Tetris Turns 35: Happy Birthday To The Most Addictive Game Ever

Tetris was first released in June 1984. Feel old yet?

Tetris was launched on 6 June 1984. (Photo Courtesy: Nintendo)

Remember Tetris? The addictive puzzle game that involved fitting dropping blocks into neat rows turns 35 this June.

How Did It All Begin?

It all began in Moscow on 6 June 1984, when Russian scientist Alexey Pajitnov developed the first version of Tetris on an Electronika 60 terminal computer while working at the Soviet Academy of Sciences. He derived its name from the Greek numerical prefix tetra (all of the game’s pieces contain four segments) and tennis, Pajitnov’s favourite sport.

Having sold over 170 million copies worldwide across a variety of consoles and platforms, and with over 425 million paid mobile downloads, Tetris still stands as one of the world’s most successful games.

So much so that 6 June is even known as World Tetris Day for gamers around the globe.

An online version of the game. (Photo Courtesy: Tetris.com)

In 1987, It became the first entertainment software to be exported from the USSR to the US where it made its way into IBM PC. Two years later, the game was distributed to PCs in North America and Europe.

In 1988, Dutch video game designer and publisher Henk Rogers discovered Tetris at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Rogers took it to Game Boy, and it was the hugely successful handheld version, launched in 1989, that cemented the game’s popularity.

The Science Behind Your Tetris Obsession

Tetris has also been the subject of scientific study. Researchers have examined the impact it has on subjects’ brains – including one that determined that playing the game reduces cravings for food, booze and cigarettes.

The game even appears in New York City’s Museum of Modern Art as a permanent addition to the museum’s exhibit on Applied Design.

Thousands of puzzle games and smartphone apps have been launched over the past three decades, but Tetris is alive and kicking. With countless new users trying out the game for the first time everyday, and a loyal fan following in place, Tetris is definitely here to stay.

(This story was first published on 8 June 2015 and has been reposted from The Quint’s archives to mark the day Tetris was unveiled)