I’ve recently been catching up with Switch games I missed out on, by playing them on the Switch 2. I’ve been getting pretty into Tetris 99, which for those that don’t know, is an online Tetris game in which you compete with other players to be the last one standing.
It’s a pretty fun game, as anything to do with Tetris always is. It gave me the idea to make a little article, about life lessons you can learn by playing Tetris 99.
Full disclosure, this is just a bit of fun. Please don’t take actual life advice from a puzzle game originally made in the 80’s.
Lesson 1
Letting garbage build up can overwhelm you.
In Tetris 99, when you clear lines, you can send these to other players. When enough build up, these create garbage tiles on that players screen. If left unchecked, these garbage tiles can quickly push you up and knock you out.
So the lesson here is to get rid of them as soon as possible - you can’t control what problems life throws at you, but you can control how you choose to tackle them. Tackling them early and head on is the best approach to not let them overwhelm you.
Lesson 2
Prepare for what will happen next.
In Tetris 99, as in many Tetris variants, you can see what blocks are coming up next. If you take a moment to look at these, and think about how you are placing your current blocks, you can be more strategic about how you are placing your blocks in order to be most effective.
The lesson here then is to make sure you are prepared for events you know about. If you know something is coming up, i.e. a big deadline, appointment, a life event - do all you can to have your affairs in order so that when that moment comes, you are best prepared to handle it.
Something that could have been a problem had you not been prepared, could turn out to be exactly what you needed.
Lesson 3
The better you do, the faster it goes.
Tetris 99 carries on that staple of Tetris games, wherein the better you do and the longer you survive, the faster the blocks start to fall, making things gradually more difficult.
This game mechanic is actually a real life phenomenon. There have been scientific studies done over how we process time as we age, and the studies have generally shown that we tend to perceive time as faster the older we get.
The reason for this though, is that as we get older, we generally look backwards and compare what we have ahead of us to our whole lives. When we are younger, everything is a new experience - things that stick in our memories. As we get older and have less new experiences, we tend to forget about the days we spent doing the same old routine.
So the lesson here is that if you want to slow down time, and make each day a bit easier, fill it with new experiences. Try new things, see new places, meet new people. Doing this helps to return us to our youth, and slow down the ever marching procession of time.
Lesson 4
Going after enemies can bite you back.
In Tetris 99, you can choose to target certain enemy players with your garbage tiles. You can also choose from a range of automatic targets, and many players have theirs set to simply retaliate against any attackers.
The lesson here is that if you target someone, they are going to target you straight back. Pick your battles, don’t try and fight every war at the same time.
Lesson 5
A single mistake is not the end.
In any Tetris game, you can often spend a lot of time building up the perfect board. You’ve slotted together pieces perfectly, leading up to that perfect moment when you can slide down a single line block which will take out all those lines at once, a satisfying and rewarding payoff.
However, sometimes it doesn’t quite work out that way. You might accidently slip up and put a single block in the wrong place, seemingly ruining all that effort. However, it can always be redeemed. You can take out more lines, work harder and unravel the mistake. The lesson here is not to dwell on a single mistake, but to keep moving forward.
Lesson 6
Things can change at any moment.
Tetris 99 is a game of ever changing conditions. Garbage tiles coming out of nowhere can make you think all is ruined. You might be almost about to give up, a few wrong placed blocks, a bunch of garbage, it might seem hopeless.
But things really can change at any second. You might suddenly get that perfect block which lets you take out a few lines, followed by more which get you right back down to the bottom of the board. As in life, things and conditions can change at any moment. The lesson is to keep persevering, work with what you’ve got.
Lesson 7
Think things through.
When the speed increases, the pressure can increase too. It’s easy to make rash decisions, especially if you feel you’re losing control of your board and are finding it difficult to cope.
But take a second, have a think. Scan the board and assess your current position, as well as what’s coming. Before placing your piece quickly, take an extra second to think about how best it can be placed. The lesson is to not always rush into things when the pressure is on, an extra few moments of clarity can help you immensely in overcoming any obstacle.
Lesson 8
You will get better over time.
Tetris is both a simple game to understand, and a difficult game to master. In Tetris 99, in many ways it cannot be fully mastered, because you’ll always be at the mercy of other players in some fashion.
However, you will get better the more you play. There have been studies done on games like Tetris which have shown their positive impact to the way our brain processes problems. Over time, the more you play, you’ll get better at the game - and at solving things in general.
This is true with most activities. Tasks that feel impossible will one day be second nature. Don’t think about the top of the mountain, but the step right in front of you. If you can manage that step, you can manage the next one.
Lesson 9
Sometimes, you just get lucky.
What’s true in Tetris 99 is also true in life, sometimes, you just get lucky. You might desperately need a certain block and it just comes. You might not be targeted by many players, or the garbage tiles fall in perfect ways that are easy to clear.
In life, sometimes, people are just lucky. There’s no way to predict it, no way to influence it. All you can do is keep on going, and be ready for it. If it doesn’t happen - it doesn’t happen. But you need to be here for it to be a possibility.
I remember when Tetris was the main family console :D and everyone was after it!
Gaming was mainly for me and my bro, but with Tetris... the whole family wanted to play.
Awesome Lessons!... I never thought of extracting lessons from Tetris. Well done!
This was great to read. Although surely lesson 1 should be dump your problems onto other people to make it their problem 😁