Found in every game in the series except for the MSX2/Famicom Disk System original, the nuisance queue is a bar above each player's Puyo board that shows how many Garbage Puyos they are about to receive after an opponent has cleared their Puyos.
The nuisance queue uses symbols, rather than the numbers that Tetris was using at the time. The following three garbage symbols have appeared throughout the entire series:
| Symbol | Number of Garbage Puyos dropped |
|---|---|
Small garbage block |
1 |
Big garbage block |
6 (a whole row) |
Red garbage block |
30 (nearly half the board, 5 big garbage blocks)
Some sources, like the manual for Kirby's Avalanche, may state that this icon indicates 36 Garbage Puyos; these are misprints. |
The regular garbage blocks send their loads all at once, while red garbage blocks send their loads one at a time.
There does not appear to be a limit to how high the garbage queue can go. Even though the maximum size of a Puyo Puyo board is 72 spaces (two red garbage blocks and two regular, big garbage blocks), the nuisance queue can show more pending Garbage Puyos than this. In fact, every game since Puyo Puyo Tsu has used symbols for higher numbers of Garbage Puyos, despite being superfluous. The current standard, in place since Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary:
| Symbol | Number of Garbage Puyos dropped |
|---|---|
Star |
180 |
Moon |
360 |
Crown |
720 |
Comet |
1,440 |
The display usually caps out at six comets, or 8,640 Garbage Puyos.
Puyo Puyo~n used symbols to indicate even higher quantities than this, up to a red Dreamcast swirl that would send a trillion Garbage Puyos.
Finally, the nuisance queue appears in the Puyo Puyo Tetris games even to Tetris players. In this case, the nuisance queue shows how many garbage lines a player is about to receive; the garbage lines drop seven at a time rather than 30.
Previous symbols[]
Those are previously used symbols, or symbols with previously used values.
| Symbol | Number of Garbage Puyos dropped |
|---|---|
| Meteor | 200 |
| Star (Tsu) | 300 |
| Crown (Tsu) | 420 |
| Comet (Sun) | 720 |
| Saturn (Sun) | 1,440 |
Puyo Puyo~n[]
In Puyo Puyo~n, it uses the original system with changes to the Star, Moon, Crown, Comet, and Planet symbol values plus the addition of many new symbols including swirls and shapes found in playing cards. The system is as follows:
| Symbol | Number of Garbage Puyos dropped |
|---|---|
| Small garbage puyo | 1 |
| Large garbage puyo | 6, equivalent to 1 row |
| Red garbage puyo (Rock) | 30, equivalent to 5 large garbage puyos |
| Star puyo | 90, equivalent to 5 red garbage puyos |
| Moon puyo | 180, equivalent to 2 star puyos |
| Comet puyo | 360, equivalent to 2 moon puyos |
| Saturn puyo | 720, equivalent to 2 comet puyos |
| Club puyo | 1,000, equivalent to 1 saturn puyo, 1 moon puyo, 1 star puyo, 1 large puyo, and 4 small puyos combined |
| Diamond puyo | 5,000, equivalent to 5 club puyos |
| Heart puyo | 20,000, equivalents to 4 diamond puyos |
| Spade puyo | 100,000, equivalents to 5 heart puyos |
| Crown puyo | 500,000, equivalents to 5 spade puyos |
| Mushroom puyo | 2,000,000, equivalent to 4 crown puyos |
| Sun puyo | 10,000,000, equivalent to 5 mushroom puyos |
| Top hat puyo | 50,000,000, equivalent to 5 sun puyos |
| Ball puyo | 200,000,000, equivalent to 4 top hat puyos |
| Tent puyo | 1,000,000,000, equivalent to 5 ball puyos |
| GD-ROM puyo | 5,000,000,000, equivalent to 5 tent puyos |
| Blue swirl puyo | 10,000,000,000, equivalent to 2 CD-ROM puyos |
| Green swirl puyo | 50,000,000,000, equivalent to 5 blue swirl puyos |
| Yellow swirl puyo | 100,000,000,000, equivalent to 2 green swirl puyos |
| Purple swirl puyo | 500,000,000,000, equivalent to 5 yellow swirl puyos |
| Red swirl puyo | 1,000,000,000,000, equivalent to 2 purple swirl puyos |