By Bruno Savill De Jong — William Blake once wrote of seeing the world in a grain of sand. It is unlikely he was referring to the video game Tetris, but Box Brown’s documentary-comic Tetris: The Games People Play capitalizes on his principle, building outwards from the simple puzzle game to detail its complex history, touching upon developing technology, international relations, and the nature of gaming itself. Everyone recognizes Tetris, but Brown’s book excavates the various threads contained beneath those colorful tetromino tiles.

When Alexey Pajitnov created Tetris in 1984, killing time between software development, he envisioned it as more than an amusing distraction. For him, puzzle-games were a confluence between humans and technology, combining emotional investment with logical strategy. Tetris’ simplicity and engagement meant it quickly spread across Russia, only contained by the Iron Curtain. After it leaked outside the USSR, however, Tetris quickly became a worldwide sensation, even though the distribution rights had never been secured. Communist Russia meant Tetris’ rights belonged to the state instead of Pajitnov (indeed, if he’d ever bothered to sell it himself, he may have been arrested), so now slow government bureaucracy rushed to reclaim copies already being sold, like rotating shapes already in motion. Tetris’ legal history becomes a vital piece within modern history, informing a lawsuit between Nintendo and Atari, and becoming a factor in the waning Cold War, an instrument of ‘perestroika’ to eliminate the lines separating the two Superpowers.

Now, a reconstruction of this bidding war would be interesting enough, but in his book Brown is unsatisfied with such a limited perspective. Instead, The Games People Play includes every possible contextualization; the psychology of game theory, the backstory of Nintendo, the technology of GameBoys. Even Tetris’ background graphics are given explanations. Aided by his pleasant infographic visuals, Brown creates an accessible and expansive documentary with this book, and it’s not only for those already interested in Tetris — this is a story that will make newcomers interested as well.

One of the most compelling elements about The Games People Play is how its form subtly mirrors its contents. Brown’s drawings are broad and minimalistic, often conveyed through large boxy panels, but featuring enough detail to render its numerous characters distinct, like the simple yet recognizable shapes of Tetris. Despite its grand scale, Brown’s style remains efficient, lacking unnecessary deviations. Like how Tetris is modeled on deferred satisfaction, players trying to complete an unending pattern, The Games People Play is similarly addicting, every page encouraging the reader to read on and see how everything fits together.

Admittedly the onslaught of information can become overwhelming. The exponentially increasing interest in Tetris leads to additional factions wanting a piece of it. Brown injects enough humorous anecdotes to keep the book compelling (such as one institution destroying all copies of Tetris to increase productivity), but mostly the people are simply dropped in, this being a biography of a phenomenon instead of individuals.

Yet maybe Brown’s aim is to show the wider pattern instead of individuals, to see the whole board instead of singular pieces. This teleological revelation might be overstated, but The Games People Play remains an engaging and informative read. Despite its apparent heft, it is quickly devoured, which leaves you nicely fulfilled. Pajitnov maintained that games do not distract from life, but rather that games inform life. Box Brown’s book demonstrates this intersectional principle, how sports, art, commerce and culture are not distinct branches, but are all bundled together. It shows how the whole world is built of layered, intersecting pieces.

TETRIS: THE GAMES PEOPLE PLAY
Writer/Artist/Colorist/Letterer: Box Brown
Publisher: First Second
Price: $19.99
It is, perhaps, the perfect video game. Simple yet addictive, Tetris delivers an irresistible, unending puzzle that has players hooked. Play it long enough and you’ll see those brightly colored geometric shapes everywhere. You’ll see them in your dreams. Alexey Pajitnov had big ideas about games. In 1984, he created Tetris in his spare time while developing software for the Soviet government. Once Tetris emerged from behind the Iron Curtain, it was an instant hit. Nintendo, Atari, Sega—game developers big and small all wanted Tetris. A bidding war was sparked, followed by clandestine trips to Moscow, backroom deals, innumerable miscommunications, and outright theft. In this graphic novel,New York Times–bestselling author Box Brown untangles this complex history and delves deep into the role games play in art, culture, and commerce. For the first time and in unparalleled detail, Tetris: The Games People Play tells the true story of the world’s most popular video game.
Release Date: October 11, 2016

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Bruno Savill De Jong is a recent undergraduate of English and freelance writer on films and comics, living in London. His infrequent comics-blog is Panels are Windows and semi-frequent Twitter is BrunoSavillDeJo.