The premise ofTetrisis simple: differently-shaped blocks fall on a screen, and it’s the player’s job to clear horizontal lines of them for as long as possible in order to accrue a high score. It’s an easily understandable concept that anyone, young or old, can grasp in a few seconds.Tetris’s accessibility, combined with its basic but addictive gameplay, make it the perfect pick-up-and-play title. It should come as no surprise then, that the game is massively popular and is still one of the best-selling games ever made.Tetrisdebuted in 1984 and, as of December 2011, sold over 202 million copies. The overall franchise it spawned, meanwhile, hasgarnered a whopping 520 million sales worldwide, making it the second most sold video game property of all time.
The originalTetrishas been ported to basically every platform one can think of, and the game has received more than 220 official variants throughout the years, unofficial clones not included. Many of these versions ofTetrisare unfortunately still trapped on aging hardware and aren’t easily accessible on modern devices these days. Fortunately,Tetris Forever, an upcoming 2024 title that doubles as both a video game compilation and an interactive documentary, aims to remedy this issue. This collection, which is being developed by Digital Eclipse for PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC, contains an assortment of classicTetristitles from the 1980s and 90s. So far,fifteen variants ofTetrishave been confirmed for the compilation, including some noteworthy releases.
Tetris Forever is a Deep Dive into the History of the Tetris Franchise
The Original Version of Tetris is Included in Tetris Forever
One of the games featured inTetrisForeveris, unsurprisingly, the originalTetris. This isn’t just any version of 1984’sTetris, though, this is literally the very first iteration of the title. Indeed,Tetris Foreverplayers will be able to try out the variant ofTetrisfor the Electronika 60, the line of Soviet computers that the hit puzzle game initially debuted on. In addition to this,Digital Eclipse’s compilationwill include two other versions of the firstTetristitle, one that launched on the Famicom in 1988 and another that came out on the Apple II in the same year. The Famicom variant ofTetris, in particular, has a different control scheme than other ports of the game, which makes it more significant.
1984
1988
1990
1991
1992
1995
1998
1993
1994
2024
Digital Eclipse
Tetris Forever Features Hatris, Super Bombliss, and Other Tetris Spin-Offs
Another game that’s included inTetris Foreveris the 1990 puzzle gameHatris, which, likeTetris, wasdesigned by the Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov. As its name suggests,Hatrisis basicallyTetris, but with hats instead of tetrominoes.Tetris Foreverfeatures all three of the game’s console ports, specifically the ones for the NES, the Famicom, and the Game Boy.
A handful ofotherTetrisspin-offswere released during the 90s, like 1995’sSuper Bombliss.Also known in North America asTetris Blast, this game is an expanded Game Boy and Super Famicom version of the titular mode featured inTetris 2 + Bombliss, a Japan-exclusive sequel to the originalTetris.ThisBomblissmode, which adds a fresh take on the standardTetrisformula by introducing exploding “bomb blocks,” is the highlight of several more installments in the series, likeSuper Bombliss DXfor the Game Boy Color, andSuper Tetris 2 + Bombliss(and its limited editionGenteibanvariant) for the Super Famicom. All of these aforementioned titles are included inTetris Forever.
Tetris 2 + Bombliss,Super Tetris 2 + Bombliss,Super Tetris 2 + Bombliss Genteiban,Super Bombliss(Super Famicom), Super BomblessDX,Super Tetris 3,Tetris Battle Gaiden,Tetris(Famicom), andHatris(Famicom) will be released outside of Japan for the first time ever inTetris Forever.
Tetris Forever Comes With a Brand-New Tetris Game
As if that wasn’t enough,Tetris Forevercontains a couple of other offshoot games as well, such as the multiplayer-focusedTetris Battle Gaidenand the Super Famicom titleSuper Tetris 3, both of whichwere only released in Japan. To top it all off, Digital Eclipse’s upcoming compilation includes a brand-new game calledTetris Time Warp, which, according to the developers, alternates between different variants ofTetrisin real time and features up to four-player co-op. Digital Eclipse has even hinted that moreTetristitles may be added toTetris Foreverin the future, but exact details on this matter have yet to be shared.
Tetris (1984)
Tetris® is the addictive puzzle game that started it all, embracing our universal desire to create order out of chaos. The Tetris game was created by Alexey Pajitnov in 1984—the product of Alexey’s computer programming experience and his love of puzzles. In the decades to follow, Tetris became one of the most successful and recognizable video games, appearing on nearly every gaming platform available.The goal of Tetris is to score as many points as possible by clearing horizontal lines of Blocks. The player must rotate, move, and drop the falling Tetriminos inside the Matrix (playing field). Lines are cleared when they are filled with Blocks and have no empty spaces. As lines are cleared, the level increases and Tetriminos fall faster, making the game progressively more challenging. If the Blocks land above the top of the playing field, the game is over.
