Building a Gravity-Flipping Tetris Game with Amazon Q CLI
Built a gravity-flipping Tetris game w/ Amazon Q CLI where blocks fall from top AND bottom, showcasing how AI can turn creative game concepts into reality.
Published Jun 6, 2025
I recently took on the challenge of creating a unique twist on a classic game using Amazon Q CLI for the "Build Games with Amazon Q CLI" campaign. The result was Tetris Flip - a game that transforms the traditional Tetris experience with an innovative gravity-flipping mechanic.
For my project, I wanted to explore how a simple rule change could transform familiar gameplay. Tetris Flip introduces a key innovation: every 4 lines cleared, gravity changes direction. This means pieces that were falling from top to bottom suddenly start falling from bottom to top, requiring players to completely rethink their strategy mid-game.
I began with a straightforward prompt to Amazon Q CLI:
Create a Tetris game where gravity flips every 4 lines cleared. Use your best judgment for all implementation details and features.What impressed me was how Amazon Q immediately understood both the standard Tetris mechanics and my proposed innovation.
It generated a complete Pygame implementation that included:
- All 7 standard tetromino pieces with proper rotation and collision detection
- Score tracking with bonuses for multiple line clears
- Level progression that increases game speed
- Next piece preview for strategic planning
- A sidebar displaying game stats and the current gravity direction
The development process revealed the true value of Amazon Q CLI when I encountered issues with the gravity-flipping mechanic:
What followed was a fascinating technical conversation where Amazon Q:
- Identified that the game was ending prematurely when gravity flipped
- Implemented a board-flipping algorithm that mirrors all blocks vertically
- Added position adjustment logic to prevent immediate game-over situations
- Refined the piece spawning system to account for the current gravity direction
One of the most impressive aspects of working with Amazon Q CLI was how it handled the complex gravity-flipping mechanic.
When I explained the issue with the game ending prematurely after clearing 4 lines, Amazon Q proposed an elegant solution:
Instead of just changing a gravity direction variable, it suggested a complete board transformation that would flip all existing blocks to maintain gameplay continuity.
This approach:
- Preserves the player's progress when gravity changes
- Creates a dramatic but fair transition between gravity states
- Maintains the integrity of the game's challenge
What would have taken me significant time to conceptualize and implement was suggested and coded by Amazon Q in minutes.
This allowed me to focus on testing and refining the gameplay experience rather than getting stuck on technical implementation details.
This project highlighted several advantages of using Amazon Q CLI for game development:
- Rapid prototyping: From concept to playable game in a fraction of the time it would take to code from scratch
- Problem-solving capabilities: Amazon Q was able to debug and fix complex game logic issues with minimal guidance
- Code quality: The generated code follows good practices with proper object-oriented design
- Iterative refinement: The conversation-based interface made it easy to request specific improvements
Most importantly, Amazon Q CLI allowed me to focus on the creative aspects of game design rather than getting bogged down in implementation details.
I've shared the code as GitHub Gist for easy reference.
To play:
- Install Python and Pygame
- Download the code from my Gist
- Run `python tetris_flip.py`
- See if you can adapt your strategy when gravity suddenly flips!
This project demonstrates how AI assistance can help implement creative game mechanics efficiently, allowing developers to explore innovative gameplay concepts with minimal friction.