--- description: While the iconic game has reached recognition worldwide, the man behind Tetris remained relatively unknown for decades title: Tetris Legacy 30th Years Later image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dc9674a97f3a0ad/69869671810bbb719bc920d4/tetris-anniversary.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Tetris Still Taunts: The Game's Legacy 30 Years Later  by [Francesca Trianni](/author/francesca-trianni/)  ## Francesca Trianni Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 6, 2014 10:00 AM CUT  Tetris, an addictive brain-teasing video game, is shown as played on the Nintendo Entertainment System in New York City, June 1990. Tetris, an addictive brain-teasing video game, is shown as played on the Nintendo Entertainment System in New York City, June 1990.Richard Drew—AP  by [Francesca Trianni](/author/francesca-trianni/)  ## Francesca Trianni Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 6, 2014 10:00 AM CUT On the 30th anniversary of Tetris’ creation, here’s a look at the Russian mastermind who made the world care about falling blocks. TIME’s Editor Dan Stewart talks about Tetris’ inventor, Alexey Pajitnov, a Russian computer engineer who created the game in 1984 but struggled for decades to earn royalties from its ubiquitous success. Pajitnov came up with a game so addictive that he once said he couldn’t stop playing long enough to finish programming it. “The program wasn’t complicated,” [he said](http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1902950,00.html "undefined")_._ “There was no scoring, no levels. But I started playing and I couldn’t stop.” While Pajitnov [is still programming games](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCAQFjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fmarbly-new-puzzle-game-from%2Fid646308179%3Fmt%3D8&ei=PuuQU-ugNI%5FisAScmoAI&usg=AFQjCNHnWgc2UEbNsDG7uI95K-UriOzyQg&sig2=cF77q8S77DmdBfO5ehA7Vw&bvm=bv.68445247,d.cWc "undefined"), Tetris remains his magnum opus. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2833988/tetris-anniversary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2833988/tetris-anniversary/"},"headline":"Tetris Still Taunts: The Game's Legacy 30 Years Later","datePublished":"2014-06-06T10:00:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:02:25.075Z","description":"While the iconic game has reached recognition worldwide, the man behind Tetris remained relatively unknown for decades","url":"https://time.com/2833988/tetris-anniversary/","keywords":["Tech","russia","Video Games"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dc9674a97f3a0ad/69869671810bbb719bc920d4/tetris-anniversary.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Francesca Trianni","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/francesca-trianni/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dc9674a97f3a0ad/69869671810bbb719bc920d4/tetris-anniversary.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TETRIS","caption":"TETRIS","creditText":"Richard Drew—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2833988/tetris-anniversary/","name":"Tetris Still Taunts: The Game's Legacy 30 Years Later"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Good Things Never Get Old: Tetris Influences In Today’s Games","description":"In its 30-year lifespan, the basic goal of Tetris hasn’t changed: clear rows of blocks and set the highest score possible. Many of today’s popular casual games share characteristics that made Tetris addictive.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/YTFNPuhF/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-06-06T17:54:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YTFNPuhF.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/2833988/tetris-anniversary/","duration":"PT2M4S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/2833988/tetris-anniversary/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```