How items work

Every third line drops an item into your stack. Five attack items, three defense items, and a few rules worth knowing.

Items are what turn a Stack Brawl match from a race into a fight. Here is how they work.

Getting items

Every time you clear 3 lines, one of the blocks in your stack turns into an item block. Clear the row it sits in and the item drops into your inventory.

• You have 3 inventory slots. When they are full, a new item replaces the oldest one.
• Several item blocks in one clear all go to your inventory.
• Rarity decides how often each item shows up: common items are five times as likely as the rare one.

Using items

Item colours tell you what they do: attack items go to your target, defense items work on you. The big button under your board changes to match: SEND plus your target’s name for an attack, USE for a defense item. On a keyboard, 1, 2 and 3 pick a slot and Enter fires it.

You can still use items while you are frozen. Only your piece controls freeze.

Attack items

Item	What it does	Rarity
Raise +2	Your target gets 2 garbage rows at once, with no warning delay. Counts as 2 lines sent.	common
Bomb	A 3×3 blast near the top of your target’s stack. The rubble falls into gaps lower down.	common
Freeze	Your target’s controls freeze for 4 seconds while their piece keeps falling.	medium
Fog	Your target’s board goes dark for 6 seconds. Only the falling piece stays visible.	medium
Swap	You trade stacks with your target.	rare

Defense items

Item	What it does	Rarity
Shield	Absorbs the next attack aimed at you: a garbage batch or an attack item.	common
Clear −2	Removes your bottom 2 rows.	medium
Slow	Your pieces fall at half speed for 8 seconds.	medium

Tips

• A Shield does not stop sudden-death rows. Those hit everyone.
• Swap is best when your stack is much higher than your target’s. The bots know this too.
• Turn on colorblind help in the settings and item blocks get a ▲ mark for attack and a ■ mark for defense.

All of this is also on the items page.