Game Analysis 2

Tetris

            Tetris is the classic puzzle game in which different shaped blocks fall at a rising speed.  The goal of the game is to prevent the blocks from reaching the top by filling in all of the spaces in a row to clear the blocks.  Higher points are awarded for multiple row eliminations.  On the surface this game may seem to be a simple puzzle game, but upon closer examination, Tetris can be perceived as a metaphor for life. 

            The lesson that Tetris teaches its loyal players is how to deal with the difficulties of life.  At the beginning levels of the game, the blocks fall at a slow pace into a blank space.  The blank space represents the clean slate that every child is at birth.  The slow pace is representative of a child’s perspective on life.  Because the child has only been alive for a brief period of time, each moment seems longer in comparison to someone that has lived for a longer period of time because the child has a shorter basis to make sense of how fast time passes.  Life is also simple and easy for most children because they do not need to worry about basic needs, those are provided to the child by its parents.  That is why the game is easy at the beginning of the game.

            As the player continues to play the game and reach certain scores the game speeds up.  The blocks begin to fall at a faster rate thus making it more difficult to find the best placement for each differently shaped block.  Once again, the speeding up of time is representative of a human’s perspective of time.  Since someone has lived longer, each second seems to be a shorter period of time because in the vast spectrum of time a second becomes a smaller fraction of overall time experienced by a person. 

            The different shapes represent the different obstacles that life throws at each person throughout their life.  As the player gets further into the game it becomes more difficult to manage the blocks, much like the transitions each person goes through in life.  There are times when things in life begin to pile up and each person matures.  With that new found maturity there are more responsibilities for every individual.

            Tetris is a metaphor for life because it incorporates life’s obstacles within the basic time frame of a human life.  Also, much like life, Tetris is impossible to play forever.  Eventually, the player will be unable to maintain control of all the elements of life and the game will be over.  In other words, the player, much like people, is a mortal being, even in the game.  Other games give players the opportunity to beat the game and never die.  However, in Tetris, the most anyone can achieve is the high score which is left by the player’s initials or whatever tag they may leave behind.  This is representative of life, because no one can live forever, but people can be remembered for what they achieved during life.  In the future, we should all appreciate the subtle intricacies of this seemingly simple video game classic.