# Who created Tetris and how the game was born

> Tetris was created by Alexey Pajitnov, a programmer and researcher at the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, in Moscow. In 1984, it took him about three weeks to make the first version, on a computer that could only display text. He already knew how to code, the game was made without AI, and the version that spread had help from two colleagues.

Summary for when you're short on time

- Tetris was created by Alexey Pajitnov, who researched artificial intelligence at a computing lab of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, in Moscow.
- The idea came from a childhood puzzle with pieces made of five squares; he simplified it to pieces of four, which give only seven shapes.
- According to Pajitnov, it took about three weeks to get something playable on screen, in June 1984.
- The computer, an Electronika 60, could only display text: the pieces in the first version were made of letters.
- The version for the IBM computer took more than two months and was made with two colleagues, Dmitry Pavlovsky and Vadim Gerasimov.
- In 1989 Tetris came out for the Game Boy; that version sold 35 million units, according to CNN and the company that owns the brand.
- Pajitnov granted the rights to the government for ten years and only started getting paid for the game in 1995.

Your first step: Think of a board game or pastime you already know and write, in one sentence, the simplest rule you can take from it, the way Pajitnov did with the puzzle.

By Daniel Novi. Published October 30, 2026. Updated October 30, 2026. Address: https://www.gamearchitectsai.com/en/stories/who-created-tetris

## Who created Tetris?

Tetris was created by Alexey Pajitnov, a programmer from Moscow. In the early 1980s, he worked at the computing lab of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, where he researched artificial intelligence[1].

The lab received new computers from time to time. To measure how powerful each one was, researchers wrote a simple program, and Pajitnov used that as an excuse to make games[1][2]. He was no beginner: by his own account, he was a very good programmer[1].

## How was Tetris born?

It was born from a childhood toy. Pajitnov loved puzzles, especially pentominoes, a set of 12 wooden pieces, each made of five squares, sold in Moscow toy shops[1][2].

In June 1984, he thought it could become a computer game[1]. But rotating 12 pieces on screen, in real time, seemed too complicated. So he cut one square from each piece: with four squares there are only seven shapes[1][2].

The name combines "tetra", four in Greek, with tennis, his favorite sport[2].

The computer didn't help either. The Electronika 60, a Russian machine, couldn't display graphics, only text. That's why the pieces in the first version were made of letters[1].

## How long did it take to make Tetris?

About three weeks, for the first version. According to Pajitnov, that was the time it took to get something he could control on screen[1]. The idea that made the game work came along the way: once a line was full, it was no longer useful, so he made full lines disappear[1].

He says he pretended he was looking for errors in the program, but in truth he couldn't stop playing. People who tried it couldn't stop either[1].

The version that spread was a different one. To bring the game to the IBM computer, he spent more than two months working with two colleagues, Dmitry Pavlovsky and Vadim Gerasimov[3]. The date also comes with a caveat: some sources say 1985, but Pajitnov and most accounts say 1984[3].

## How do you play Tetris?


Pieces made of four squares fall, one at a time, from the top of the screen. You move and rotate each piece as it falls, until it lands on the bottom or on top of another piece[3].

When a line from side to side is complete, it disappears, and everything above it drops down. The more lines you clear, the faster the pieces fall. The game ends when the stack reaches the top and the new piece has nowhere to go[3].

There's no way to win for good. The challenge is to last longer and clear more lines.

## Why is Tetris so addictive?

Because there is only one rule and it fits in a sentence, but every piece asks for a new decision (our reading). Pajitnov told CNN that putting the shapes together was so addictive that he himself couldn't stop playing the first version[2].

CNN sums it up with a well-known phrase in games: easy to learn, hard to master[2]. The game has no story, no character and no pretty graphics, and it still holds on to whoever plays it.

## How did Tetris get out of the Soviet Union?

Copied onto floppy disks, passed from hand to hand. In the Soviet Union, ideas belonged to the state and selling software was not a common thing, so people passed the game to each other[2]. It soon reached other Eastern Bloc countries and Hungary, and Western companies started selling unauthorized versions[1][2].

Pajitnov granted the rights to the government for ten years[1]. In 1988, Henk Rogers, a Dutchman who acquired games for the Japanese market, saw Tetris at a trade show in Las Vegas and got hooked. He went to Moscow to negotiate and left with the deal for the Game Boy, Nintendo's handheld console[1][2].

Tetris came out with the Game Boy in 1989, and that version sold 35 million units[2][4]. Pajitnov, however, only started getting paid for the game in 1995, when the rights deal expired. In 1996, he and Rogers founded The Tetris Company, which manages the brand[2].

## By the numbers

| Data | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Year of the first version | 1984 (some sources say 1985) | The Guardian, 06/02/2014[1]; Wikipedia[3] |
| Time for the first version | About three weeks, according to the author | The Guardian, 06/02/2014[1] |
| Version for the IBM computer | More than two months, with two colleagues | Wikipedia[3] |
| Piece shapes | 7 (the original puzzle had 12) | The Guardian[1]; CNN, 10/31/2019[2] |
| Units on the Game Boy | 35 million | CNN, 10/31/2019[2]; The Tetris Company[4] |
| Total units | Over 520 million, counting all versions, according to the company | The Tetris Company, copy from 12/06/2024[4] |
| Mobile downloads | Over 615 million, according to the company | The Tetris Company, copy from 12/06/2024[4] |
| When the author started getting paid | 1995 | CNN, 10/31/2019[2] |

## What the story of Tetris shows, and what it doesn't

It shows that a huge game can start with a single rule, a weak computer and three weeks of work. It also shows that cutting helped: from 12 pieces to 7, from graphics to letters (our reading).

**The other side.** Pajitnov didn't start from zero: he was a professional programmer, worked at a computing lab and had the machine at hand. The three weeks apply to the first version; the one that spread took more than two months and had two colleagues. Tetris was made without AI, in 1984. And it is a survivor: for every game like this, there are thousands that almost nobody played. The 520 million figure comes from the company that owns the brand and adds up hundreds of versions.

## What does AI do today in this part?

This part isn't about Tetris, which was made without AI. It's about the work.

Pajitnov had to know how to code to put the pieces on screen. Today, someone who doesn't code can describe a game with a simple rule in plain English and AI writes the code, something that got the name [vibe coding](/en/guide/what-is-vibe-coding). That doesn't make the work easy: testing, fixing and deciding are still up to you.

What AI doesn't do is the most important thing Pajitnov did: choose the rule and cut what was extra (our reading). If you want to start with something the right size, see [what your first game should be](/en/start-here/what-should-your-first-game-be), [what AI does and what is still up to you](/en/start-here/make-a-game-without-coding) and other [famous games that started small](/en/stories/famous-games-that-started-small).

## Related questions

### Who created Tetris?

Alexey Pajitnov, a programmer who researched artificial intelligence at a computing lab of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, in Moscow. He made the first version in 1984.

### What year was Tetris created?

In 1984, according to Pajitnov himself in an interview with The Guardian, which says June of that year. Some older sources say 1985.

### How long did it take to make Tetris?

The first version took about three weeks, according to Pajitnov. The version for the IBM computer, the one that spread, took more than two months and had help from two colleagues.

### Where does the name Tetris come from?

It combines "tetra", four in Greek, with tennis, Pajitnov's favorite sport, according to CNN. Four is the number of squares in each piece.

### Did the creator of Tetris get rich?

Not right away. He granted the rights to the Soviet government for ten years and only started getting paid for the game in 1995. In 1996 he founded, with Henk Rogers, The Tetris Company, which manages the brand.

### Was Tetris made with artificial intelligence?

No. Pajitnov researched artificial intelligence at the lab, but he programmed the game himself, by hand, in 1984. AI that writes a game's code from a request in plain English only appeared decades later.

## Sources

1. The Guardian, "Tetris: how we made the addictive computer game" (06/02/2014): https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jun/02/how-we-made-tetris (accessed October 25, 2026)
2. CNN, "Tetris: The Soviet 'mind game' that took over the world" (10/31/2019): https://www.cnn.com/style/article/tetris-video-game-history/index.html (accessed October 25, 2026)
3. Wikipedia, "Tetris": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris (accessed October 25, 2026)
4. The Tetris Company, "Tetris By The Numbers" (Internet Archive copy from 12/06/2024): https://web.archive.org/web/20241206233755/https://tetris.com/by-the-numbers (accessed October 25, 2026)