Happy Birthday, Comrade
Tetris Turned 25
We normally don’t post on weekends, but yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the release of Tetris and I couldn’t let a friend’s birthday go by without recognition, especially one with whom I’ve been friends since they were born.
I’ve spent a significant portion of the last 25 years creating rows out of falling tetrominoes–so much so that at times I’ve seen the damn things falling as I drifted off to sleep, yet I’ve never grown sick of the game. I still play it to this day. Granted the fervor with which I play is nowhere near what it was 25 years ago, but I have it on all my gadgets, so it pretty much goes with me wherever I go.
This would feel like a rather geeky admission if it weren’t for the fact that it has become so deeply ingrained in our pop culture. Its theme music has been played by orchestras the world over, there have been human based replications, Tetris apartments, Tetris jewelry, and there’s more Tetris themed art than you can shake several sticks at. There’s even been psychological studies to determine why people dream of those infernal blocks falling as they fall asleep.
There’s no doubt that Tetris has touched a lot of lives and wasted a lot of hours, but it’s also sparked a lot of creativity and been a lot of fun. So happy birthday, old friend, and thanks, Alexey Pajitnov and everyone else who ever ported the game to a new platform and kept the game alive and going strong.