Honestly I didn't want to think about clearing rows of bricks and ended up with this more inverted design! Originally the intention was to have a "wait for the perfect bite" vs "cash-in points now and start anew" moment but found people really went after the former. I was mulling on the idea of blocking out the spaces that were already occupied in your mouth as you suggested, unfortunately decided against it due to lack of time and worrying that it might just block up too much of the screen? I also wondered if it would make it too easy... I definitely could give it a try to see though.