Top out

A top out occurs when:
 * a tetromino cannot be place at least partially within the play zone.
 * garbage pieces are sent, pushing the top pieces above the spawn zone.

Top outs result in a game over.

Loss condition
There are several variations of what constitutes a top out:
 * Block out: a piece is spawned overlapping at least one block in the playfield
 * Lock out: a piece locks when it is entirely out of bounds (that is, in the vanish zone above the ceiling)
 * Partial lock out: a piece locks when it is partially out of bounds, even if it would clear a line
 * Garbage out: After lines are cleared and garbage is added, a block remains out of bounds

Different games have used different combinations of these conditions:
 * This list is incomplete.


 * Tetris (NES, Nintendo): a piece locks overlapping at least one block, but in some cases it is possible to move or rotate out of such a situation
 * Tetris (Game Boy): Similar to NES Tetris, but slightly more lenient in ways that aren't fully understood
 * Dr. Mario, Tetris and Dr. Mario, Puyo Pop, Super Puzzle Fighter II, Kirby's Star Stacker: block out
 * Bombliss: garbage out
 * Tetris (Atari), Tetris (NES, Tengen), The New Tetris, and Tetris DS (push mode): partial lock out or garbage out
 * Tetris Attack: garbage out; in multiplayer mode, evaluation is delayed by a split second
 * Tetris DS (standard mode and mission mode) and most other recent games: block out or lock out