If you have ever thought that the tile-matching video game Tetris would work better as a tabletop game, you're not alone. The folks over at Buffalo Games have just released the Tetris board game that is, well… Tetris in board game format. Of course, there are some added features, but the concept is the same and it may even be better than the original.
The new board game, aptly called Tetris, is published by Buffalo Games who have made quite a name for itself with popular releases like Space Invaders, Pac-Man the Board Game, and Apollo. It was also designed by Phil Walker-Harding, known for his board game work on Gizmos and Sushi Go Party. It is such a simple design, large regular and irregular shapes needing to slot together, but it is done beautifully and in a way that makes the board game feel both nostalgic and new.
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Inside the box, you'll find four matrix towers, which look like the backdrop of the classic video game, and an assortment of shapes known as tetrimino, which will look very familiar to anyone who has ever played the classic tile-matching game. The game is designed for up to four players with each getting their own Matrix tower. Players must then drop their tetrimino pieces into their tower, reminiscent of a Connect Four board, and score points by completing horizontal rows. The game also incorporates special challenges on achievement cards that offer bonus points for players who complete them.
Of course, Walker-Harding didn’t want the game to be exactly like the classic video game, so he added in a new feature with the “mino”. A “mino” is what a single square that makes up a tetrimino is called. These will be required to close gaps in lines that can appear in your Matrix and stop you from completing a row. Therefore, players will need to work strategically to earn these little squares to close any unwanted gaps and win the game.
All-in-all, Tetris seems to embody the heart of its video game predecessor. The game’s sleek and colorful design is sure to put a smile on the face of anyone who has spent hours hunched over their Game Boy trying to figure out what to do with that unwanted “S” block.
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