Columns

Columns is a simple recreation of Sega's arcade game of the same name. It plays by the standard rules: columns made from three coloured blocks fall down the screen, and the player needs to arrange them so that three or more blocks of the same colour form horizontal, vertical or diagonal lines ("triples"), which are then removed from the playing field. Points are scored for these cleared blocks, and upon reaching a certain threshold, the game moves on to the nest level where columns fall faster. Like in Tetris, there is a preview of the next piece to appear on the screen, allowing the player to plan out a strategy of combining these elements in the best possible way.

Columns was originally distributed as shareware. The unregistered version is fully playable, but includes a nag screen, does not allow to pause the game and does not save the high score table. Eventually the author made the registered version available as a free download, accepting voluntary donations from users.