What makes Tetris 'the perfect game'? Experts break down an addictive classic

stuff.co.nz:

The real story behind how Tetris became a video game phenomenon is more compelling than most imagined narratives.

A computer game created by Russian programmer Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union, Tetris eventually hit the burgeoning global market in 1989 as the launch title of Game Boy, a handheld console developed by Japanese company Nintendo, after Dutch American game designer and publisher Henk Rogers doggedly pursued the rights.

Much like the game itself, it's a story that involved a lot of moving pieces that needed to be manoeuvred just right in order for its players to achieve success.

This backstory is at the centre of Tetris, out now on Apple TV+ after premiering last month at SXSW.

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Directed by Jon S Baird (Stan & Ollie) from a script by Noah Pink (Genius), the film follows Rogers (portrayed by Taron Egerton) after he is so dazzled by Tetris, which he stumbles upon at a game expo, that he bets everything on its success.

Sorting out the complicated situation around the game's rights propels Rogers to Moscow, where he meets and befriends Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov).

"We tried to make [the movie] as truthful as possible in the given circumstances," said Pajitnov during a recent video call.

"I was very fascinated with the movie because it was spiritually absolutely truthful. That's exactly what happened to us, emotionally."

But, "there was a lot of Hollywood in there because they squeezed like a year and a half of our lives into two hours," added Rogers, who along with Pajitnov was an executive