurry Up!' Ground BGM" (Super Mario Bros.) 10-2: "Castle BGM" (Super Mario Bros.) Win: "Course Clear" (Super Mario Bros.) Lose: "Player Down" (Super Mario Bros.)		18th	December 3, 2020, 11:00 p.m. PT - December 7, 2020, 10:59 p.m. PT[13]
13	Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury	99-51: "Attack! Fury Bowser" 50-11:Giga Cat Mario battle theme 10-2:Giant Bowser battle theme Win:Cat Shine jingle Lose:		20th	March 4, 2021, 11:00 p.m. PT - March 8, 2021, 10:59 p.m. PT[14]
				30th	August 5, 2022, 12:00 a.m. PT - 11:59 p.m. PT (round 1)[15]
15	Mario Golf: Super Rush			22nd	July 9, 2021, 12:00 a.m. PT - July 12, 2021, 11:59 p.m. PT[16]
				30th	August 7, 2022, 12:00 a.m. PT - 11:59 p.m. PT (round 3)[15]
17	WarioWare: Get It Together!	99-51: Title theme 50-11: Character select theme 10-2:Potty Pursuit (2nd phase) Win:Poseidon (success) Lose:Delivery Center (failure)		24th	September 17, 2021, 12:00 a.m. PT - September 20, 2021, 11:59 p.m. PT[17]
				30th	August 9, 2022, 12:00 a.m. PT - 11:59 p.m. PT (round 5)[15]
20	Mario Party Superstars	99-51: "Come On, Chop-Chop!" 50-11: "That's All of It" 10-2: "Mario Party Superstars"[a] Win: "You're the Super Star!" Lose: Minigame victory fanfare (Mario Party 2), minigame results		27th	December 9, 2021, 11:00 p.m. PT - December 13, 2021, 10:59 p.m. PT[18]
28	Super Mario RPG	99-51: "Battling Monsters" 50-11: "Battling Strongish Monsters" 10-2: "Battling a Weapon Boss" Win: "Victory!" Lose: "Shock!", "Elegy"		36th	November 9, 2023, 11:00 p.m. PT - November 13, 2023, 10:59 p.m. PT[19]
29	WarioWare: Move It!	99-51: Main menu theme 50-11: Title theme 10-2: Credits theme Win:Muscle Road (success), Theater menu Lose:Muscle Road (phase 2 failure), A Short Break theme		37th	November 30, 2023, 11:00 p.m. PT - December 4, 2023, 10:59 p.m. PT[20]
30	Super Mario Bros. Wonder	99-51: "Grassland Theme" 50-11: "Bendy-Boing Wonder" 10-2: "Doomy-Gloom Wonder" Win: "You Got a Royal Seed!", "World Clear!" Lose: "Too Bad!", "Poplin House"		38th	December 14, 2023, 11:00 p.m. PT - December 18, 2023, 10:59 p.m. PT[21]
				47th	June 27, 2025, 12:00 a.m. PT - 11:59 p.m. PT (round 1)[22]
31	Princess Peach: Showtime!	99-51: "A Perfect Rehearsal" 50-11: "Sword Play" 10-2: "The Duel" Win: "Welcome to Sparkle Theater" Lose: "Entrancing Prelude"		39th	April 5, 2024, 12:00 a.m. PT - April 8, 2024, 11:59 p.m. PT[23]
37	Donkey Kong Country Returns HD	99-51: "Jungle Hijinxs" 50-11: "Donkey Kong Country Returns" 10-2: "Mole Patrol" Win: Level clear theme, "Cranky Kong's Shop"[derived] Lose: "Lost a Balloon", "Simian Segue"		45th	February 13, 2025, 11:00 p.m. PT - February 17, 2025, 10:59 p.m. PT[24]
39	Donkey Kong Bananza	99-51: "Kong Bananza" 50-11: "Zebra Bananza" 10-2: "Ostrich Bananza" Win: "Breaking Through (Heart of Gold)" Lose: Battle Challenge clear theme, "Getaway"		48th	August 1, 2025, 12:00 a.m. PT - August 4, 2025, 11:59 p.m. PT[25]

Gallery[edit]

• 

  The game's logo

• 

  Logo with key artwork

• 

  Nintendo eShop icon

• 

  Japanese box art

• 

  Russian box art

• 

  Dutch box art

• 

  Luigi's Mansion 3 in-game background

• 

  Mario Golf: Super Rush in-game background

• 

  WarioWare: Get It Together! in-game background

• 

  Mario Party Superstars in-game background

Staff[edit]

Main article:List of Tetris 99 staff

Tetris 99 was developed byArika, which also developed games in theDr. Mario series and would go on to developSuper Mario Bros. 35, another game with similar battle-royale mechanics.Ryuichi Nakada served as the director forTetris 99.

References in later games[edit]

Super Mario Bros. 35

• The game ran on the same engine used in this game. As such, the gameplay concept was similar to the one in this game, and various UI elements appeared to be a modified version of this game's UI. Players would reach Level 1★ after Level 99, and Level 1★★ after Level 99★.

References[edit]

Tetris 99 coverage on otherNIWA wikis:

---

Hard Drop Tetris Wiki

NintendoWiki

StrategyWiki

• Tetris series
• Games
• Nintendo Switch games
• Nintendo Switch Online games
• Puzzle games
• 2019 games

• Articles with unsourced dates
• Articles with unsourced ratings
• Articles with stub sections