How to play Mello: complete beginner guide

What Mello is

Mello is a free single-player block puzzle. You place polyomino-style pieces on an eight-by-eight grid. When a full row or a full column fills with blocks, that line clears and scores points. There is no clock, no lives, and no pay-to-win piece shop. You can play as a guest; an account is optional if you want synced high scores and daily streak summaries.

The game is designed for short, satisfying sessions. Daily mode gives everyone the same 30-piece challenge for the UTC calendar day. Endless mode keeps dealing trays until the board has no legal placement left. Both modes use the same placement and clearing rules.

The board and the tray

The playfield is always 8 rows by 8 columns — 64 cells. Filled cells stay filled until a complete line clears them. Empty cells are legal landing spots as long as every cell of the piece you are placing lands on empty board space and stays inside the grid.

Below the board (or beside it on wide layouts) sits a tray of three pieces. You choose one piece at a time, place it, then choose another. When the tray is empty, Mello deals three new pieces. In Daily mode, those pieces come from a fixed 30-piece sequence shared by every player that day. In Endless mode, pieces come from a seeded bag with a deterministic safety check so trays stay playable when the engine can verify a safe hand.

• Board size: 8×8 (never changes mid-run).
• Tray size: three pieces at a time.
• You must place pieces you select; unused tray pieces stay available until placed or the run ends.
• Clearing a line removes that entire row or column in one step.

How a move works

Pick a piece from the tray, then choose a legal position on the board. On touch and mouse, you can tap or click the piece, then tap or click a landing spot, or drag to place where supported. On a keyboard, select a piece, move the placement ghost with the arrow keys, and confirm with Enter or Space.

A placement is legal only when every cell of the piece sits on empty in-bounds cells. Overlap and hanging off the edge are rejected — the board does not change. After a successful place, Mello scores one point per cell of the piece, then checks for complete rows and columns.

Clearing rows and columns

Any fully filled row clears. Any fully filled column clears. Multiple lines can clear from a single placement if that placement completes more than one row, more than one column, or a mix of both. Cleared cells empty at once after the move resolves.

Clearing is the main way scores climb. Placing cells alone is modest; chaining clears across consecutive moves multiplies value through the combo system described in the scoring guide. You do not need to clear on every move, but leaving the board cluttered eventually blocks the next pieces.

Daily mode vs Endless mode

Daily mode deals a fixed sequence of 30 pieces for the current UTC date. Everyone worldwide who plays that day’s Daily receives the same piece order. Your first completed run for that date is your official result; later runs the same day are practice and do not overwrite the official completion in the same way.

Endless mode continues until none of the pieces currently available can be placed legally on the board. There is no fixed piece cap. Scores and combos can run higher, and the session ends only when the board and tray offer no legal move.

• Daily: shared 30-piece sequence, comparable day-to-day challenge.
• Endless: keep going until you cannot place a remaining piece.
• Neither mode sells better pieces or softens the board after a purchase.

When a run ends

In Endless, the run ends when the board has no legal placement for any remaining tray piece (and the rules treat the position as finished). In Daily, the challenge completes after the 30-piece sequence is fully used under the mode’s completion rules, or ends earlier if you can no longer place required pieces.

After a run, you can review score, lines, and combo stats, then start again. Local progress — including best Endless score and Daily history on that device — saves automatically when storage is allowed. Signing in can sync a limited score summary; full board saves stay on the device.

Settings that help new players

Open Settings to switch light, dark, or system appearance; reduce motion if animations distract you; and adjust sound or haptics where the device supports them. None of these settings change piece fairness, the Daily seed, or scoring math.

If you prefer a quieter first session, play Daily once to learn the feel of the board, then switch to Endless when you want longer runs. There is no tutorial gate and no forced account wall.

Next steps

When you understand placement and clears, read the scoring guide to see how combos multiply points, then the strategy guide for board-management habits that keep trays playable longer. For install and offline tips, see the offline guide.