The falling-block video game Tetris has met its match in 13-year-old Willis Gibson, who has become the first player to officially 害羞草研究所渂eat害羞草研究所� the original Nintendo version of the game 害羞草研究所� by breaking it.
Technically, Willis 害羞草研究所� aka 害羞草研究所渂lue scuti害羞草研究所� in the gaming world 害羞草研究所� made it to what gamers call a 害羞草研究所渒ill screen,害羞草研究所� a point where the Tetris code glitches, crashing the game. That might not sound like much of a victory to anyone thinking that only high scores count, but it害羞草研究所檚 a highly coveted achievement in the world of video games, where records involve pushing hardware and software to their limits. And beyond.
It害羞草研究所檚 also a very big deal for players of Tetris, which many had long considered unbeatable. That害羞草研究所檚 partly because the game doesn害羞草研究所檛 have a scripted ending; those four-block shapes just keep falling no matter how good you get at stacking them into disappearing rows. Top players continued to find ways to extend their winning streaks by staying in the game to reach higher and higher levels, but in the end, the game beat them all.
Until, that is, Willis managed on Dec. 21 to trigger a kill screen on Level 157, which the gaming world takes as a victory over the game 害羞草研究所� something along the lines of pushing the software past its own limits.
The makers of Tetris agree. 害羞草研究所淐ongratulations to 害羞草研究所榖lue scuti害羞草研究所� for achieving this extraordinary accomplishment, a feat that defies all preconceived limits of this legendary game,害羞草研究所� Tetris CEO Maya Rogers said in a statement. Rogers noted that Tetris will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year and called Willis害羞草研究所� victory a 害羞草研究所渕onumental achievement.害羞草研究所�
It害羞草研究所檚 been a very long road. Early on, 害羞草研究所渢he Tetris scene people didn害羞草研究所檛 even know how to get to these higher levels,害羞草研究所� said David Macdonald, a gaming YouTuber who has chronicled the gaming industry for years. 害羞草研究所淭hey were just stuck in the 20s and 30s because they just didn害羞草研究所檛 know techniques to get any further.害羞草研究所� Level 29 posed an especially tough roadblock because the blocks began falling more quickly than the in-game controller could respond.
Eventually players found ways to make progress, as Macdonald chronicled in his . In 2011, one got to Level 30 using a technique called 害羞草研究所渉ypertapping,害羞草研究所� in which a player could rhythmically vibrate their fingers to move the game controller faster than the game害羞草研究所檚 built-in speed. That technique took players to level 35 by 2018, after which they hit a wall.
The next big thing came in 2020 when a gamer combined a multifinger technique originally used on arcade video games with a finger positioned on the bottom of the controller to push it against another finger on the top. Called 害羞草研究所渞olling,害羞草研究所� this much speedier approach helped one player reach Level 95 in 2022.
Then other obstacles arose. Because the original Tetris developers had never counted on players pushing the game害羞草研究所檚 limits so aggressively, bizarre quirks began to crop up at higher levels. One particularly difficult issue arose with the game害羞草研究所檚 color palette, which traditionally cycled through 10 easily distinguished patterns. Starting at level 138, though, random color combinations began to appear 害羞草研究所� some of which made it much harder to distinguish the blocks from the game害羞草研究所檚 black background.
Two particularly devilish patterns 害羞草研究所� one a dim combination of dark blues and greens later dubbed 害羞草研究所淒usk,害羞草研究所� the other composed of black, gray and white blocks called 害羞草研究所淐harcoal害羞草研究所� 害羞草研究所� proved taxing for players. When combined with the strain of increasingly longer games, which could run 40 minutes or more, progress slowed again. It took a Tetris-playing AI program dubbed StackRabbit to break that logjam by helping map out just where players might happen across a glitch resulting in a kill screen, and finally beat the game.
StackRabbit, which managed to make it all the way to Level 237 before crashing the game, ran on a modified version of Tetris, so its achievements aren害羞草研究所檛 strictly comparable to those of human players. And its findings weren害羞草研究所檛 immediately applicable to the human-played game, either. But its runs clearly demonstrated that game-ending glitches could be triggered by very specific events, such as which block pieces were in play or how many lines a player cleared at once.
That let human players take over the task of mapping all possible scenarios that could cause such crashes in the original game. These typically resulted when the game害羞草研究所檚 decade-old code lost its place and began reading its next instructions from the wrong location, generally resulting in garbage input. A massive effort spurred by StackRabbit害羞草研究所檚 experience eventually led to the that detailed which game levels and which specific conditions were most likely to lead to a crash.
That害羞草研究所檚 what compelled Willis to make his run for the record. Yet even he appeared shocked when he crashed the game at Level 157. In his , he appears to hyperventilate before barely gasping 害羞草研究所淥h my God害羞草研究所� several times, clutching his temples and worrying that he might be passing out.
After cupping his hands over his mouth in an apparent attempt to regulate his breathing, he finally exclaims, 害羞草研究所淚 can害羞草研究所檛 feel my fingers.害羞草研究所�
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