The Tetris Story

By Anthony McGlynn

In 1984, the perfect video game was created by a pair of programmers in the USSR. Tetris changed pop culture and the world, shaping the game industry and tech industries as we know them today. Still popular over 40 years later, the puzzler has reached millions and millions of players around the world, all of whom are obsessed with getting the highest score using the tetrominoes.

The Tetris Story charts the Soviet Mind Game's story in totality for the first time, starting from its Russian roots right up to the modern competitive scene and the incredible achievements therein. It looks at the circumstances leading to a digital toy made by two people in a computer lab in Moscow in the early '80s being beaten by a young teenager on a Nintendo Entertainment System in 2023, highlighting every incredible coincidence, piece of luck and happenstance which led to that miraculous moment.

Tetris was integral to the evolution of esports, the dominance of Nintendo and Microsoft's transition into game development. It's the most ported game of all time, available on just about every platform imaginable. Across over two dozen interviews with developers, organizers, professional players, historians and more, The Tetris Story gives you the complete history of the one game nobody can ever put down, and the unending journey to discover all its mysteries.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1036117952
• ISBN13: 9781036117955
• Release Date: October 2026
• Publisher: White Owl
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 1.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.2" x 6.1" x 1.2"