"What are all these blocks?"
"What do the gems do?"
"Why are there monsters?"
"Why are there bigger monsters?"

You've probably got one or more of the questions above regarding Amshay in your mind, but don't fret! I'm gonna break it all down for ya.

(The following controls for controller assumes that you're on an Xbox 360 Controller, I assume the button positions are the same for PS4 and Nintendo controllers but if not, I'll update this guide to reflect that.)

To start off with controls, you can play Amshay with your keyboard or a controller. The format of the controls for both is the following: Keyboard | Controller - Action

Menus
Arrow Keys | Control Stick - Move selection cursor (or scroll through monsters in Collection)
Enter | Start - Start game (or exit Collection)

In-game
Left, Right, and Down Arrow Keys | Control Stick - Move piece left and right, and soft drop, respectively
Z | A - Rotate piece counter-clockwise
A/X | X/B - Rotate piece clockwise
Enter | Start - Pause

Alright, now for the game itself! You're given clusters of pieces that spawn from the top in the middle of the board and if a new cluster can't spawn in due to other pieces being in the way, you'll top out and lose. You can move the Cluster left and right, rotate it around, and either drop it onto the board manually with softdropping or over time as gravity pulls it down. After one part of your current cluster touches the ground or any other piece that's on the board, the rest of the pieces in the current cluster will fall. Here's how each of the different pieces work:


Blocks are the simplest out of the three piece types to clear. You just have to make a line with them on the board (a la Tetris) and every piece that's part of a completed line will be cleared. It's possible make multiple lines of Blocks at once as well!

(Before and after of a Block clear)

(Notice that entire 1x2 Blocks that are in a line get cleared)



Gems are where this game's enclosing mechanics start to kick in. For these, they only disappear if they're fully in an area surrounded by Blocks and/or the board's walls (orthogonally). It doesn't matter how large or how small the enclosure is!


(Multiple Gems can be cleared simultaneously.)



Lastly, there's Monsters. Monsters are greedy lil fellas, they only disappear if they're in an enclosed area surrounded by Blocks and/or board's walls (similarly to Gems) and if there's at least one Gem inside said enclosed area!

(Multiple independent enclosed area clears can happen at once! Also got a 2-chain here with the Blocks clearing afterwards, which is neat.)

(Just like with Gems, multiple Monsters can be cleared simultaneously.)

Also, sometimes you may notice that the game shows the next cluster of pieces that you're going to get, but occasionally your piece will become a 2x2 Monster when it spawns in instead of the expected cluster. That can happen randomly throughout play, so try to on your toes and handle them when they pop up! Each one you encounter will be added to the Collection at the title screen.

Due to any floating pieces falling after a clear occurs, it's possible to make chains where one clear immediately leads into another, which awards more points (as far as I know).

You can also clear the entire board, which also awards bonus points (again, as far as I know).

Aaaannnddd, that's Amshay! Or at the very least, the main gist of how the game plays. If I'm missing anything, feel free to let me know. Best of luck with sorting those Blocks, Gems, and Monsters!