Tetris - Things will fall in place

Though I'm not a great video game lover, one simple game impressed me recently. It's an old game, invented way back in 1985, by a Russian named Alexey Pajitnov. And the name of the game is Tetris.

Well, my brother introduced this game to me - by sending it to my already cramped mobile phone. And soon I found the game worth playing. The thing I like the most in Tetris is that things fall in place - if you are quite lucky. And you got to manipulate things slightly - to make things fall in the right place - and at the right time. If you are too lazy, the wrong piece gets to the wrong spot. And if you're hyperactive, you end up making things messier.

You lose a game of Tetris for two reasons:

1. You can no longer keep up with the increasing speed
2. You select the wrong piece to be fit into a spot.

Back to why I love Tetris so much is that there is a philosophy clinging to this game of moving blocks. What I interpret is that things in life will be coming to you - whether you like it or not. Sometimes, they arrange themselves in a perfect manner, helping you keep moving ahead. At times, they are of the weirdest shape. And they come too fast, leaving you wonder 'What on earth am I to do now?'

But life goes on. Make some corrective moves to get things tidier. There is always some more time left. And if you don't catch up, you end up loser. Sounds tooooooooooooo philosophical? There is science behind this too.

According to Richard Haier, et al. prolonged Tetris activity can also lead to more efficient brain activity during play. When first playing Tetris, brain function and activity increases, along with greater cerebral energy consumption, measured by glucose metabolic rate. As Tetris players become more proficient, their brains show a reduced consumption of glucose, indicating more efficient brain activity for this task.(Wikipedia)

As with any other game, Tetris has disadvantages too. It may cauase repetitive stress symptoms. Your brain may be involuntarily fancying tetris combinations even when you are not playing the game. And we've got a name for it - the Tetris effect! Seriously, I had this effect for quite a while. But that fades off as you get used to.

And now, while waiting for bus, waiting for a friend, when I feel bored, or when I don't have anything to do, I pick my mobile, to move the blocks here and there - desperate to upgrade my level (which is currently level 6 out of 10) - trying to make things look better.