In June of 1984, Alexey Pajitnov created a game that we all know today: Tetris. That means that this month marks the 25th anniversary. Thus this article is a tribute to Tetris, a classic and timeless game.
Since its release, Tetris has become available virtually everywhere. You can find the program for computer operating systems, gaming consoles, cellular phones, or even graphing calculators! If you are in the mood for a round right now, you could visit tetris.com and follow the links to play one of the many variants of Tetris (or, of course, the original).
Some interesting information:
- The name Tetris has two roots. As you may have guessed, part of it comes from the Greek numerical stem tetra-, meaning four, because all of the pieces in Tetris are made of four blocks. The suffix comes from tennis. Why tennis? Tennis was Pajitnov’s favorite sport; it’s as simple as that.
- Tetris is played in more than 50 countries and translated for those 50 different languages.
- The falling pieces are technically called Tetrominos; although, in the earliest versions they were called tetrads. The pieces can be referred to as I, J, L, O, S, T, and Z because of their resemblance to each.
- The maximum number of lines you can clear with a single Tetronimo is four (using the I piece to fill in a vertical gap); this is called a Tetris and earns you bonus points.
- Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer’s Edition ranks Tetris #2 on the “Top 50 Console Games of All Time.” (The winner was Super Mario Kart.)
- From the official Tetris Website, “Tetris has even been played on the sides of buildings! The record for the world’s largest working game of Tetris belongs to the Dutch students of the Delft University of Technology, who in 1995, lit up 15 floors of their Electrical Engineering Department.”
For a fun video involving people that recreate the game of Tetris click here to see The Original Human Tetris Performance by Guillaume Reymond.
To think, all this originated from a puzzle-loving Russian who started the frenzy 25 years ago. Thank you, Alexey Pajitnov, and happy 25th anniversary, Tetris!
