Nest Blocks

Three odd little shapes sit in a tray under a woven straw nest, eight squares across and eight down, and you drag each one into a gap where it fits. Fill a whole row or column and it bursts into feathers, which opens the space up again. Nothing falls, nothing is timed, and pieces never turn, so a corner pointing left is a different piece from one pointing right. They run from a single egg up to a hay bale of nine. Put all three down and three more arrive. Clear again within three placements and the combo grows, doubling and then tripling those lines. The game ends when nothing left in the tray will fit.

Pick the endless nest, where pieces get bigger and more awkward as your score climbs and your best is kept, or today’s nest: fifteen trays shared by every player, checked beforehand so each piece has a place. Tiny, Roady and Rusty sit in the grass beside you. Tiny cheers when a line clears, coaches your first three moves, and once a game, when you’re stuck, shoos some straw aside to make room. The meadow behind follows your clock and the season, so evening play turns to dusk and winter brings snow. If a calm block puzzle between other jobs sounds good, this one is yours. We made it on Long Island, with our own ducks for company, and you can play it here for nothing, no download needed. Scoring is explained in how to play Nest Blocks.