Retro Gamer talks to Alexey Pajitnov, creator of the groundbreaking Tetris

‘Do androids dream of electric sheep?’ was a question posed by Philip K Dick. If so, they’re the lucky ones because I dream of blocks comprising four squares, falling downwards, rotating and slotting together to create solid lines, which subsequently vanish, along with a small amount of my sanity each time. This kind of dream, referred to as the ‘Tetris effect’ is perhaps more common than you would think (which doesn’t mean you’re any less crazy if you experience it – just that there are more crazy people out there than you thought), and it highlights the massive reach of the action-puzzler that prompts it. Because, for all of videogaming’s attempts to become increasingly mainstream, there are few games that achieve the lofty goal of being truly recognisable to all – even stalwart classics such as Space Invaders and Pac-Man may be unknown to younger audiences. 

However, Tetris is different – almost ubiquitous. For all its appeal and reach, it started off as little more than an amusing distraction for its creator, Alexey Pajitnov, while he tested new hardware while working at the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR, in Moscow.

As a graduate of computer science, Alexey’s work at the Academy of Science was largely based around artificial intelligence research, and he describes himself at the time as “a young workaholic – the type that loves to program and sit for long hours at work”. Alexey was also tasked with figuring out how new hardware that regularly arrived at the academy could be put to use for his research. “The best way to learn a new machine is to try and make a small program for it to see how it works,” he explains, leading up to the reason why Tetris was initially created. “Small computer games were the ideal form for this kind of testing program, and that’s why I had some kind of excuse, if you will, to work on my game.”

Of course, hardware is somewhat by the by – the crux of any game (or, at least, any good game) is its concept, and although Tetris would become a fluid, organic project during development, its seeds were sewn early on in Alexey’s life. “I was a sharp kid, and have always been interested in riddles and puzzles, and I even changed schools to join one with a special mathematical component,” he explains. “That was also the time of communism in Russia, and so we didn’t have too much entertainment around us – and so intellectual mind games were a very good diversion. I saw this passion all around me, and children used to compete in a kind of ‘mathematical Olympics’ competition, in which I participated a lot. This part of my life later translated into the games that I did.”

Of the puzzles that fascinated Alexey, pentominoes stood out. “It’s a dozen pieces made out of five squares, and they kind of look like jigsaw pieces, only more mathematical,” he explains. “The puzzle existed in Russia, sold in stores and fashioned in plastic, and I thought it was absolutely great – the best puzzle in the world.” What appealed most was the simplicity of the pieces and the massive scope they offered for multiple combinations: “There’s no technology in pentominoes – you just take the pieces from the box, play with them and enjoy them. But when you want to put them back in the box, you can spend a couple of hours doing so – at least if you’re stubborn enough to try!”

… continued

Eastern Blocks

Few games have provoked such legal wrangling as Tetris. Once the DOS version spread, Andromeda Software’s Robert Stein tried to secure the rights, selling home computer rights to Spectrum Holobyte prior to any deal, and continuing to sub-license rights he didn’t own, even after the Soviet government began to market Tetris rights via Elektronorgtechnica (ELORG). Eventually, Stein’s hand was forced, ELORG enabling handheld rights to remain with Andromeda, but banning Tetris rights on any other mediums. By the late-Eighties, several companies claimed Tetris rights ownership over home computers and consoles; and so ELORG signed the arcade rights to Atari and console and handheld rights to Nintendo. A major spat occurred when Tengen, Atari’s console division, tried to release a NES version of its arcade title, something that had Nintendo fuming. Eventually, Tengen’s creation was withdrawn, and while Nintendo’s NES release was seen as ordinary, its Game Boy version was one of the most successful games ever. In 1996, Pajitnov and Henk Rogers formed The Tetris Company, gaining rights and finally providing Alexey with royalties for the game he created over a decade earlier. For more details: www.atarihq. com/tsr/special/tetrishist.html.