13-year-old American gamer Willis Gibson became the first person to ever beat Tetris, a puzzle video game created in 1985, during a livestream on December 21, 2023.
Tetris, a game created by programmer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984, was inspired by the puzzle game Pentominoes. Players arrange falling puzzle pieces in real time. The game uses 7 unique pieces, each with 4 squares, hence the name Tetris, combining “tetra” (Greek for “four”) and “tennis” (Pajitnov’s favorite sport).
Known by his gaming name “Blue Scuti,” Gibson completed 157 levels of Tetris before the game technically surrendered.
“Oh my God!” the young American gamer exclaimed repeatedly after finally beating the game.
“I can’t feel my fingers,” Gibson stated in the video.
This type of ending, where the Tetris program crashes and freezes the video game, is referred to by gamers as a “kill screen.”
According to The New York Times, Vince Clemente, the president of the Classic Tetris World Championship, stated, “It’s never been done by a human before.”
This achievement is significant for Tetris players competing in both online and in-person tournaments.
Other players promptly expressed their enthusiasm, including Classic Tetris World Champion Fractal161, also known as Justin Yu, who exclaimed “He accomplished it, he accomplished it!” during his live broadcast.
The said achievement is fitting ahead of the game’s 40th anniversary in 2024, according to Tetris Chief Executive Maya Rogers.
“Congratulations to ‘Blue Scuti’ for achieving this extraordinary accomplishment, a feat that defies all preconceived limits of this legendary game,” a statement said.
According to NDTV World, Gibson managed to beat the NES version of Tetris by playing the game at an increasingly rapid pace for 40 minutes. Until now, this version had only been conquered by AI, which operates with near-instant perception and flawless decision-making, far beyond human capabilities.
This accomplishment contradicts the original beliefs of the Tetris designers, who considered it impossible due to the game’s infinite design.
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