Tetris, the game that became a worldwide phenomenon, completes its 40th anniversary today. On June 6th of 1984, Alexey Pajitnov created the very first version of Tetris, made on an old Elektronika 60 computer, which only supported letters and numbers, not graphics. From the original model using nothing but brackets to represent tetriminos falling, to the modern “Tetris Effect,” which has varying artistic themes, Tetris has withstood the test of time more than anyone could have ever predicted.
Working at the Academy of Science in 80s Russia, Alexey did not have exactly the most resources and opportunities to work with. Still, he had a brilliant idea and set his mind to bringing it to life. Eventually, his work paid off. When Western companies learned about Tetris and started seeing the potential of it, a legal fight for rights began. Some guaranteed arcade rights while others held computer rights. But one that no one thought of were portable gaming systems. After all, there were not any at that time. However, an ambitious Nintendo came up with the concept for what would become the original Game Boy. Henk Rogers, a Dutch born man who grew up in the United States, later marrying a Japanese woman and moving to Japan, grew a particular interest in Alexey’s game. In fact, after quite the story, the two ended up becoming lifelong friends and are still close to this day.
Henk managed to secure the Tetris rights to gaming systems, which led to Nintendo choosing the game to come included in its 1989 Game Boy system. Both Rogers and Pajitnov started gaining money from the higher than predicted sales, paying off the creator of Tetris in a way he thought impossible before. In addition, that was when the game started hitting its popularity high, with people in America buying Game Boy systems just to play it. The fact that a game about falling blocks could compete with a Super Mario game on a Nintendo device spoke by itself.
In truth, the magic of Tetris is that it does not feel like a game created to sell; it feels like an addictive phenomenon discovered by a person. Like chess, it makes the player think of the possible outcomes and slowly get better. And unlike most games in the late 80s and early 90s, it was not child marketed; everyone could enjoy it.
Today the Tetris company’s CEO is Henk’s daughter, Maya Rogers. With a more connected-than ever-before planet, the game can be played for free on https://tetris.com/. Also “Tetris Effect”, a beautiful artistic version with varying themes can be bought on different platforms, and “Tetris 99,” a multiplayer version of the game, can be played on the Switch console with a Nintendo online membership. Apple has also produced a movie on its streaming service, portraying the story of Alexey Pajitnov and Henk Rogers, of course with exaggerated scenes for entertainment purposes, but with some very close to reality facts.
So, as today marks 40 years since Alexey sat on his desk, bringing an ambitious idea to life on an old Elektronika 60, it is the perfect time to celebrate “World Tetris Day.” Although not as popular as it once was, the game still holds many fans, including adults who played it as kids, and younger audiences who came to love it. So if you are one of those fans, there are nearly endless possibilities to celebrate. Be it playing any of the game’s version, watching the movie, or finding their own fun activity, today is sure to be a very special day for many people worldwide. After all, Alexey’s legacy has withstood 40 years and will very likely withstand many more.
