Teskyra

Teskyra

Created by Kalani L Chapman, prompt engineered with Claude AI, all sounds from Freesound (CC0 licenses...but I will try to rediscover their creators for attribution).

Teskyra (pronounced tes-KYE-ruh) is a falling-piece puzzle game played on an Archimedean tessellation (the "tes" in the name) where squares and diamonds alternate in a repeating pattern. The pieces are all left- or right-handed (chiral--the "kyra" in the name), and can be flipped to their opposite orientations. Pieces fall from the top (or sky) and you try to fill rows. Unlike other falling-piece puzzle games, the unusual grid means placement requires more thought: each piece must land in an empty cell that matches its shape and orientation, or it disappears (pops) and you lose a heart.

Two adjacent rows must be completed to clear together.

There are ten piece types, all geometrically paired:

Tower R/L · Cup/Tack · Bolt R/L · Claw R/L · Thorn R/L

Controls Touch / Keyboard

Move L/R Swipe L/R / ⬅ ➡

Drop one row ⬇ (keyboard only)

Rotate Tap / ⬆

Hard drop Swipe ⬇ / Space

Flip Flip button / F

Strip ⚡ button / S

   (Strips outer shapes from piece, leaving only the center x3 — easier to place)

Scoring

Each Flip reduces your score by 2 points

Successful placement: 10 points

Hard drop bonus: +1 per row dropped

Row clear: 250 points

Lives & Progression

Start with 10 lives. Bad placements cost a heart. Pieces spawning on an existing stack also cost a heart. Speed increases with level. Gain a Strip charge every 2,500 points. Game over when you lose your last heart.

Tips

Learn which colors of which shapes align naturally in which columns--most useful for towers and bolts. Place pieces to fill gaps as far down as possible. Avoid leaving deep holes. Rotate pieces freely away from the sides and stacked pieces, where they won't be blocked. Use Strip to escape situations where a piece has no legal placement! Beware stacks near the top as they can result in rapid heart loss!