When Games Merge with Reality: The Tetris Effect, Explained!

Written by: He Le (24-A2)

Designed by: Rachael Chong (24-O1)

“assassin’s creed was the first video game I ever played, and I finished the first game in a weekend more or less without pause. then I went to work on Monday and, being totally unfamiliar with the Tetris effect, was extremely taken aback by the immediate impulse to reach my teller station by vaulting over the counter. I mean, I didn’t even question it at first. I made it maybe two long purposeful steps forward before my brain caught up and I spent the rest of the day doubting my own actions.”

—@charminglyantiquated on Tumblr.com

Many, many years ago on a Friday afternoon, my friend introduced me to Tetris. To those unfamiliar, Tetris is that colourful block game where you clear ‘lines’ of blocks by filling up a row with them. You’ve probably heard of it, at the very least.

Back then, I was watching her play it on the school computer. Noticing my interest, she gave me the website link, watched me messing around with it for a bit, offered me some pointers, then left me to my own devices for the next two days. 

The next Monday, she asked me how my weekend was. 

“I think you’ve just given me a new addiction,” I told her.

“That’s nice,” she replied. “Have you gotten to the part where you hallucinate the blocks as you sleep?” 

“What.” 

And that night, like whistles beckoning dogs, I was plagued by ghostly images of falling, multicoloured blocks imprinted on the underside of my eyelids. I opened my eyes to darkness, then closed my eyes again to see a Tetris board and its Russian-adjacent soundtrack playing endlessly at the back of my head. I slept to the rhythm of falling blocks. 

When I woke up, everything was Tetris. The pillows were I-pieces that I arranged in a neat line. My bag was a Tetris board which I carefully filled with textbooks and files to plug up every gap. HDB flats were yanked out of their foundations and stacked into an increasingly taller building at the whims of my imagination. It was a compulsion, almost an obsession. Overnight, the world became a tetromino-shaped oyster, and I was going mad.

This madness has a name. It’s the Tetris Effect. 

(Not to be confused with the other, actual game named Tetris Effect, which cleverly brings the game into reality via a VR headset. How creative!)

What is the Tetris Effect?

The Tetris Effect is the phenomenon whereby a person has sunk so much time, effort, and concentration into a game that the in-game mechanics start to permeate into reality, manifesting in their thoughts, dreams, and real-world experiences. Seeing visions of the video games just before they get lulled to sleep— that’s one of the symptoms of the Tetris Effect, and a form of hypnagogic imagery. (The sensory experiences of someone between wakefulness and sleep!)

Some are quick to dismiss the Tetris Effect as a symptom of extreme addiction. And on first glance, it does seem like it, doesn’t it? “I’ve been ‘hallucinating’ about Tetris everywhere every hour of the day, even when I sleep” is bad enough. Replace Tetris with your standard illicit substance of choice and it’s definitely categorised as an addiction. 

In truth, however, it’s not exactly because you’ve gotten addicted to a game. It’s because you’ve gotten used to the game. 

Despite what its namesake may imply, this syndrome is not specific to Tetris. Theoretically, any game could induce this psychological phenomenon as well, such as Candy Crush or Assassin’s Creed. However, Tetris is among the most likely to cause this syndrome thanks to the inherent nature of the game: One that demands cognitive processing as well as constant manipulation and organisation of visual stimuli. 

In other words, playing Tetris demands so much from your concentration and mental thought-processes that playing it enough causes your brain to adapt. The brain makes these processes more efficient and selectively focuses on what it deems ‘pertinent information’, or, well, information that facilitates one’s Tetris prowess, while disregarding irrelevant stimuli. These adaptations are not limited to when one is playing Tetris. Therefore, even in our day-to-day lives, these adaptations cause our brains to actively search for things that ‘may fit together’ in a manner redolent of playing Tetris. That’s what the Tetris Effect is. 

If all that flew over your head, we can break it down further: Tetris is hard, so the brain adapts to get used to it. These adaptations stick around even after we stop playing, such that our brain treats our real-life experiences as if they were a game of Tetris too. The Tetris Effect is an exercise in the brain’s neuroplasticity and in fact showcases the wonderful potential of the mind. 

The Applications of the Tetris Effect

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Tetris Effect would be the potential, useful applications it has in the medical field. Try and guess what it is, because I guarantee you wouldn’t have thought about it. 

Did you guess ‘PTSD and addiction therapy’? You read correctly. A 2017 study at Oxford University found that Tetris had the potential to provide relief for people with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), especially if they played the game while recalling a stressful memory. Seemingly, the mental capacity demanded by games such as Tetris and the adaptive changes induced by the Tetris Effect overwhelms the stress one would typically experience while recalling traumatic memories. Moreover, ironically, Tetris— “The addictive puzzle game that started it all” has the ability to reduce substance addictions and cravings. According to a study by Skorka-Brown, participants who played Tetris for three minutes a day found that their cravings for drugs and food were reduced from 70% to 50%. Similarly, the Tetris Effect reduced these cravings by occupying mental processes that would have supported the imagery, making it harder to imagine consuming the substance. 

Furthermore, there have been studies that showcase that the Tetris Effect may result in an increased thickness in the cerebral cortex, in the area that plays a role in the coordination and planning of complex movements. Additionally, it could even affect the neuroplasticity of our brains, potentially enhancing our memory capacity and cognitive ability. If this were true, it would be a great way to leverage on the adaptive abilities of the brain for one’s benefit. 

Here’s where I put in a disclaimer that this article is NOT CLAIMING that playing games will lead you to score better in your Biology or History examinations. Eunoia Press is not liable or responsible for any decline in its readership’s academic performance following this article. 

But, hey! Maybe the next time you find yourself saddled with some free time, take a moment to play a round of Tetris. If you’re prepared to face the Effects, of course.