The Secret Magic of Tetris
Question: what is the best-selling video game ever? Do you know?
Answer: It’s Minecraft. Wait, that’s not the point I wanted to make. Redo.
Question 2: what is the second best-selling video game ever?
Answer: It’s Tetris! Is that surprising?
For reference, I’m using this listing from Wikipedia to back up my claim. There are a few interesting things I should point out about that chart:
Nintendo occupies a shocking amount of space in the best-sellers list! They either made or published 8 of the 12 top-spot games. Nintendo did not make Tetris.
Tetris is in a bit of a rare group: again, of the top 12 games, only it and two others weren’t published in this century.
How is that possible? Considering the short lifespan of so many video games, how has Tetris, of all things, endured? To explain that, it’s important that you’re at least somewhat familiar with the game. Click here to go to an online version of Tetris, play a few rounds, and come back when you’re done.
…you’re back? How long did you spend playing, out of curiosity? Was it a while? Did you have fun? If so, why?
The secret to Tetris’ longevity might be psychological. When you turn the game on, you are presented with a blank canvas. But that’s only where the game begins—gradually, blocks of varying shapes start to fall from the sky, and you are the only person who can stack them together and eliminate them.
Gradually, as the game progresses, blocks begin to fall faster. You have less time to think, less time to react, and less time to get done what you want to do. Eventually, no matter the quality of your gameplay, the blocks build up and reach the top of the screen, at which point your game is over. In theory, it doesn’t sound like too great of a concept: a game that you always lose? No matter what?
Tangent: an incredibly interesting side effect of (over)playing Tetris is known as the “Tetris effect.” People “suffering” from the effect seem to have compulsive urges to arrange real-world objects in Tetris-like ways. It can actually happen with other games too, like crosswords, Rubik’s cubes, and jigsaw puzzles.
Ultimately, Tetris is so successful as a concept in part because it’s also so successful at seamlessly simulating our lives on a screen. While we can’t control the circumstances that come our way, we do have the opportunity to form our responses and shape our environment.
The real world is complex: people interacts constantly, always influencing each other and the world. When we make a mistake in Tetris, there is no one to blame except ourselves.
In real life, there are no do-overs. But in every round of Tetris, if you don’t like the way things went for you, just hit the reset button and it’s like nothing ever happened.
Tetris appeals to us (and has been published dozens of times) because it is a clever, concise, and inspired rendition of our everyday lives. You didn’t choose to play the game. You can’t win the game. But while you play, you can shape yourself and your surroundings to make the most of your limited time. Be sure to go for a new high score while you’re at it.
Recommended viewing: the excellent (and highly satisfying) Soft Body Tetris series, the amazing players of the Classic Tetris World Champsionship, and an episode of The Anthropocene Reviewed focusing on Tetris.
