TetroTime

A terminal clock powered by the tetrominos from your childhood.

Built with pixel_loop. Live-coded on YouTube at MrJakob.

Installation

cargo install tetrotime

Pre-built binaries for macOS, Linux, and Windows are available on the GitHub Releases page.

Quick Start

tetrotime                      # Clock showing current local time
tetrotime --stopwatch          # Stopwatch counting up from 00:00:00
tetrotime --countdown 00:05:00 # 5-minute countdown timer

Resize your terminal window until the digits fit comfortably. Press Q to quit.

Documentation

Tetrotime renders time as tetromino-styled digits in your terminal — tetrominos drop from the top and stack up to form each digit. When the time changes, old pieces scatter and new ones fall into place. It supports three modes (clock, stopwatch, countdown) and ships with 12 colorschemes.

tetrotime [OPTIONS]

CLI Options

Option	Default	Description
-c, --clock		Show a clock (default mode)
-w, --stopwatch		Show a stopwatch
-d, --countdown <DURATION>		Show a countdown timer (duration as HHMMSS or HH:MM:SS)
-s, --colorscheme <SCHEME>	original	Select a colorscheme
-h, --help		Print help

Modes

Tetrotime has three modes. If none is specified, it defaults to clock.

Clock shows the current local time as HH:MM:SS:

tetrotime
tetrotime --clock

Stopwatch counts up from 00:00:00 starting at launch:

tetrotime --stopwatch
tetrotime -w

Countdown counts down from a given duration to 00:00:00. Accepts HH:MM:SS or HHMMSS format:

tetrotime --countdown 00:05:00  # 5 minutes
tetrotime -d 013000             # 1 hour 30 minutes
tetrotime -d 000030             # 30 seconds

Colorschemes

Tetrotime ships with 12 colorschemes. Pass one with -s or --colorscheme:

tetrotime -s neon
tetrotime --colorscheme ocean

Name	Description
original (default)	The classic — bright, bold tetromino colors
grayscale	Monochrome shades for a minimalist terminal
position	Each digit position gets its own color — a rainbow across the clock
digit	Colors tied to the digit value, so every 3 looks the same wherever it appears
neon	Glowing cyberpunk vibes on a dark terminal
pastel	Soft and muted, easy on the eyes
ocean	Blues and turquoises from somewhere deep underwater
autumn	Reds, browns, and golden tones — leaves falling, not just tetrominos
christmas	Festive reds, greens, and gold
warm	Yellows and oranges, like staring into a fireplace
matrix	Green phosphor — you'll see the code eventually
purple	Deep violet and plum tones

Controls

• Press Q to quit
• The display adapts to your terminal size automatically — resize the window for best results

Development

git clone https://github.com/jakobwesthoff/tetrotime.git
cd tetrotime
cargo build --release
cargo run

License

MIT License, Copyright © 2024-2026 Jakob Westhoff

See LICENSE for the full text.