Tetris: The Games People Play (Non Fiction) (Graphic Novel)

by Box Brown

Publisher: First Second (October 11, 2016)

Softcover, 256 pages

The history of everyone's favorite mindlessly additive game. Tetris! The game that's harder than Siberia. A game I used to play so much that I would see little floating blocks in my sleep. A female friend of mine was so addicted that she once played it for sixteen hours straight. Eventually she had to go cold turkey and get rid of her copy, otherwise she would probably still be sliding blocks together.

I had heard that there was a kerfuffle about rights when it first emerged, but I was in ignorance of the full drama behind the scenes and the political struggle that framed it all. It almost seems to be a comedy of errors, culminating in a huge battle in an international court. This story demonstrates fully the differences between a free market and the illiteracy and evil often present in the communist/socialist state. The fact that one of the negotiators was in danger of being imprisoned, possibly executed, for not getting the right result from the court case shows the evil mindset of the leftist agenda.

Box Brown frames the story as part of the classic tradition of mankind. That  the creation of games is part of the fundamental nature of humans. And that the games we play is a reflection of society and the human mind. In the old days, they played physical games to prepare for a life of physical labor. Now the electronic ones prepare us for the online world we are increasingly spend more of our lives in.

As usual, Box Brown’s minimalistic style parlays expertly into the subject manner. It focuses everyone’s attention on the bigger picture developing and makes for a riveting read. Well worth the time to read this book, especially anyone who has wasted hours of their life fitting the boxes into place.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.