Tetris
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 9 of 45 puzzle games by recommenders
Simple, addictive falling-block puzzle game people still replay for its strong core design; main caveat is ads and clunky older versions.
Simple, addictive falling-block puzzle game people still replay for its strong core design; main caveat is ads and clunky older versions.
32 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 22
- criticize it
- 10
- approval share
- 69%
Recommended in 11 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 22 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 11 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Enduring classic still widely played
“There’s a reason the original Mario Bros and Tetris are still revered and played to this day.”
Comment from 16 May 2026 in “Additive Blending on the Nintendo 64” “the concept behind Tetris itself is good, so I wouldn't call it a fluke”
Comment from 18 Oct 2026 in “Beyond Tetris: The other games of Alexey Pajitnov [video]” “tetris, doom, minecraft will be remembered for centuries/millenia”
Comment from 26 Jan 2026 in “Video Games as Art” Active community and global leaderboards
“there's a thriving community around NES Tetris for instance”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “PlayStation 2 Recompilation Project Is Absolutely Incredible” “still have active global leaderboards”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Ask HN: Best worldwide / classic phone games?” Relaxing and fun to play
“It's pretty nice to zone out with.”
Comment from 27 May 2026 in “Ask HN: What game have you replayed more times than any other?” “Tetris is a fun one to try!”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “1D Chess”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Ads and gambling in versions
“I'd gladly pay for an ad-free version, but they don't have it.”
Comment from 11 Aug 2026 in “Show HN: iPhone app takes simultaneous images from 2 lenses, fuses into 1 photo” “loaded up Tetris with gambling and ads”
Comment from 10 Nov 2025 in “Sued by Nintendo” Film adds nonsense and was awful
“adds all sorts of nonsense about the KGB being involved in everything from the start”
Comment from 26 Sep 2026 in “The Murky History of Soviet-Born Tetris” “It was definitely a bit much in places, but it was a fun dramatization”
Comment from 26 Sep 2026 in “The Murky History of Soviet-Born Tetris” “the Tetris film was awful”
Comment from 26 Sep 2026 in “The Murky History of Soviet-Born Tetris” Older versions feel clunky and dated
“I bought every single official Tetris version and they all suck in conparison.”
Comment from 12 Aug 2026 in “Show HN: iPhone app takes simultaneous images from 2 lenses, fuses into 1 photo” “It's not an old version of Tetris, so many of the niceties of modern Tetris are absents.”
Comment from 20 Aug 2026 in “Why Microsoft Entertainment Pack had a sticker announcing that it had Tetris?” “the old versions feel so clunky and awkward”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “My quest to see all of Tetris”
Other puzzle games people recommend
The four most recommended other puzzle games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outer Wilds | 65 | 7 | 90% | 9 | — | Approved |
| enclose.horse | 64 | 10 | 86% | 4 | — | Approved |
| The Witness | 60 | 19 | 76% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Braid | 36 | 5 | 88% | 5 | — | Approved |
| TetrisThis page | 22 | 10 | 69% | 11 | — | Approved |
What people said
28 of the 35 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the concept behind Tetris itself is good, so I wouldn't call it a fluke”
“adds all sorts of nonsense about the KGB being involved in everything from the start”
“It was definitely a bit much in places, but it was a fun dramatization”
“the Tetris film was awful”
“way more interesting that I expected”
“Didn't think it was possible to ruin Tetris”
“It's not an old version of Tetris, so many of the niceties of modern Tetris are absents.”
“I bought every single official Tetris version and they all suck in conparison.”
“I'd gladly pay for an ad-free version, but they don't have it.”
“the old versions feel so clunky and awkward”
“two player mode is actually pretty fun”
“it is easy to avoid a lot of the legal trouble you inevitably run into when tackling Tetris”
“It's pretty nice to zone out with.”
“still have active global leaderboards”
“There’s a reason the original Mario Bros and Tetris are still revered and played to this day.”
“Desperately needs an instant-down (perhaps the Enter key)”
“This took way too long to load”
“the dreams freaked me out a bit! They're why I stopped playing entirely”
“the sound is annoying. The loop is too fast and too short.”
“given the frame to frame changes are minimal adjacent pixels, the responsiveness should be acceptable”
“Tetris is a fun one to try!”
“Tetris and civilization are also harmfully addictive, but the scope of the behavior they can hijack is lower.”
“the game told me that I wasn’t allowed to play it unless I installed an update for it”
“there's a thriving community around NES Tetris for instance”
“tetris, doom, minecraft will be remembered for centuries/millenia”
“loaded up Tetris with gambling and ads”
“those specification prevent a whole range of gameplay, leading to stagnating game design”
“Henk and Alexey have retained some of the best lawyers American capitalism can buy”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.