Tetris is a strange beast when you think about it. At it’s very core, it’s just a glorified sorting system for LEGO pieces in a bin. It even was branded as an “exotic” game from the land of Russia during the Cold War which, if you don’t recall, didn’t exactly lead to a whole lot of loving attitudes towards our frozen neighbors here in the West. So how is it that I got my teeth metaphorically kicked in by twenty-somethings over and over in a game that’s older than the country it was made in? Better yet, why the heck am I still playing a game that I suck at?
Well, first off, I should say that this isn’t necessarily “Tetris” in it’s official sense. TETR.IO (don’t forget the dot!) is a fan-made Tetris game based off of the current guidelines that dictate how modern, official Tetris games are made. These guidelines include things like data on how various tetriminos rotate in space, if and how they can “kick” themselves out of tight spots, and many more things for the truly virginity-ridden of us to dive into. However, TETR.IO offers a few major improvements over many of the official variants.
The first of these improvements is the most obvious; It’s free. While games like Tetris 99 are free, they are very limited in their free versions until you cough up some cash. For Tetris 99, you are locked to the standard Battle Royale modes and mobile apps have intrusive ads that remind you of your Dickensian status with pop-ups for local singles in your area. While TETR.IO does in fact have ads, they are simply banner ads at the time of writing. According to Osk, the developer, this is a fairly recent change that will seem further refining.
The second and arguably biggest improvement over nearly every other Tetris game out there is TETR.IO’s community. As I said earlier, this game has a massive community of high-level players and you will immediately see it. The standard Quick Play mode (TETR.IO’s take on the Tetris 99 Battle Royale) is almost always flooded by Top 100 players from around the world. Within the community, whenever someone is doing surprisingly well, the typical response is that “they must’ve played another Tetris game before coming here.” This is a double-edged sword though. By making the highest level play the starting point for many new players as new players must play a number of rounds in Quick Play before fully unlocking their accounts, it runs the risk of scaring off newer or less skilled players.
Defeat is a main theme when playing TETR.IO and it’s one that you’ll become very familiar with. Unless you are already competitively ranked in other forms of Tetris, the new player experience begins with losing to pros, moving on to the mode with arguably better matchmaking called Tetra League, losing there until you are placed appropriately, then moving to custom rooms that attract more pros and losing again. This seems to just be the price of admission when it comes to games with such a high skill ceiling and a history that is old enough that it is taught to our kids in school.
With so much suffering, it makes every match feel wildly intense, more so than any other multiplayer Tetris that I’ve seen before. the 1v1 Tetra League battles are easily my favorite segment as you can rapidly see your impact on your opponent in real time rather than being so laser-focused on your own board in games like Tetris 99 or in Quick Play modes. I say this after struggling to rise above a B- rank for more than a few matches. Of course, there are Custom Rooms where players can create their own rules. At one point, I found myself playing a game where you could no longer hold pieces or use certain buttons on my controller. I laughed, the host of the room laughed, we all laughed, then we switched it back.
In fact, I struggled to find a single shred of toxicity in my time with the game. I’m sure it exists in certain areas as this is a competitive e-sport title but in the lower-to-mid levels that I played at, I struggle to find anyone who was not at least fun to play with if not downright Christlike to play with. The community really makes games pop for me personally and finding one that was so vibrant and so passionate to include new players (even if to only destroy them seconds later) is very special and something that other developers and community directors should take note of.
Other modes include Solo modes such as 40 Lines, a rush to clear 40 Lines in the shortest amount of time, Blitz, a race to clear as much as possible in two minutes, and the requisite Zen mode in which you calmly play at your leisure with no fear of failure. I am unashamed in saying that I spent way too much time playing Zen when I needed a break from the general anxiety that is Tetra League.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time with TETR.IO and will definitely be playing more in the future. There are some missed opportunities with the general experience for new players but I recognize that TETR.IO operates in a space that caters towards the best of the best and not exactly to the new player hoping for a relaxing game. The desktop client did occasionally have small, insignificant bugs with only one requiring me to fully exit out of my game. I recommend TETR.IO to anyone looking to find out just how much they actually suck at Tetris. Chances are, it’s more than you think.
Play TETR.IO for free here: https://tetr.io/
