When forming either a gold or silver block, you are forced to wait a small amount of time for the animation to finish before continuing to play again. This is also true when clearing a line that contains some gold or silver. This time is approximately 1 second on most screens (Mayan, Greece, Egypt, Africa, Japan, Factory) and 1.5 seconds on some (Celtic, Russia).
Mayan seems to bog down (animation becomes jittery) at certain times during the game. The accumulated effects of this will cost you precious seconds during your game. On the other end of the spectrum is Factory. Piece movement in Factory seems to be slightly faster than the other screens.
Based on these observations, we would recommend that you never play Celtic, Russia, and Mayan, and always play Greece, Egypt, Africa, Japan, and especially Factory. See Screen Chooser to control which screen the game will give you.
Each block configuration may have different orientations. Which orientation you choose depends on the order in which you get the pieces, as well as the side of the screen you will build on, with the ultimate goal of maximizing platform space (see below). The images below show some of the most useful configurations.
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In order to build blocks on top of partially completed blocks, it is important to construct the underlying blocks in such a manner that the width of the top of the block is maximized. This concept is known as platforming.
The key is to use the fewest pieces to set up a partial block having the widest platform. Note that a platform of width three allows the construction of any block above it, with the exception of blocks requiring one vertical blue stick (as in the four stick gold and various silvers).
The snapshots below demonstrate platforms of width three that can be constructed using nothing but two pieces. Note how the pinks and purples use a spiral configuration. When making golds you should always use the spiral configuration. When making silvers, you should also use a configuration that maximizes the platform space.