The legendary puzzle-game that is often considered to be the quintessential video game. Tetris was originally designed by Soviet computer programmer Alexey Pajitnov on an Elektronika 60 computer in 1985 while working for the computing center of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. The name is derived from the Greek prefix, “tetra” meaning “four” alluding to the game pieces which are each made of four blocks.
The game premise is simple. Players must guide and orient falling Tetris pieces to create straight horizontal line blocks which subsequently disappear after they are formed. The object is to keep your pile low while creating these lines, even as the
speed of the blocks increases as you level up. Eventually of course, the
speed will be too great for even the most skilled players. Tetris gained fame and success when it was initially released for various home computer systems under an obscure copyright license. Later versions that were released by Nintendo and Tengen were entangled in legal arguments but nevertheless served to increase the game’s exposure. Since then, numerous Tetris clones have appeared on a large number of platforms owing to the game’s enduring appeal. Some magazines have called Tetris the greatest video game ever made.
