May 19, 2022 – Tetris

Happy Throwback Thursday! Today we’re spotlighting the year 1984, the year Tetris was created! The game was created by a Soviet software engineer named Alexey Pajitnov, who worked as a speech recognition researcher at the Soviet Academy of Sciences. While his job was testing the capabilities of new hardware, he ultimately wanted to use computers to make people happy.
He was inspired by a childhood game he used to play called pentominoes, where you create pictures using its shapes. He remembered the difficulty of getting the pieces to fit back in their box, and built his game based on that concept. He came up with the name Tetris by combining the word “tetra” (which means four) and his favorite sport, tennis. He finished the first playable version in June 1984. He shared it with his coworkers, who loved it and quickly became addicted to the game. It spread across Europe, and finally made its way to the West in 1986.
Tetris has been the subject of a lot of scientific research. Studies have shown that playing Tetris can lead to more efficient brain activity during play and it can also boost cognitive functions like critical thinking and reasoning. Research has also shown that playing the game could distract from cravings if you’re trying to stick to a diet, or if you’re trying to quit smoking or drinking.
Tetris is one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time, selling 202 million copies by 2011. It’s available on more than 65 platforms, giving it the Guinness world record for most ported video game. Learn more here.