(N.B. For a full backstory on the game’s history – and Russian designer Alexey Pajitnov – see Guardian tech)

What for me is especially interesting though about Tetris’s continued significance and relevance is that it is probably the first (and arguably only) computer game to transcend so fully the specifics of its form. By that I mean it is not thought of solely as a computer gaming classic – but as a general classic game, much like far older games like chess or checkers.

Now, I know that to compare a game like chess which has survived 1400 years throughout human civilisation with Tetris’s paltry 25 might seem far-fetched – but not, I think, when one considers how quickly innovation happens these days with regard to entertainment/games, and the sheer degree of variation and choice currently out there.

So basically that’s why i’m proposing a virtual web toast to Tetris (not a sentence I get to use that often…) Just as we no longer classify chess as being solely a ‘board game’ but instead understand that it has somehow become something bigger and more significant to us than that – so too Tetris is slowly but surely on its way to similar status. Happy Birthday Tetris – wishing you many more to come!

Dejan Levi