Talking of puzzle games and you don’t mention about Tetris, sounds a bit unrealistic. It is probably one of the world's first puzzle video games and is still very relevant today in the age of graphic-intensive gaming. 

What makes this game so popular and addictive is its simplicity and its ability to increase brain efficiency (according to a journal published in the BMC Research Notes).

Also, the game has featured on almost every gaming platform be it a gaming console, PC, smartphones, etc which has increased its reach among masses worldwide without the barrier of language and ethnicity. In this article, we dive deep into this legendary puzzle game to know more about it.

About Tetris Game

History

Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov, an AI researcher working for the Russian science academy created the game Tetris in June 1984. Tetris was inspired by the famous board puzzle game, Pentominoes, which also happens to be Alexey’s favorite game.

Pajintov thought of creating an electronic version of his favorite game and he ended up creating Tetris. He called this game Tetris because it uses seven geometric pieces falling from the top and all are made of four squares. Basically, Tetris is a combination of two words Tetra( four in geeks) and Tennis (again his favorite sport).

Gameplay

Since its beginning in 1984 there are thousands of versions of Tetris that have come to existence. However, the gameplay with minor changes remains the same in all its variants. The game starts with an empty playing area and then different geometrical shaped blocks start falling from the top one by one. The player can rotate the falling blocks until it touches the bottom field or land on an already placed block. During its fall the player can not reduce the speed of the block but in most versions of the game player can increase the speed of the falling blocks.

Objective Of The Game

The objective of Tetris is to create as many horizontal lines as possible from the falling blocks AKA tetrominoes. When there remains no space in the horizontal line it disappears, again making the space vacant for a new line of blocks. Your goal is to clear as many horizontal lines as possible and score as many points as possible to score high.

The speed of the falling blocks increases as you advance to a newer level, hence you need to be fast to be able to create a high score. The game ends when there remains no more space for a new block to fit in.

Tetris Effect

The Tetris effect is the fancy term that is used by the players to describe how they use their game skills in real life to organize things. Loading dishes in the dishwasher or organizing storage, players use their Tetris skills to fit things in the minimal empty space. And this is called the Tetris effect.

Wrap Up

Tetris is a must-play puzzle game and if you are a puzzle lover then it can’t get any better than this. It has been 36 years since it was first introduced to the world and today it is one of most played puzzle games ever.

Also, it's not just for time pass but according to a lot of studies and research playing Tetris can be a great mental exercise. Thus, boosting your logical and critical thinking capabilities.