THE FIELD GUIDE / FROM FIRST TAP TO PERSONAL BEST
A little timing. A taller tower.
STACK//ONE is a free browser stacking game: place each moving block onto the one below it. These rules and practice tips will help you keep more of your tower intact.
How to play in three steps
- Choose Classic or Daily, then select “Let's stack”.
- Watch the moving block cross the tower. Tap the playfield, click it, or press Space or Enter to place the block.
- Keep landing blocks. Each successful placement adds one point. If a block misses entirely, the run ends.
What makes a perfect landing?
The game compares the moving block with the top of your tower along its current direction of movement. An almost exact alignment snaps into place and preserves the full landing width. You will see “PERFECT!” and a multiplier for consecutive perfect placements. The multiplier is a streak indicator, not bonus score: each block still earns one point.
If a block overlaps only partly, the overhanging section is trimmed away. That leaves less room for the next landing. Perfect placements preserve the space you have; they do not grow a previously trimmed tower back.
Three habits worth practising
Watch the landing edge, not the whole block
Choose one edge of the top block as your visual reference. Following the moving block across the entire screen makes it harder to judge the moment when those edges meet.
Wait for another pass
There is no countdown forcing you to drop. If a pass feels wrong, let the block return. Its speed changes as the tower grows, so a fixed tapping rhythm will eventually stop matching the movement.
Protect your space early
Several small mistakes compound into a narrow landing area. Practise keeping the first few blocks wide rather than rushing for height. Alternate movement directions mean you need to judge both visible edges of the tower.
Classic versus the daily challenge
Classic uses a consistent progression for practice. Daily adds date-dependent speeds and directions, giving everyone the same sequence for a given UTC day. It resets at 00:00 UTC, not necessarily midnight where you live. Retries are unlimited. A dated friend link can reopen a previous daily pattern; it does not change today's challenge.
Controls, pause, and sound
- Place a block: tap, click, Space, or Enter while the playfield is focused.
- Pause or resume: press P or use the pause control. Switching browser tabs also pauses an active run.
- Sound: enable it with the speaker control; it starts muted.
- More room: select Expand game; use Escape to leave expanded view.
Reduced-motion preferences disable decorative animation and falling pieces. The moving block remains because timing its movement is the game's central mechanic.
Share a challenge people can actually play
After a scoring run, “Challenge a friend” shares a link containing your score and mode. The image controls let you preview, download, or share a PNG result card. Send the link with the image so your friend can open the correct challenge. If native sharing or clipboard access is blocked, copy the displayed link manually.
Pick a friendly goal—“Can you beat my 10?”—rather than claiming a world record. Local scores are not verified, and there is no global leaderboard. Your personal milestone goals are practice targets, not ranks against other players.
If something is not working
Try a current browser, close heavy background tabs, and check that the playfield has focus before using the keyboard. Local records will not follow you to another browser or device. If a result image will not share directly, download it and attach it manually. For persistent problems, send a bug report with your device and browser details.