Tetris creator and video game pioneer Alexei Pajitnov just confirmed that a new Tetris game—called "Tetris Reversed"—will not be seeing the light of day. Read on to learn more about Pajitnov’s sequel to Tetris and why it never saw production.
Tetris Reversed Just Never Went Into Production
Tetris Reversed Prototype Gameplay at GDC 2024
It looks like a cornerstone of video game history was supposed to have a sequel. As was revealed by Tetris creator and video game pioneer Alexei Pajtnov in a panel at GDC 2024, an official sequel for Tetris called "Tetris Reversed" had been in development since 2011, made in collaboration with Ocean Media CEO and developer Vedran Klanac.
The prototype gameplay they showed at the GDC panel was very much a reversal of the classic game we’ve come to love, with Tetrominos—the iconic block Tetris blocks comprised of four squares each—being used to eliminate a wall of blocks instead of stacking up. It also featured other Tetris trappings, such as its focus on getting high scores and line deletion.
Pajitnov commented on his single-minded approach to satisfying game design, saying "I love so much line collapses. Such a pleasant effect in the original game." He also elaborated on some of the prototype’s other mechanics, including a "Reverse Button" that switches complete blocks for incomplete ones to get you out of a difficult situation.
"Sometimes [clearing the field] is absolutely impossible," he added on the topic of the prototype’s randomness. Theoretically, a perfect game is possible, with just the right blocks appearing at the right time to clear the entire board, although that much has not yet been achieved by even the developers themselves. The panel rounded out their statement by adding that the average playtime for most players is around 10 minutes.
Tetris Reversed Just Never Picked Up Production
The audience’s reaction to the prototype seemed good enough, although the burning question remained: What happened to Tetris Reversed? According to Pajitnov himself, things just started to stall once they were a decade into the game’s development. 10 years might seem like a long time to develop a game that was "shorter than original Tetris", but this lengthy development time was yet another consequence of the game’s status as a side project.
Although the game was mostly programmed by Vedran Klanac with Pajitnov’s feedback, it was the stymied efforts of another collaborator, Martin de Ronde, that prevented the game from ever going into production. The panel didn’t elaborate much further, with Pajtinov saying "We finished the job, but in this case production never started. The next stage never happened… Probably [de Ronde] had trouble with the Tetris company… At some point he gave up."
The Tetris Company, with which Pajitnov was associated, owned the rights to the original game and its other fittings, like Tetrominos, so getting rights to assets was not an issue. Quite simply, in addition to de Ronde’s failed efforts, the game wasn’t picked up for production because it was a meager side project.
"The fun factor is higher in (the original) Tetris than here. [Reversed] is a more cerebral game. Tetris allowed different [kinds] of styles. You can choose your own style. In this case, it’s [a rather] straightforward strategy," said Pajitnov as he reflected on what could have been for Tetris Reversed.
It’s unclear if Tetris Reversed will ever be picked up now that its existence is out in the open. But if Pajitnov’s enthusiasm for the prototype was any indication, we could be looking at a worthy sequel to one of the video game industry’s most important cornerstones.
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Tetris Creator Reveals Sequel Prototype Called Tetris Reversed That Might Never See the Light of Day
