Why is Tetris fun?

Tetris is one of the classics when it comes to video games. From its iconic shapes and music to the relatively simple gameplay, Tetris remains a well-known and enjoyable game over thirty years after its release. But why, exactly, is Tetris fun? And what can we learn about good game design from such a simple game as Tetris? The answer lies in its ability to promote flow. To quickly recap, the conditions of flow are challenge, skill, goals, and feedback. Let’s take a look at each of these conditions and how they are met in Tetris.

Challenge. There are two important things to note about the condition of challenge. First, for flow to be achieved, the level of challenge must be roughly the same as the level of skill. And second, flow increases as challenge (and skill along with it) increases. Different versions of Tetris may have options to select different difficulties from the start or perhaps additional rules to increase difficulty, but even the most basic version of the game meets this condition. The longer a player successfully clears lines, the faster the pieces will drop. This constantly increasing difficulty means that there will almost certainly be a point during the game where the player’s skill matches the challenge presented. This common technique is effective across many different games because it’s a good way to guarantee that players will find a level of challenge appropriate to them.

Skill. Just as with challenge, flow is highest when skill and challenge match and when skill is high. Skill may seem like more of a feature of the player than a feature of the game, but there are ways that games can foster skill within a player. The way that Tetris accomplishes this is the same way it guarantees that a player will find a point where they are appropriately challenged: by gradually increasing the difficulty. The player is able to learn and improve their ability to manipulate the game controls and mechanics during the slower, easier portions of the game. Ideally, the player’s skill level increases along with the challenge level so that flow is maximized throughout the game. In a game like Tetris, this is difficult to maintain for long, since games typically do not last very long. Some versions may allow players to start at a certain difficulty level to bypass the easy portion once they have surpassed the skill level at which it would be fun. If that is not an option, players can simply start again to get more practice on their way to the correct challenge level.

Goals. Flow theory suggests that goals should be clear and proximal. While the goal of Tetris is not as proximal as other games’ goals such as “Clear this room of enemies” or “Solve this puzzle,” it is quite clear: obtain the highest score possible. There are smaller, more proximal goals along the way to that goal, such as clearing lines or even finding a certain piece, and these goals guide the player’s actions. A benefit of Tetris’ simplicity is that there isn’t much to distract the player from progressing towards their current goal.

Feedback. Whether a player knows how much progress they are making towards their goal depends on the feedback they received from the game. Tetris being a simple game allows for fairly simple feedback. If the goal is to obtain the high score, the player can reference a scoreboard to track their current score and how their actions contribute to it. Another way to track progress in Tetris may be an in-game timer that lets the player know how long they have gone without losing. On a smaller scale, Tetris gives the player feedback when they successfully clear a line, which also indicates progress towards the larger goal. Importantly, these forms of feedback are immediate. The player will not question how well they are doing with regard to their goal, since they can see their progress updated with every piece that falls.

So, Tetris meets all four conditions of flow. We can see the ways that it does so and potentially apply those to other types of games. With regard to skill and challenge, Tetris’ strength is that its difficulty gradually increases, allowing the player to develop their skill to the point that they can match higher levels of challenge. However, many games consist of more than a single session repeated again and again to beat the previous high score, so this exact format may not apply. But similar to this format, a game might offer low-risk environments for players to practice game mechanics in order to develop their skill. And rather than a gradual increase in difficulty until the player loses, other games might benefit more from either a static difficulty level that the player sets for themselves or a dynamic one that adjusts based on measures of player skill. The ideal scenario being one in which player skill and game challenge are equally high.

With regard to goals and feedback, Tetris benefits from its simplicity. Since there isn’t much else to do other than clear lines as quickly or efficiently as possible, the goal is quite clear. And because there is basically only one major goal, it is easy to provide feedback on that goal. More open-ended games may have nearly infinite goals set for or by players, but in all cases, the game should make those goals clear and proximal for the player. Feedback should pertain specifically to progress made towards goals, and it should be available to the player as soon as possible. The player should know what they are trying to do, as well as whether what they are currently doing is contributing to that.

In the future we will examine and review more modern games and the ways they meet or fail to meet the conditions of flow.