Tetris: the blockbuster

Possibly the best heading I’ve ever written.

Tetrisweeper

Tetris is my favourite timewaster. Minesweeper used to be. So you’ll forgive me for never having time to blog here again now that I’ve discovered Tetrisweeper.

The instructions are in a foreign tongue – but here are the controls.

Shift + click to highlight a mine.
Click to clear squares.
W to rotate.
A to go < - d to go ->
s to go V

Tetris pieces become squares on the minesweeper board.

Falling into place: a documentary about a gaming obsession

Ahh. Tetris. If I had a dollar for every minute I spent playing you I would be rich. But alas. All I have is second place on the list of my Facebook friends… there are some people out there who have mad Tetris skillz. And this doco “The Ecstacy of Order” is trying to find the best Tetris player in the world.

Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters Full Trailer from Adam Cornelius on Vimeo.

Tetris: The Boardgame

I love Tetris. I don’t love boardgames (when I went on camps as a young, single, Christian male I used free time to talk to girls not to hit the cardboard square). But perhaps I’ll change my mind. Because this actually looks kind of fun. A bit like Connect 4. But with greater degrees of difficulty…

Via pocket-lint.

Debtris: Financial data visualised in blocks

From both the US and UK. This is a nice little visualisation using one of my most favourite games in the world to put some financial figures into perspective.

The pixels will inherit the earth

They are coming. Watch out. I make a resolution to stay in high resolution.

How Tetris helps you move house better

Gaming blog Kotaku spoke to a Tetris whiz to find some practical application (other than its documented benefits for your sanity) for the classic block arranging game. Most of them are pretty obvious, and the Simpsons once made a Tetris joke when Homer stuff his car boot full of stuff. But it’s an interesting exercise that you can try out on your parent/spouse next time they tell you you’re wasting your time.

Image Credit: Kotaku

Here are the tips.

Take a glimpse at your next pieces (moving boxes in this case) to determine the best placement positions.
If you have a box that doesn’t fit neatly, hold onto it and un-hold it when it won’t mess everything up.
Stack as flat as possible. The even field will save you reaction time and give you more stacking options.
Avoid creating unnecessary gaps to maximize space usage.
Leave an empty column open for your long boxes, and if you don’t have any long boxes buy some.
Don’t waste your long boxes! (Don’t use ’em until you need ’em to fit a space)
Multiplayer will help you reach a faster time, so have some friends and family help you out.

Say “I love you” with Tetris

To me, this Tetris love letter is a little bit unclear.

It could be interpreted as: “Your love is like a row of blocks that I am going to clear” or “I am going to claim you and remove any traces of your former identity.”

But I like the sentiment.

From FailBlog.

Shirt of the Day: Game on

All games actually come from the same place. Did you know that? Don’t believe me? Here’s the shirt to prove it.

Manual Tetris burns more calories than the game

If you’ve watched the pros (like my wife) play Tetris you’ll know that it’s a legitimate sport. It involves rapid movements, coordination, and a developed skill set.

This real life version doesn’t. But because you’re using your whole arms and not just your fingers it’s likely you’ll burn more calories.

Via Walyou.

This is almost ten minutes of the thing in action. Seems pretty lame. I didn’t watch it.

Tetris analógico // Analogical Tetris from Esferobite-DSK on Vimeo.

Tetris Purgatory

If this was Tetris Hell (because you can’t get a line at all) – then this is Tetris Purgatory. It’s called Hateris, and it gives players the least useful piece available.

I’ve been to Tetris Hell and I don’t like it

Thanks to commenter Michelle I now know that Tetris Hell is a real place. I’ve been there, and I’m not going back.

Jesus is the answer to the problem that is Tetris Hell.

Tetris Hell

You know what happens when you get stuck doing essays for a couple of days and leave blogging stuff in your queue. Other people post what would typically be prime fodder for your own blog. Everybody has already seen this XKCD strip… but I don’t care.