Hatris

Hatris is a video game franchise initially managed by ParaGraph, a joint venture. Hatris was designed in 1989 by ParaGraph participants Alexey Pajitnov and Vladimir Pokhilko, and licensed to Bullet-Proof Software. From 1999 onward, the trademark would be held by Alexey Pajitnov himself.

Gameplay

Pairs of various types of hats fall from the top of a 6 column playfield. The player can control the hats by moving them horizontally, swapping the positions of two hats, and dropping them downward. If one hat lands before the other, the player can continue to control the other single hat. The player must arrange the hats into stacks, and creating a stack of five of the same type of hat removes them from the playfield and earns points. Using a single pair of hats to clear two stacks is called a "hatris," and is worth twice as many points.

The player must take care to manage the height of the hat stacks; each type of hat is a different height, and particular nesting efficiency with each other type of hat. If the hats in any column crosses the limit line at the top of the playfield, the game is over.

Hatris games often have other elements that can help or hinder the player. For instance, many Hatris games include fireballs that will burn the topmost group of hats in a column, or a "Sale" screen between stages that allows the player to remove all of a selected type of hat from the playfield.

List of games

Title(s)	Year	Developer(s)	Publisher(s)	Region(s)
Hatris (Arcade)	1990	Video System Co., Ltd.	Video System Co., Ltd.	JP, NA
Hatris (Famicom)	1990	Bullet-Proof Software	Bullet-Proof Software	JP
Hatris (PC Engine)	1991	Micro Cabin	Tengen	JP
Hatris (Sharp Wizard)	1991?	Micro Cabin	?	JP, NA, PAL
Hatris (Game Boy)	1991	Bullet-Proof Software	Bullet-Proof Software	JP, NA, PAL
Hatris (PC-9801)	1991	Bullet-Proof Software	Bullet-Proof Software	JP
Hatris (NES)	1992	Bullet-Proof Software	Bullet-Proof Software	NA, PAL
Hatris DX	2004	Althi	Althi	JP
Hatris (G-Mode)	2004	G-Mode	G-Mode	JP