Tetris (Sega arcade)

Seven shapes that conquered the world. Tetris is perhaps the purest game idea in history: pieces made of four squares fall, you rotate and stack them so they form continuous rows, and every filled row disappears. No story, no characters, just you and an endless stream of geometry that never slows down. And yet it's one of the most addictive experiences humankind has ever devised.

This particular arcade version by Sega is legendary among fans. It stands out with brisk controls, pleasant graphics and above all mechanics that differ from the famous Game Boy version. Players took a liking to its specific rotation behaviour and tempo, which made it a favourite title for competitive play in arcades, where two players could face off side by side.

The original Tetris sprang from the mind of the Soviet programmer Alexey Pajitnov in the mid-eighties, and its story of the fight over the rights to the game amid the Cold War is a legend in its own right. Since then Tetris has become one of the best-selling and most frequently ported games of all time, available on practically every device that ever had a screen.

The magic lies in the perfect balance between simplicity of rules and depth of mastery. A beginner grasps the principle in five seconds, but true masters can stack pieces at a tempo that seems impossible to the human eye, planning moves many pieces ahead. Tetris is even the subject of scientific study because of the so-called Tetris effect, where players see falling pieces even with their eyes closed.

Few games can boast such cultural impact. Tetris crosses borders, generations and platforms and remains a universal language everyone understands. And the arcade Sega version is one of the most playable variations on this immortal theme.

Why play: For the purest, most addictive game idea of all time in a brisk arcade version that ranks among the most playable variations of Tetris ever.