Alexander Pajitnov is a genius. There's no two ways around it. There's no other explanation. Such an incredibly simple concept. A simple game, really. But how many hours have you spent playing tetris? Or tetris variations? Or tetris inspired games? What is it about tetris that gives it such a mysterious power over people?

You get different shapes and try to arrange them in lines. How much simpler can you get? You got your squares, your lightning bolt thingys, your L's, and everybody's favourite, your long sticks. And that's it. That's everything. How is it fun? Well that's something that I can't answer. I've spent many many hours playing tetris over the last ten or twelve years. Sometimes even when I get bored of it, I can't stop playing for some reason. If somebody has an explanation as to why it is so fun, please let me know.

I can however make a stab at why it has been so popular for so long. It's the simplicity of it. It can be a lot of fun for everybody from beginners to experts. It's easy to get the hang of. It's also easy to make it much more challenging, by changing the speed of the blocks, setting up different scenarios and other variations. In terms of the idea itself, it can be transmutated into so many different forms that it's not even funny. How better to solve an argument than pitting you and your opponent head to head in an online tetris match? Interactive multiplayer tetris is definitely the most fun. And it never loses its fun factor either.

Will tetris ever die? No.

And finally, back to Mr. Pajitnov. He invented tetris while in the former Soviet Union, working in some kind of government thing. Consequently, the government of the former Soviet Union owned the rights to tetris for many many years. Mr. Pajitnov, alas, did not become a billionaire as I would have thought. He missed out on the whole craze in the early nineties and late eighties. He did, in 1997 finally get the rights to the game and start to make royalties on it. All hail Alex Pajitnov!!! 1