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# Good Things Never Get Old: Tetris Influences In Today’s Games

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YTFNPuhF.m3u8" -->
## Video: Good Things Never Get Old: Tetris Influences In Today’s Games

[Watch (HLS stream): Good Things Never Get Old: Tetris Influences In Today’s Games](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YTFNPuhF.m3u8) (2:04)

![Good Things Never Get Old: Tetris Influences In Today’s Games](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/YTFNPuhF/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2014-06-06. 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._


---

Jul 27, 2023 4:46 PM UTC

---

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### Tetris Still Taunts: The Game's Legacy 30 Years Later

[Watch: Here's What Tetris Looks Like Played on a Skyscraper](/video/IalC0BpY/)

### Watch: Here's What Tetris Looks Like Played on a Skyscraper

---


## Transcript

Chances are this is a familiar site. Story tile stacker Tetris turns 30 Friday. Alexey Pajitnov originally developed the game on an Electronica 60 computer at the Academy of Science of the USSR. In its 30 year life span, the basic goal of Tetris hasn't changed. Clear rows of blocks and set the highest score possible. In that way, it has a lot in common with the casual games of today. Listen to Pajitnov tell it and if we didn't know better, we'd say he was talking about Candy Crush. Then I let people play and I realized that it's not myself who is cuckoo and everybody who touch this game can't stop playing it.

Many of today's popular casual games share characteristics that made Tetris addictive. To continue the Candy Crush example, there's no concrete ending, no payoff for beating the game, just chasing the high of the high score. The simple formula, nevertheless, generates huge popularity, which, these days, is then monetized. Candy Crush accounted for two thirds of developer King's $ 608 million in gross earnings last quarter. And as of last quarter publicly traded King had a market cap of $ 5. 5 billion. Competitor Zynga is worth $ 2. 6 billion, and the games they make are accessible, just like Tetris.

Recent numbers from Flurry show male and female casual mobile gamers are both well represented and span all ages. But Tetris is far from played out. For every Temple Run and 2048, there's been a version of Tetris. Today, there's still a free and paid version in the top 100 apps on the iOS App Store, and a free version in top 100 on Google's Play store. For some perspective on other video game classics Mario Brothers came out as an arcade game in 1983. The legend of Zelda was released in 1986, and Mike Tyson's punch out is still in it late twenties with the debut in 1987. Some games it would seem just never get old.

Thanks for watching, I am Cliff Judy.

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