Tetris

Apple’s Tetris film slots easily into top 10 list

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In Tetris, Nikita Efremov (left) plays the long, straight block while Taron Egerton stars as the square block. (Kidding!)
Photo: Apple TV+

The new Apple TV+ film about sneaking Tetris out of Communist Russia is pulling in plenty of viewers. It was actually more popular than Ted Lasso last week, according to one TV ratings company — though that Apple comedy is very popular, too.

And Shinking continues its long run in the top 10 most popular streaming shows, possibly because it’s now possible to binge the entire first season.

Tetris movie squanders a story to focus on deals [Apple TV+ review] ★★☆☆☆

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Togo Igawa, Nino Furuhata and Taron Egerton in ★★☆☆☆
The hunt for international rights fuels new Apple TV+ movie Tetris.
Photo: Apple TV+

TV+ ReviewNew Apple TV+ movie Tetris is part of a trend I hope goes away — making movies about advances in capitalist innovation. Perhaps the least-interesting subject possible, it’s been done justice precisely once in David Fincher’s The Social Network, because it understood that behind every “genius” is a shell game played by a feckless coward. And trust me, Tetris never reaches the highs of that particular example.

A movie too interested in the destination to enjoy the journey, Tetris tells the tale of the sale of the world’s most ubiquitous video game. The movie, which premieres today on Apple’s streaming service, possesses some small virtues but suffers from big problems.

Mobile Tetris players can stack up rewards like a free month of Apple TV+

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Mobile
Mobile Tetris players can earn rewards points and even watch the new Tetris movie for free on Apple TV+.
Image: PlayStudios

PlayStudios launched a Rewards Store Friday for the classic puzzle game Tetris. The program will let millions of mobile players earn rewards, including a free one-month subscription to Apple TV+.

Of course, this comes “just in time for the premiere of Apple Original Film Tetris, now streaming globally on Apple TV+.”

Because of course it does.

Tetris trailer portrays Cold War-era struggle to bring classic game to the world

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In Tetris, Nikita Efremov (left) plays the long, straight block while Taron Egerton stars as the square block. (Kidding!)
Photo: Apple TV+

The Tetris movie isn’t about falling blocks. Instead, the Apple TV+ film is a thriller about how the hugely popular game was brought out of the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

The trailer clearly shows the struggle an entrepreneur goes through to convince a deeply suspicious communist regime to allow Tetris out of the country.

Apple TV+ movies sizzle reel shows a network at less than peak performance

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Apple TV+s Luck
Luck, which features a dragon voiced by Jane Fonda, is just one of the star-studded films coming to Apple TV+.
Photo: Apple

Apple kicked off Tuesday’s Peek Performance event with a look at the upcoming Apple TV+ slate of movies — and it’s not a very pretty picture.

You can look forward to the kind of forgettable, star-studded stuff that Netflix has become so adept at providing a rapacious public, most of whom seem just as eager to forget these types of movies exist. While promising Martin Scorsese film Killers of the Flower Moon remains free of both a release date and a trailer, the Apple TV+ sizzle real showcased several upcoming movies that don’t inspire confidence.

Puzzle to the rhythm of new Tetris Beat

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‘Tetris Beat’ is coming soon to Apple Arcade
Take “Tetris” and give it some rhythm and you get “Tetris Beat.”
Photo: Apple Arcade

This isn’t your parents’ Tetris. N3TNetwork updated the classic puzzle game to give it some rhythm — the result is Tetris Beat.

It launched today on the gaming service Apple Arcade.

Tetris Beat puts musical twist on a classic game

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‘Tetris Beat’ is coming soon to Apple Arcade
Tetris Beat isn’t your parents’ version of the game.
Photo: Apple Arcade

Take Tetris and give it some rhythm and you get Tetris Beat, a fresh version of the puzzle classic. It includes music from Alison Wonderland and many other artists.

The game is coming soon to Apple Arcade.

These are the best games for reducing stress during lockdown

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Sims-4
Sims, available on Mac and iOS, is rated the best stress reliever.
Photo: EA

A good video game is a great way to escape the COVID-19 pandemic and forget, just for a little while, about the nasty impact it’s having on the world. But which video games should you play? Which titles are proven to help?

A new study reveals the best games to play for reducing stress — and those that should be avoided if your primary goal is a positive, calming experience. We’ll highlight those you can enjoy on Mac and iOS.

A brand-new Tetris game is already out on iOS

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Tetris-iOS
That didn't take long.
Photo: The Tetris Company

A brand-new Tetris game today landed on iOS — just a day after EA confirmed it is retiring its own lineup of Tetris titles.

The game promises to deliver the traditional Tetris gameplay experience millions of fans around the world already know and love. But this is not the Tetris Royale title that was announced last year.

Brain-teasing iPhone puzzler is Tetris with rings

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Dropa
It's like Tetris crossed with that fingerprint pattern used for setting up Touch ID.
Photo: Midnight Tea Studio

As much as I like the kind of long, winding, RPG-style games you can get lost in for months at a time, I’ll always be a sucker for a great mobile puzzle game.

That’s exactly what developer Midnight Tea Studio offers with its new game Dropa! Pitched somewhere between Tetris and that fingerprint pattern you have to fill in when you set up a new Touch ID profile, it’s a game that’s sure to keep you busy during the holiday season.

Check out the trailer below.

Space-trippy iOS puzzler splices Bejewelled with Tetris

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Abantus Saga 2
Abantus Saga 2's sliding mechanics are deceptively simple.
Screenshot: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac

You’d be forgiven if you took one look at Abantus Saga 2 and confused it for yet another tedious match-three game. But if you can get over your prejudice, you’re in for hours of enjoyment. And some frustration. But mostly enjoyment.

The puzzle title, which is out now for free in the iOS App Store, has you sliding around colored and patterned “cubes” (they’re squares, but the on-screen text calls them cubes) to complete full rows and columns. And that’s it — that’s the only mechanic. But what the developer does with it will have you playing and replaying Abantus Saga 2 for hours on end.

In-app purchases flaw exposes developers to costly hacks

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App Store icon
Business is booming for the App Store.
Photo: PhotoAtelier/Flickr

Sloppy coding in some popular iOS games allows hackers to give themselves and others thousands of dollars’ worth of in-app purchases for free.

The hole was discovered by developers at DigiDNA, creator of a backup tool called iMazing that allows iPhone and iPad users to access their devices’ hidden file systems. The developers found that the app backup/restore feature in iMazing 1.3 exposes weaknesses in the way games like Angry Birds 2 and Tetris Free handle in-app purchases.

To demonstrate how easy it is to hack in-app purchases using this method, the DigiDNA team tweaked Angry Birds 2 to start the game with 999,999,999 gems — the equivalent of $10,000 of in-game credits.

Woz was just too damn good at Tetris

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tetrisgameboy
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was almost better at Tetris than building computers. Photo: Leonora Giovanazzi

Before fingers throbbed from marathon Candy Crush sagas, before Flappy Bird zoomed across iPad screens from Palo Alto to Manila, there was Tetris — and Stephen Gary Wozniak was its king.

Thirty years ago today, a Russian programmer named Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov created the massively popular and horrifically addictive game that became the first U.S.S.R. video game export to the United States. In a recent Gizmodo article celebrating Tetris’ popularity, Woz jumped into the comments to wax nostalgic about his love for Game Boy Tetris and shot of a little brag on his wizard-like skills at the game.

Just how damn good was he? I’ll let the champ speak for himself:

Stop what you’re doing and play these iOS games now

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All the game and math nerds love Threes, and it's easy to see why. This sudoku-meets-sliding-puzzle game requires just the right combination of zenlike concentration and sharp addition skills to keep you playing long into the night.
All the game and math nerds love Threes, and it's easy to see why. This sudoku-meets-sliding-puzzle game requires just the right combination of zenlike concentration and sharp addition skills to keep you playing long into the night.

Mobile gaming is an ephemeral thing.

The unending stream of iOS games runs too fast and too fat for any individual to figure out which ones are worthy of your time and/or money. Freemium games? Check. Casual games? Sure. Hardcore games ported to your iOS device of choice? Plenty.

But which ones should you sit down and play right now? Our crack team of reviewers took a moment to call up the games they return to, day after day, when they feel like experiencing the finest the mobile gaming world has to offer. Above are the eight best iOS games you should download at this very moment.

This Week In Weird: 5 Games You Won’t Believe Exist

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Weird games header
Photo courtesy of Meghan Stratman

Hundreds of new games come out every week in the App Store. A select few are the next must-play title that everyone will be talking about (and ripping off) for the foreseeable future. Most of them are perfectly decent but may not receive the attention they deserve. And then you have the third group: games so odd, bizarre, and head-scratching that you’re not sure what to make of or do with them.

They aren’t necessarily bad; they’re just confusing and weird. And worst of all, people may never know that they exist. But that’s why we’re here.

Here are some of the strangest games to drop into the App Store this week. What you do with this information is between you and your iPhone.

Tetris For iOS Has (Nearly) All Its Pieces In Place [Review]

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Tetris

As with all classic games, the question about EA’s Tetris for iOS doesn’t have anything to do with whether the core concept is a good one or not (we know that it is), but rather how well the developers have translated it to the world of multi-touch.

Tetris by Electronic Arts
Category: iOS Games
Works With: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch
Price: $0.99 w/ in-app purchases

If you’re a long-time Tetris fan and former Game Boy owner, chances are you’ll have fond memories of Alexey Pajitnov’s classic puzzle game on mobile. The good news, then, is that at its best EA’s Tetris is every bit as revolutionary and addictive as that game was when you first played it.

How To Play Two Video Game Classics In Terminal [OS X Tips]

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tetris

And here you thought Terminal was just for Unix geeks.

Ok, well, maybe it really is, but there’s a fun easter egg or two hidden in the old UNIX code that underlies Apple’s OS X software.

Turns out that you can play Tetris and Snake, two classic games from the dawn of digital gaming, in a Terminal window. Intrigued? It’s super easy.

Flux Free: Painting The Line In Space [Review]

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Flux Free

The best puzzle games either have a single rule (Tetris: “Make lines.”) or a few basic rules based on things we know innately or intuitively (Where’s My Water?: “Dig holes, water goes down, steam goes up, poison is bad.”).

Flux Free by Zen Develop
Category: iOS Games
Works With: iPhone, iPad
Price: Free

Flux Free is a new iOS title which falls into the latter category. It’s a shape-matching game built on a few basic concepts like color theory that keep it from becoming obtuse even when all of its mechanics are in play.

That’s not to say that it’s incredibly easy, but you’ll never spend any time trying to remember how anything works. And it’s smart and fun, so that’s good, too.

Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Is So Awesome At Tetris He Was Once A Champion At It [Video]

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650x

Steve Wozniak is no stranger to gaming, having met Steve Jobs while working at Atari and even programmed his own version of the classic video game, Pong.

Did you know, though, that the Woz is a huge aficionado of the classic Gameboy game, Tetris. Well, he is… so much so that Nintendo Power magazine back in the 1980s refused to publish his scores anymore because he’d dominated the #1 spot for too long!

EA Throws President’s Day Sale With Up To 90% Off iOS Games

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EA-presidents-day-sale

EA is today throwing a President’s Day sale that has seen it slashing the prices of its iOS games by up to 90%. Over 55 games are included in the deal — including popular titles like Need for Speed Most Wanted, Mass Effect Infiltrator, and Dead Space 3 — and everything is just $0.99.

We’ve got a complete list of reduced titles below.

Play More Than 100 Classic Nintendo Games In Your iPhone’s Web Browser Without Jailbreaking

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Well... they're almost playable.
Well... they're almost playable.

With Nintendo adamant it’ll never bring its games to iOS, the only way to enjoy your favorite titles on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad is to jailbreak your device and download an emulator. But that’s no longer the case. You can now enjoy more than 100 NES and Game Boy games in your iPhone’s web browser.

iOS Games Gone Cheap: EA Slashes Prices For July 4 [Deals]

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Grab 'em while they're cheap.
Grab 'em while they're cheap.

As we all know, iOS developers just love an excuse to slash their prices, and EA is the first to show its celebrations for Independence Day. The company has discounted a stack of popular titles — including FIFA 12, Dead Space, and Mass Effect Infiltrator — to just $0.99 to ensure you stay busy before the fireworks start.

Here’s the full list.

EA Reduces Dozens Of iOS Games To Just $0.99

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EA-99-cent-game-sale

EA has kicked off a huge iOS sale that has seen dozens of popular games reduced to just $0.99 in a bid to top the App Store’s charts this Christmas. Some of the company’s hottest games are included, a number of which haven’t only just been released, such as Dead Space, FIFA 12, Tetris, and Trenches II.

Here’s the complete list of titles on sale for just $0.99!