| In 1985, Alexey Pazhitnov invented Tetris as | | | | rare situations allow T, S and Z to 'snap' |
| part of a science project for the University | | | | into tight spots, clearing triples.) |
| of Sciences in Moscow. The name Tetris is | | | | |
| derived from the Greek word "Tetra" which | | | | It is believed to be one of the best selling |
| stands for four - as all the pieces in the | | | | games of all time, mostly due to it's |
| game are made of four blocks. | | | | availability on a great amount of platforms. |
| | | | Tetris has been featured in Arcades, mobile |
| Seven randomly rendered tetrominoes or | | | | gaming devices such as Nintendo's Game Boy, |
| tetrads - shapes composed of four blocks each | | | | mobile phones, PDAs, personal computers and |
| - fall down the playing field. The object of | | | | of course the web. |
| the game is to manipulate these tetrominoes | | | | |
| with the aim of creating a horizontal line of | | | | The music for the original Game Boy edition |
| blocks without gaps. When such a line is | | | | of Tetris titled "Music A" has become very |
| created, it disappears, and the blocks above | | | | widely known. It is a in fact a Russian folk |
| (if any) fall. As the game progresses, the | | | | tune called "Korobeyniki". To this day it is |
| tetrominoes fall faster, and the game ends | | | | estimated that two our of three adults living |
| when the stack of Tetrominoes reaches the top | | | | in the US identify the tune as "The Tetris |
| of the playing field. | | | | tune". |
| | | | |
| The seven rendered tetrominoes in Tetris are | | | | Tetris is a registered trademark of the |
| referred to as I, T, O, L, J, S, and Z. All | | | | Tetris Company LLC, but the game itself is |
| are capable of single and double clears. I, | | | | not copyrighted in the US (games cannot be |
| L, and J are able to clear triples. Only the | | | | copyrighted, only patented, and any Patent |
| I tetromino has the capacity to clear four | | | | claims to Tetris would be expired by today) - |
| lines simultaneously, and this clear is | | | | which is why many Tetris clones legally |
| referred to as a "tetris." (This may vary | | | | exist. |
| depending on the rotation and compensation | | | | |
| rules of each specific Tetris implementation; | | | | Play a Flash version of Tetris at |
| For instance, in the "Tetris Worlds" rules | | | | PlayedOnline. |
| used in many recent implementations, certain | | | | |