Columns

Tetris kicked off a worldwide puzzle craze, and Sega answered it in its own way — Columns became its very own addictive brain-teaser that could swallow hours of your life both in the arcades and on the Mega Drive. Instead of falling blocks, columns of three colored gems descend from above; you can rearrange their order, and the goal is to line up three or more of the same kind in a row — horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

The magic lies in chaining. When one trio vanishes, the gems above it drop down and can form another match, which triggers yet another — creating a cascade of combos that lights up the screen with one explosion after another while your score rockets upward. This potential for chain reactions makes Columns a far deeper experience than it appears at first glance, and it awakens that classic puzzle urge to play just one more round.

With calm, jewellery-like visuals and hypnotic music, Columns sets itself apart from the austere Tetris and creates its own almost meditative mood. The pace gradually quickens, gems fall faster, and the calm turns into a tense battle for every free spot. It is the kind of game where time loses all meaning.

Columns was created at Sega and became one of the console's defining puzzle brands, often bundled and ported countless times. For the Mega Drive it was exactly what every console needs — a simple, instantly understandable title that never gets old and works brilliantly as a two-player duel for the higher score.

To this day it remains a benchmark of the falling-block genre and a reminder of an era when a clever idea, a handful of colors and good music were enough to create an immortal classic. Anyone who loves puzzles should taste Columns at least once.

Why play: For Sega's own hypnotically addictive puzzle classic, whose chains of colored gems will reliably swallow hours of your time even today.