Stop and think about it: Have you ever seen someone actually beat the classic block-dropping game Tetris?
Sure, you’ve seen people lose at Tetris, getting their blocks to the top of the screen. But winning the game? That’s apparently never happened.
Until now.
Meet Willis Gibson, a 13-year-old from Oklahoma who filmed himself playing the game and getting to level after level — 157 LEVELS IN ALL! — back in December.
But how do you “beat” Tetris when it can seemingly go on ad infinitum? Well, Gibson got to what’s called a “kill screen” — basically the game glitches out and stops entirely.
The video is astounding:
This is amazing! Congratulations to 13-year-old Willis "Blue Scuti" Gibson from Oklahoma on becoming the first person to 'beat' Tetris! 🕹️ pic.twitter.com/EKDYcaLvXO
— U.S. Embassy London (@USAinUK) January 4, 2024
From The Associated Press, the game’s CEO delivered congrats:
“Congratulations to ‘blue scuti’ for achieving this extraordinary accomplishment, a feat that defies all preconceived limits of this legendary game,” Tetris CEO Maya Rogers said in a statement. Rogers noted that Tetris will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year and called Willis’ victory a “monumental achievement.”
Willis combined some innovative button-smashing techniques that have popped up over the years and getting through some tough color patterns, not to mention the speed as the blocks came down.
WOW!