For decades, the classic Tetris puzzle game was considered unbeatable. But last month, a 13-year-old boy reached the “kill screen” at level 157.
Video footage of his win was shared by the Associated Press and displayed Willis Gibson’s, AKA “Blue Scuti,” reaction to the win.
He was seen screaming, “Oh my God!” “Yes!” and celebrating with excitement on Dec. 21 in his bedroom in Stillwater, Okla.
According to Fox News, he was playing the original Nintendo version — which turns 40 this year.
Tetris CEO Maya Rogers, stated, “Congratulations to ‘Blue Scuti’ for achieving this extraordinary accomplishment, a feat that defies all preconceived limits of this legendary game.”
She also called it a “monumental achievement.”
Willis’s mother, Karin Cox, told The Washington Post she’s not worried about her son overdoing it on Tetris. Willis, who estimates that he plays an average of two to three hours a day, regulates his playtime. He also plays clarinet in his junior high band, rides his bike and bowls.
For years Tetris was considered unbeatable. Gaming Youtuber David MacDonald explained, “The Tetris scene people didn’t even know how to get to these higher levels.”
“They were just stuck in the 20s and 30s because they just didn’t know techniques to get any further,” he added.
In 2011, a user hit level 30 through “hypertapping,” which is a strategy where gamers vibrate their fingers to move the controller faster.
This new strategy got users to level 36 by 2018.
In 2020, a new “rolling” skill helped users get further by positioning one finger on the bottom of the controller and one on top to gain more control.
This aided a user in reaching level 95 in 2022.
The game was designed to keep going, but users eventually discovered that at level 138, the typical 10-piece color pattern began to appear randomly, indicating that the game was reaching its limit.
New “Dusk” colors also began to drop down, from dark blues and greens to “charcoal” colors like black, gray, and white also mixed in after level 138, making the game more difficult for those seeking to beat it.
An AI program previously beat a modified version of the game at level 237, but no one has beaten the original and now it was done by a 13-year-old boy whose win led him to exclaim, “I can’t feel my fingers!”
