Who created Tetris, the puzzle video game first developed in the Soviet Union in 1984?

Alexey Pajitnov created Tetris in 1984 while working at the Soviet Academy of Sciences in Moscow.

Pajitnov based the game’s falling pieces on pentomino puzzles, but simplified the shapes into seven tetrominoes, each made of four square blocks. The name combines “tetra,” the Greek-derived word for four, with Pajitnov’s favorite sport, tennis.

The original version ran on an Elektronika 60 computer. Because Pajitnov worked for a state institution, the early licensing arrangements were handled through Soviet organizations rather than by Pajitnov as a private commercial developer. This produced a complicated international rights history involving Andromeda Software, Mirrorsoft, and Nintendo.

Nintendo’s Game Boy version, released in 1989, made Tetris a worldwide phenomenon. Its simple rules, short sessions, and two-player link mode helped the handheld reach a much broader audience. Pajitnov later moved to the United States and co-founded The Tetris Company.