Tetris, the Transcendent Game

How this simple game about stacking blocks has grown, changed, and adapted to each new generation

My earliest memories of gaming come from the NES version of Tetris. As one of the first games I ever played, the sights and sounds that came with it are forever engrained in my mind. A flat gray background, colored blocks, and an 8-bit cover of Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies on repeat.

For most of my life, this is how I always envisioned the game. Then I played Tetris Effect for the first time, and everything changed. My original preconceptions of the game shattered, and I saw all the possibilities of what Tetris could be.

Despite not playing it in years, I was as enraptured with this new version of Tetris as I was with the original. I had the same level of focus and drive to complete each level. My heart raced and my mouth became dry like it always did when the speed went beyond my comfort level. It was Tetris. My Tetris. But at the same time, it was far more than that.

You have your own memory of Tetris. It could be like mine, playing it on a Nintendo, or in a dimly-lit arcade at some point in your childhood. Or it could be one of the other hundred-plus variants of the game that have been released over the years. But it is something that we all have; a…