Memes: Sliding Puzzle

A strange little side quest

Before the next round of Memes: Sliding Puzzle, here is a piece of the bigger picture. The name Tetris combines a reference to four-square pieces with Pajitnov's interest in tennis. The timeline takes another interesting turn: Pong was field-tested in California bars in 1972 and helped launch the modern arcade-game era. That long chain of experiments is part of why puzzles still feels fresh when a game finds the right twist.