Garbage

In several modes of play, rectangular garbage of various widths and heights can drop onto the player's stack, and can even extend above the top of the playfield. When a set of blocks that is touching a garbage block clears from the playfield, any garbage blocks touching this clear are "transformed" into regular blocks, which come into play when the garbage block is finished transforming. Any garbage blocks of the same type as the first one and touching the first one are similarly transformed, though non-touching garbage and differently-typed garbage do not transform in this case.

In versus modes, players can send garbage to their opponents' playfields by scoring chains and combos. This sends garbage blocks according to the player's color (arbitrarily assigned in some games, or based on the player's character selection in others). Combos send varying numbers and sizes of blocks according to the size of the combo, while chains send garbage blocks that span the width of the playfield and vary in thickness depending on the size of the chain. Players can also clear "shock blocks" (also called surprise blocks) – grey blocks usually containing exclamation points – that send chrome-colored garbage to the opponents' playfields. While these garbage blocks follow the same clearing rules, they do not clear when adjacent colored garbage blocks do, unless the match touches both at the same time.

Item blocks

Debuting in Planet Puzzle League, item blocks are special blocks that are optionally available in Garbage Battle matches, which cause certain effects when cleared. While the item is in effect, the item block is displayed to the right of the playfield of the affected player, scrolling up from the bottom of the screen, with the effect wearing off when the item scrolls past the top of the screen.

• Fever blocks, indicated by a flame symbol, cause all the player's clears during a fixed period of time to be chained together.
• Tri-Color blocks, indicated by a symbol of three squares, cause the variety of colored blocks in a player's playfield to be reduced to three colors for a fixed amount of time: red, blue, and green.
• Reflect blocks, indicated by a symbol of an upward-pointing arrow with a bar on top, cause a player's garbage to be sent to the opponent.^[1]
• Twitch blocks, indicated by a symbol of circular arrows, cause the opponent's playfield to shake, "shuffling" their blocks in which the blocks change color at random.^[1]
• Paralyze blocks, indicated by jagged line symbol, cause a row of blocks in an opponent's playfield to become inaccessible for moves for a fixed period of time.^[1]
• Fog blocks, indicated by an "X" symbol, change some of an opponent's blocks into un-clearable gray blocks for a fixed period of time.