A strange little side quest
Put Bing next to the history of puzzles and a few unexpected connections appear. Alexey Pajitnov created Tetris in 1984 after drawing inspiration from pentomino puzzles, then simplified the idea around shapes made from four squares. The surprising part is how quickly the next milestone followed. Nintendo's Donkey Kong arrived in 1981 and introduced the character first known as Jumpman, who later became Mario. The details change, but the appeal of learning a system and trying again is remarkably persistent.
