If you've as much as looked at a computer in the past 30 years, there's a good chance you've played Tetris. The block rotating and slotting video game has been ported to almost every machine imaginable, and is played 35 million times per day online. But Tetris is about to break out into the real world, with toy firm Hasbro announcing a licensing deal which will see it release multiple face-to-face games based on the brand.
Tetris was created in 1984 by Alexey Pajitnov, and is one of the most distinctive video game brands in the world. But, while it's played in over 185 countries, and has racked up game sales in the hundreds of millions, it's primarily remained a video game … unless you count things like the Tetris pumpkin or this Tetris building.
That could change, however, as Hasbro has revealed that it's struck an exclusive licensing deal with The Tetris Company to produce real-life face-to-face games based on the brand. While you may wonder how they'd bring Tetris into the real world, Hasbro has decided to fuse it with some of its other popular game brands. The first games to be released will be Jenga Tetris and Bop It! Tetris, though the license leaves it open to developing many more.
Jenga Tetris will combine the two well-known stacking games by keeping the challenge of Jenga (pulling blocks out from a stack and adding them to the top without it falling over) but replacing the rectangular wooden blocks with colored plastic pieces in the shape of Tetris blocks. In Bop It! Tetris, one or more players will have to match the traditional Tetris block-shaped lights as the challenges get faster and the levels go higher.
Both games are due to be launched globally in August 2013. Jenga Tetris will cost around US$15 while Bop It! Tetris will set you back $25.
Source: The Tetris Company
If you've as much as looked at a computer in the past 30 years, there's a good chance you've played Tetris. The block rotating and slotting video game has been ported to almost every machine imaginable, and is played 35 million times per day online. But Tetris is about to break out into the real world, with toy firm Hasbro announcing a licensing deal which will see it release multiple face-to-face games based on the brand.
Tetris was created in 1984 by Alexey Pajitnov, and is one of the most distinctive video game brands in the world. But, while it's played in over 185 countries, and has racked up game sales in the hundreds of millions, it's primarily remained a video game … unless you count things like the Tetris pumpkin or this Tetris building.
That could change, however, as Hasbro has revealed that it's struck an exclusive licensing deal with The Tetris Company to produce real-life face-to-face games based on the brand. While you may wonder how they'd bring Tetris into the real world, Hasbro has decided to fuse it with some of its other popular game brands. The first games to be released will be Jenga Tetris and Bop It! Tetris, though the license leaves it open to developing many more.
Jenga Tetris will combine the two well-known stacking games by keeping the challenge of Jenga (pulling blocks out from a stack and adding them to the top without it falling over) but replacing the rectangular wooden blocks with colored plastic pieces in the shape of Tetris blocks. In Bop It! Tetris, one or more players will have to match the traditional Tetris block-shaped lights as the challenges get faster and the levels go higher.
Both games are due to be launched globally in August 2013. Jenga Tetris will cost around US$15 while Bop It! Tetris will set you back $25.
Source: The Tetris Company
