Tetris: Online Tetris Games to Play for Free or for Real Money
I've
been hooked on Tetris for years, and I'm always looking for
online Tetris games to play for free or for money. Whether
it's an authentic version of the game created by Alexey Pajitnov or
nothing more than a thinly-veiled knockoff, I'm willing to give it a
try. I'm not the only one, either, as Tetris has sold a few
hundred million copies and become the most popular game of the
computer age.
How to Play Tetris
Each game piece in Tetris is composed of four square blocks known as Tetriminos. These pieces make up different shapes (cube, L-shaped, etc.), and a random sequence of cubes will fall down from the top of the playing field. Players must try to rotate the Tetriminos as they fall (they can also control the speed of the fall), with the goal being to create a horizontal lines of blocks that stretches across the playing field. If successful, that row of blocks will disappear, and any blocks above it will fall down one level. This can lead to a chain reaction of lines being cleared.
As the game progresses, the Tetriminos will fall faster and the rows of blocks will begin to rise. If the blocks ever reach the top of the playing area, then the game is over.
Scoring is based on the difficulty of the lines cleared. Clearing four lines at once (known as a "Tetris") awards extra points, as does achieving a back-to-back Tetris. Some versions of the game also award points based on the height that a playing piece dropped before locking into place.
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The History of Tetris
The history of Tetris began in 1984, when it was created by a Moscow computer engineer named Alexey Pajitnov. The name "Tetris" was a combination of two words: "tetramino," the unique four-block shapes that make up the objects in Tetris; and "tennis," Pajitnov's favorite sport.
The game was ported to the IBM PC by Vadim Gerasimov and started gaining popularity throughout Moscow. It next spread to Hungary, where it was released for a number of gaming platforms. Andromeda, a British gaming company, discovered the game and marketed it abroad, although they had yet to settle a licensing deal with the game's creator.
Tetris made its American debut in 1986 (becoming the first game from the USSR to arrive in the United States), and it had an immediate impact. Gamers were enthralled by the simple concept that proved impossible to master, and Tetris slowly grew in popularity. Meanwhile, the Russian government began to market the game, as anything created by Pajitnov while he worked at the Soviet Academy of Sciences was considered to be property of the state. At the same time, Andromeda was continuing to license the game on their own.
By 1989, six different companies claimed the right to Tetris. One such organization signed an agreement with Nintendo, and Tetris was soon being sold as a game for the popular handheld system known as the Game Boy. Tetris experienced an explosion in popularity, with the Game Boy version selling over 33 million copies.
The rights held by the Soviet government reverted to Pajitnov in 1996, and he wasted no time in forming The Tetris Company and applying for trademarks around the globe. This resulted in a number of legal battles, but Pajitnov was able to finally secure financial compensation for his creation, as well as launch a career as a successful game designer.
Over the years, the reputation of Tetris has continued to grow. It has been released for numerous gaming platforms, as well as being named one of the best games of all time by everyone from IGN to Electronic Gaming Monthly. The cell phone version of Tetris made its debut in 2005, and over 100 million copies would be sold over the next five years. No matter what new handheld gadget or home gaming platform hits the market, Tetris always seems poised to make a splash.
Online Tetris Games for Free
Gamers looking for a free online version of Tetris should be pleased by all the choices available. My personal favorite is located at Free Tetris, as this Flash version is ready to go within seconds. It moves along at a fast pace from the beginning, and there's nothing to download.
The king of free online Tetris games has to be Tetris Friends. In addition to the standard version of the game, players can also compete in numerous variants. The version known as Sprint is one of my favorites, as it requires players to complete 40 lines as fast as they can. A leader board keeps track of your performance, and you'll even be able to challenge up to five friends in multi-player mode.
Online Tetris Games for Money
While Tetris can be played for the simple pleasure of challenging your mind, some gamers prefer to play online Tetris for money. You'll have to be content with playing unlicensed versions of the game, however, as my search turned up a number of knockoffs on the play-for-money sites.
For example, GameDuell offers a version known as Jetris, where one side of the screen depicts scenes from around the globe. The rest of the screen is devoted to a game that plays and looks exactly like the classic version of Tetris.
WorldWinner is another gaming site that offers the chance to play online Tetris for money. In this case, the game is called Cubis, and players are required to clear away colored cubes in order to win the level. Sound familiar?
Licensed Versions of Tetris
There have been over 45 licensed versions of Tetris released, and that number is sure to grow in the coming years. These include games from a wide range of companies, as the early years of Tetris saw numerous brands competing to market their own versions (without approval from the creator).
The inventor of the game, Alexey Pajitnov, has developed several follow-up versions to the original. These include: Welltris, Hatris, and Faces…Tris III.
A number of licensed versions of Tetris were released only in a specific country. For example, V-Tetris was released exclusively in Japan in 1995, while U.S. players were the only ones able to enjoy 1996's 3D Tetris. Tetris has also been known to incorporate themes into its design. Characters from the world of Mario have been melded with Tetris on a number of occasions, as well as Cardcaptor Sakura and creations from the mind of Walt Disney.
Unlicensed Variants of Tetris
While numerous companies have released "official" Tetris products over the years, there are also those who were happy to change the name, alter the design slightly, and then thrust an unlicensed Tetris variant onto the public. Once the rights reverted to original creator Alexey Pajitnov, he formed his own company and successful fought to have many of these imitations pulled from the marketplace and the Internet.
Check any site offering a large number of online games, and you're likely to find one or more Tetris imitations. Those sold for home computers and gaming platforms tend to be more creative, with one version adding a physics engine to the falling blocks and another changing the game pieces into four-dimensional tesseracts.
The Tetris Effect
Tetris
is so addictive that an actual sensory phenomenon has been named
after it. "The Tetris Effect" occurs when people devote so much time
to an activity that is begins to creep into other aspects of their
life. For example, a person who's been playing Tetris for hours
might dream about cube-like shapes, or they might begin
unconsciously studying real-world objects to learn how they would
fit together. The Tetris Effect can apply to other video games, as
well as more mundane activities.
Gamers looking for online Tetris games to play for free or for money have an increasing number of options available. Mobile devices also allow owners to enjoy Tetris whenever they have a moment to spare. While various wrinkles have been added over the years, the most popular version of Tetris remains the basic edition featuring colored Tetriminos falling in a random order.
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This article was written by John U. Hayes.
