Tetris Overlay Switch

Tetris Overlay
General
Author	ppkantorski
Type	Overlays
Version	0.5.1
License	GPL-2.0
Last Updated	2026/05/26
Links
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Website
Source
Support Author

An Ultrahand-enhanced Tesla overlay that brings classic Tetris gameplay to the overlay menu. This overlay allows for in-menu gameplay with dynamic UI elements, saving and loading of game state, and high score tracking.

Features

• Ultrahand Integration: Enhanced with Ultrahand libraries for smooth and seamless gameplay with Ultrahand system settings and improved rendering.
• Classic Tetris Mechanics: Enjoy traditional Tetris gameplay, including line clears, level progression, and scoring.
• Dynamic UI: Provides a responsive interface with previews of the next and stored Tetriminos.
• Save and Load: Save your game progress and load previous games seamlessly.
• Pause and Resume: Easily pause and resume the game without losing progress.
• High Score Tracking: Tracks your highest score across sessions.
• In-Game Access: Launch the overlay directly within games using Ultrahand Overlay (or Tesla Menu).

Installation

Ensure you have a homebrew-enabled Nintendo Switch with Ultrahand Overlay (or Tesla Menu) installed.

Download the latest release of Tetris Overlay from the Releases.

Copy tetris.ovl to the sdmc:/switch/.overlays/ directory on your Nintendo Switch's SD card.

Open the Ultrahand Overlay (or Tesla Menu) and launch the Tetris Overlay.

User guide

The game state is automatically saved upon pausing or exiting the overlay.

To load a previous session, start the overlay again.

Controls

In game:

Left/Right - Move the Tetrimino left or right

Down - Soft drop the Tetrimino

Up - Hard drop the Tetrimino

A - Rotate the Tetrimino clockwise

B - Rotate the Tetrimino counterclockwise, Exit the game on pause

L - Swap the current Tetrimino with the stored one

Plus - Pause or resume the game

On game over:

A or Plus - Restart the game

Screenshots

Compatibility

HOS 16.0.0+

Changelog

0.5.1

• Hold down piece dropping bug fix.
  • In the prior version, holding down was triggering a rapid spam of subsequent piece slams.
• Sleep halting of the background event poller in libultrahand (to prevent all polling activity during shallow sleep).

0.5.0

• Compilation with latest libultrahand (v2.4.1).
• Quick Update:
  • hide_widget_border variable linking bug fix. - 04/20/2026 7:56 AM PST

0.4.9

• Piece drop height correction (now always aligned with its bottom most edge directly above the game board's top).
• Game board, pieces, and particles now respect renderer->a (the opacity limiter).
• Feedback corrections (for latest libultrahand) , settings sound effect for pausing / unpausing, move sound effect for piece swapping.
• Slight code optimizations, alignment corrections, and more.
• Exit feedback correction in libultrahand v2.4.0 during active notifications. - 04/19/2026 12:51 AM PST
• Piece swapping initial height bug fix. - 04/19/2026 8:24 AM PST

0.4.8

• Wall kick bug fix for L pieces.
• Code cleanup / optimizations.
• Improved notifications and feedback (from latest libultrahand).

0.4.7

• Line clearing score has been repositioned for unrestricted view of the game board.
• Slight code cleanup.

0.4.6

• Recompilation with latest libultrahand (v2.2.7).
• Removal of disableSound (for click sounds when tapping on the bottom menu bar).

0.4.5

• Recompilation with latest libultrahand (v2.2.3).
• Improved piece rotation logic.
• Improved haptics logic.
• "Game Over" particle rain effect.

0.4.4

• Recompilation with latest libultrahand (v2.2.1).

0.4.3

• Bug fix for save data not being stored (sdmc:/config/tetris/ was not being generated on startup).

0.4.2

• Improved piece rotation logic + fixes for clicks resetting the drop timer when they should not be.
• Updated for proper nx-ovlloader v2.0.0 support (in libultrahand).

0.4.1

• Recompiled with latest libultrahand (v2.1.8).
• libnx has been updated for AMS 1.10+ support.
• Haptics have now been implemented (on when enabled in the Ultrahand settings).
• Slight tweaks to compilation settings.

0.4.0

• Recompiled with latest libultrahand (v2.1.4).
  • Various fixes within libultrahand.

v0.3.9

• New notifications implementation.

v0.3.8

• Recompiled with latest libultrahand (v2.0.1).
  • Underscan fixes, controller input isolation and more.

v0.3.7

• Recompiled with latest libultrahand (v2.0.0).
  • Overlay / package launching, libultrahand signature, etc.
• Bug fix for bottom menu touch regions.
• Variable optimizations and removal of fstream.
• Quick update:
• Save state on exit bug fix.
• Better input isolation for KEY_L.

v0.3.6

• Tetris pieces are now dropped with exactly 1 block's distance into the game-board frame.
• Updated with latest libultrahand (v1.9.10).
  • Improved widget, slightly improved rendering, etc.

v0.3.5

• Various code and compiler optimizations for smoother gameplay.
• Updated using latest libultrahand (from Ultrahand Overlay 1.9.6 pre-release).
• Faster rendering than v0.3.4; true 60fps on stock clocks with wallpapers.

v0.3.4

• Significant rendering improvements and bug fixes in libultrahand.
  • 60fps rendering with wallpapers.
  • Foreground bug fix (losing input isolation during title ID changes).
  • Various code optimizations and library updates.

v0.3.3

• Bug fix for B key exiting when it should not be.
• Increased duration for screenshot opacity.

v0.3.2

• Updated for compilation with latest libultrahand (v1.8.2).

v0.3.1

• Updated with new libtesla and libultra from Ultrahand v1.7.8.

v0.3.0

• Improved texture design.
• Slight fixes to rotation logic.

Update:

• Slight adjustment to kick logic. - 09/26/2024 11:15 PM PST
• Spawn new piece centering bug fix. - 09/26/2024 11:54 PM PST

v0.2.9

• More fixes to various Tetris piece movement / rotation (as well as auto-locking).
  • More boundary cases have been addressed.
  • Pieces will no longer rotate indefinitely.
  • Pressing down on the floor will now trigger a hard drop.
• Fixes to Game Over prompt delay.

v0.2.8

• Slight improvement to block texture design.
• Bug fix for combo variables not resetting upon new game.
• More fixes to piece rotation, kicks and placement.
• Various subtle UI tweaks.

v0.2.7

• Previews for next 2 Tetris pieces have been added.
• Scores for each line clearing event are now rendered, along with the clearing event. (like T-Spin Double, 2x Tetris, etc)
• New particle effect for fast dropping pieces (clicking up).
• Fixes to sliding pieces left / right on floor. (limit to number of floor sides possible before locking)
• Fixes to pieces not automatically locking when rotation is not possible (but rotation is pressed).
• Improvements to the new game particle burst effect.
• Various minor bug fixes and subtle UI tweaks and improvements.

Update:

• Fix for next 2 Tetris pieces not resetting upon new game. - 09/24/2024 12:17 AM PST
• Symbol indicator for pieces. - 09/24/2024 12:34 AM PST
• Expansion of save states to preserve back to back combo variables. - 09/24/2024 3:37 AM PST

v0.2.6

• More bug fixes.
  • Fixed a bug that caused a crash when clearing lines near the top of the board.
  • Fixed the piece lock duration / duration reset function. (so items don't just hit the floor while you are still spinning them)
  • Various additional safety measures.
• Various UI improvements.
  • Improved clear line event indicator.
  • New game particle effect.
• Dynamic color logo property is now read from Ultrahand's theme.ini again.

Update:

• Bug fix for line clear event indicator causing screen flicker during paused game. - 09/23/2024 3:07 AM PST

v0.2.5

• New line clearing particle-burst effect.
• New "ghost" piece preview for placing Tetris pieces with higher accuracy.
• Improved scoring and falling speed according to level.
• Clear event details for number of lines cleared. (like "Single", "Double", "Triple", or "Tetris")
• Various minor UI improvements.

Update:

• Lines cleared logging bug fix. - 09/22/2024 3:27 AM PST
• "Tetris" event text cleanup. - 09/22/2024 3:33 AM PST
• Slight bug fix. - 09/22/2024 4:02 AM PST
• Another slight bug fix. - 09/22/2024 4:43 AM PST
• Piece initial position bug fix. - 09/22/2024 5:00 AM PST
• Potential crash related bug fix. - 09/22/2024 6:40 AM PST

v0.2.4

• Improved controls.
  • Directional click and holds now functions properly.
• Clean-up of UI.
  • Ultrahand widgets are now rendered.
  • Ultrahand swipe to open and opaque screenshots settings now function properly.
  • Cleanup of button labels and colorization of application title.
• Custom wallpaper override option.
  • This is done by placing an Ultrahand wallpaper.rgba into sdmc:/config/tetris/ and requires nx-ovlloader+ to function.
• Custom theme override option.
  • This is done by placing an Ultrahand theme.ini into sdmc:/config/tetris/.
• Various bug fixes.

v0.2.3

• First Release.

External links

• GitHub - https://github.com/ppkantorski/Tetris-Overlay
• GBAtemp - https://gbatemp.net/threads/tetris-overlay.661021/