It’s amazing how a huge global phenomenon can begin. In 1984, Russian mathematician Alexey Pajitnov was playing with one of his favorite puzzles when he had an inspiration: How about creating a computer version Pajitnov wrote the program in his spare time, simplifying the idea to make it easier for those of us who aren’t math geniuses. He used shapes made of four squares — hence “Tetris,” which comes from the Greek word for four, “Tetra.” In the game, players must position and stack blocky shapes to fill a grid without leaving spaces in between.
