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wtf is tetris-464?

cjauvin/tetris-464 — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-07-17 · repo last pushed 2014-02-01

34AssemblyAudience · developerComplexity · 4/5DormantSetup · hard

TL;DR

A stripped-down, working Tetris game written in about 1,000 lines of 6502 assembly for the Commodore 64, with just falling and rotating blocks and no scoring or levels.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Falling block game
      Move and rotate
      No scoring or levels
    Tech stack
      6502 assembly
      Commodore 64
      KickAssembler
      VICE emulator
    Use cases
      Retro computing hobby
      Learn assembly
      Study hardware constraints
    Audience
      Retro enthusiasts
      Systems programmers

Code map

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Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Assemble and run a working Tetris clone on a Commodore 64 emulator to experience 1980s-era game programming.

REASON 2

Study a compact, real-world example of 6502 assembly code to learn hardware-level programming techniques.

REASON 3

Use this as a reference for building your own simple game on constrained retro hardware.

What's in the stack?

6502 AssemblyCommodore 64KickAssemblerVICE

How it stacks up

cjauvin/tetris-464plummerssoftwarellc/tinyretropadeternal-flame-ad/arithmetic-fizzbuzz
Stars34531
LanguageAssemblyAssemblyAssembly
Last pushed2014-02-012025-11-14
MaintenanceDormantQuiet
Setup difficultyhardhardeasy
Complexity4/54/52/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · hard Time to first run · 1h+

Requires assembling with KickAssembler and running on a Commodore 64 emulator like VICE.

No license information is mentioned in the explanation.

Wtf does this do

This is a working Tetris game built specifically for the Commodore 64, a home computer from the 1980s. Rather than trying to recreate every feature of modern Tetris, this version strips the game down to its essentials: blocks fall from the top of the screen, you move and rotate them with your keyboard, and they stack up at the bottom. No scoring, no levels, no countdown timers, just pure block-falling gameplay in about 6,000 lines of code. The game is written in 6502 assembly language, which is the low-level machine code that the Commodore 64's processor understands directly. Assembly is notoriously difficult to work with compared to modern programming languages, but it's what you had to use to make games run on 1980s hardware. The creator squeezed the entire game into roughly one thousand lines of assembly code, which is impressively compact for something that actually works. To play it, you need to assemble the code using KickAssembler (a specialized tool for converting assembly into executable format), and then you can run it on a Commodore 64 emulator called VICE. The controls are simple: WASD keys let you move blocks left and right and rotate them as they fall. If you've ever played Tetris on any platform, the gameplay will feel instantly familiar. This project would appeal to retro computing enthusiasts, people interested in how games were actually built in the 1980s, or anyone curious about programming at the hardware level. It's a great example of how much constraint breeds clever engineering, making a game run on a machine with minimal memory and processing power requires every byte to count.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Walk me through assembling this Commodore 64 Tetris game with KickAssembler and running it in the VICE emulator.
Prompt 2
Explain how block falling, movement, and rotation are implemented in 6502 assembly in this Tetris game.
Prompt 3
I want to learn 6502 assembly by studying this compact Tetris implementation. Where should I start reading the code?
Prompt 4
Help me add a simple scoring system to this Commodore 64 Tetris game written in 6502 assembly.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is tetris-464?

A stripped-down, working Tetris game written in about 1,000 lines of 6502 assembly for the Commodore 64, with just falling and rotating blocks and no scoring or levels.

What language is tetris-464 written in?

Mainly Assembly. The stack also includes 6502 Assembly, Commodore 64, KickAssembler.

Is tetris-464 actively maintained?

Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2014-02-01).

What license does tetris-464 use?

No license information is mentioned in the explanation.

How hard is tetris-464 to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated hard, with roughly 1h+ to a first successful run.

Who is tetris-464 for?

Mainly developer.

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