When it comes to iconic gaming experiences, none come close to comparing with Tetris. The simple video game took the world by storm in the 1980s and is known to have catapulted Japanese gaming systems into Western success thanks to its inclusion in systems like the Famicom (Japan’s name for the Nintendo Entertainment System) and the Game Boy.

Today, June 6, 2024, we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Tetris, a global gaming brand beloved worldwide. We look back on how we came to play it, what makes it so unique, and learn more about the casino games that bear its imprint.

 Piecing Together The Origins of Tetris

It's a modern-day miracle that we even have access to Tetris, given that Russian-born software engineer Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov developed the game in the Soviet Union during the Cold War era.

A passionate programmer and gaming lover, Pajitnov used the excuse of developing programs as benchmark tests for the new computers brought into the Dorodnitsyn Computing Centre, a Russian Academy of Sciences division. Using the now archaic Russian-made computer system Electronika 60, he created the bare bones of the puzzle game that we would one day come to know and love as Tetris.

However, it was not Pajitnov but a then 16-year-old intern named Vadim Viktorovich Gerasimov who would program the title to work on IBM computers. This ultimately allowed it to break beyond the borders of the Soviet Union and make a name for itself in Asia and America before dominating the global gaming landscape.

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“To experience a thrill-filled version of the creation, adoption, and international sale of Tetris, be sure to check out the 2023 film Tetris. It offers a colourful and entertaining take on the real-life events surrounding this groundbreaking arcade and console game.”

 Building a Global Gaming Brand - Block by Block

With its simplistic gameplay, skill-based level caps, and intriguing Soviet theme (the early releases included several Russian references, including names, background art and music), Tetris took the world by storm when it was released on leading home consoles and was made available in the United States as an arcade cabinet.

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Interesting Tetris facts:

1. Tetris is played in over 200 countries.
2. Tetris has been translated into 50+ languages.
3. Tetris is available on more than 50 platforms.
4. Over 35 million Tetris games were sold for the original Game Boy.
5. Over 520 million Tetris games have been sold worldwide.
6. Tetris has over 615 million mobile downloads.

What makes it so appealing and addicting is the simplicity of the game. As the player, you are presented with a vertical grid-based game screen. As the game progresses, shapes of four blocks, known as a tetromino, descend to the bottom of the screen. Your job is to rotate these blocks to create complete layers without gaps. Doing so scores you points, removes the complete layers (similar to the cascading feature in video slots), and speeds up the game (the pieces descend quicker).

This simple concept and added skill layer have made the puzzle game an enduring success. Even after four decades, it still draws crowds of players wherever it is found.

40 Years of Records and Global Achievements

Here are some of our handpicked history-making touchpoints:

• 1998—Bullet Software's international release of Tetris became known as a "software blockbuster," selling over 2,000,000 copies.
• 1989—When the Game Boy console went on sale, Tetris, not Mario Bros., was included. This resulted in record-breaking sales, as the console sold more than 35 million units.
• 1993—Tetris became the first video game to reach outer space when Russian astronaut Alexander Serebrow took his Game Boy to the Mir space station.
• 2006—Tetris becomes the #1 mobile game on the iPod after EA buys the current license holder and releases it on the Apple app store.
• 2013—The NYC Museum of Modern Art adds Tetris to its permanent exhibition of leading examples of Applied Design.
• 2017—Scientific Games launches the online gambling industry’s first-ever branded casino game, the Tetris Super Jackpots video slot.
• 2020—N3TWORK Inc. launches a daily mobile gameshow based on Tetris. The launch offers players the chance to win more than $1 million in annual cash prizes.
• 2021—Gaming venue MadLab Zaragoza, in collaboration with MYLideas, builds a 16-foot-tall, fully functional Tetris arcade cabinet, securing the record for “largest arcade machine."
• 2023—Blending bingo and slots, Gaming Realms partners with the Tetris Company to release Tetris Slingo on social and real money casinos.

 The Perfect Time to Enjoy Tetris-Themed Casino Games

Generations of gamers so believe the video game has spawned several online slot variants. Best of all, these are not bootlegs, as several have been developed in partnership with the Tetris company.

If you want to get in on the tetromino slots action, check out these games of chance:

1. Tetris Extreme Slot by Red7
2. Tetri Mania Slot by Wazdan
3. Tetri Mania Deluxe by Wazdan
4. Neon Shapes Slot by Evoplay

For more interesting game-based slot machines, we recommend checking out our insightful “Blast from the Past” post and enjoying titles based on classics such as Monopoly, Snake and Ladder, Battleships, and more.