Tetris Trivia: 20 Weird and Wonderful Facts About the World’s Most Popular Game

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Tetris is one of the most popular video games of all time, and for good reason. It’s simple to learn but difficult to master, and it’s incredibly addictive. Here are some weird and wonderful facts about the game:

1. Tetris was invented by a Soviet computer scientist. Alexey Pajitnov created Tetris in 1984 while working at the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union. He was inspired by a pentomino puzzle, which is a puzzle made up of five squares.
2. The name “Tetris” is a combination of the Greek word “tetra” (meaning “four”) and the word “tennis.” This is because Tetris features tetrominoes, which are shapes made up of four squares. Pajitnov was also a big fan of tennis, so he decided to combine the two words to create the name of his game. Tetrominoes + tennis = Tetris. Combining words like this is called a portmanteau.
3. Tetris was originally coded for the Elektronika 66, a Soviet computer that was not widely available. The first easily accessible version of Tetris was released in 1985 for the IBM PC.
4. Tetris was the first video game to be played in space. In 1993, Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Serebrov took a Game Boy and Tetris game cartridge with him to the Mir space station.
5. Tetris owes its global popularity to the Nintendo Game Boy. Tetris was ported to the Nintendo Game Boy in 1989, and was bundled with the purchase of each new Game Boy. As Game Boy sales surged around the world, so did the popularity of Tetis. It didn’t take long for Tetris to become a global phenomenon.

6. Playing Tetris trains your brain to stack items. It’s called the “Tetris Effect.” The Tetris Effect is a phenomenon that occurs when people play Tetris for extended periods of time. After a while, people start to see Tetris-like shapes in the real world. For example, you might see Tetris blocks when you look at a stack of books or the buildings in a city skyline. The Tetris Effect is a sign that the game has trained your brain on how to think. The “Tetris Effect” has been studied by scientists as a potential way to improve cognitive function.
7. Tetris has been used to treat PTSD. Studies have shown that playing Tetris can help to reduce symptoms of PTSD, such as flashbacks and nightmares.
8. Tetris can help you lose weight. A study published in the journal Appetite found that playing Tetris can reduce food cravings. The researchers believe that the fast-paced nature of the game distracts the part of the brain that produces cravings. So, if you’re trying to lose weight, fire up a game of Tetris instead of reaching for a snack.
9. The world’s best Tetris players compete against each other in tournaments. The world record for the fastest time to complete a level of Tetris is 0.55 seconds. Wow!
10. There is a Tetris-themed world record for the most tetrominoes stacked in a single column. The record is 27 tetrominoes, and it was set by Jonas Neubauer in 2014.

11. Tetris has been featured in art and literature. Tetris has been the subject of paintings, sculptures, and even a ballet. It has also been mentioned in books and movies.
12. There is a Tetris-themed restaurant in Japan. The Tetris Company, which owns the rights to the Tetris franchise, opened a Tetris-themed restaurant in Tokyo in 2016. The restaurant serves food in Tetris-shaped dishes and even has a Tetris-themed arcade.
13. There is a Tetris game show called “Hole In The Wall“. The human Tetris game show features contestants trying to contort their body into certain shapes, so they can pass through a wall.

14. Tetris has been released on over 65 different platforms, including home consoles, handheld consoles, mobile devices, and even new arcade machines.
15. Tetris has sold over 500 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling video game of all time. It has sold more copies than Pokémon, Minecraft, Super Mario, or Call Of Duty.
16. The creator of Tetris barely made any money from it at first. Alexey Pajitnov, the Russian programmer who created Tetris, worked for the Academy of Sciences Computer Center in Moscow when he invented the game. Because Tetris was developed in the Soviet Union, all profits from the game went directly to the government. Pajitnov didn’t start receiving royalties until 1996, after he founded The Tetris Company and took over licensing responsibilities.

17. A Tetris Hotel was built for design week in 2017. Created by MVRDV Designs, the multicolored structure was part of a display for Dutch Design Week. It is made up of a stack of Tetris-shaped modules, each with its own unique personality. The rooms are bright and colorful, and the hotel is powered by solar energy. There’s also a Tetris Hotel in Japan that even has Tetris-themed bathroom tile.

18. The Tetris theme song is a 19th-century Russian folk song. The catchy tune that plays in the background of Tetris is actually a Russian folk song called “Korobeiniki.” It tells the story of a peddler who meets a girl and tries to sell her goods. The song is a metaphor for courtship, and it’s fitting that it was chosen for a game that’s all about fitting things together.
19. Andrew Lloyd Weber wrote a Tetris dance track. That’s right, the man behind Cats and Phantom of the Opera was such a Tetris fan that he wrote a dance track based on the Tetris theme. The song, called “Tetris Theme (Dr. Spin Mix),” was released in 1992 and reached number six on the UK charts. It’s a high-energy track that’s sure to get you moving.
20. Tetris had its own TV commercial. In 1989, Nintendo produced a Tetris TV commercial to help promote the Game Boy.

Tetris: It's a simple game that's hard to put down, with a cult following and a few quirks. #tetris Share on X

Weird And Wonderful Tetris Trivia

Tetris is a game that has captured the hearts of people of all ages from all over the world. It’s a game that is both simple and complex, and more importantly, never gets old. So next time you’re feeling bored or stressed, fire up a game of Tetris and see how long you can last.

Tetris Trivia: Weird and Wonderful Facts About the World's Most Popular Game #tetris Share on X