How Tetris became playable on a McNugget and in a Slurpee

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Tetris is everywhere.

From the esoteric (the Soviet Union’s Electronika 60 in 1985) to the mainstream (the Nintendo Switch) to the downright bizarre (faux 7-Eleven Slurpee cups and plastic McDonald’s nuggets), Tetris isn’t just a long-lived, often-played game, its platforms for play are seemingly omnipresent.

Where gamers of a certain age are fond of ironically asking if a new piece of electronics can run Doom, Tetris is really the game that seems to find its way on all platforms, sometimes even creating new platforms upon which to expand its form-fitting geometric reach.

But that Tetris ubiquity isn’t happening by chance; it’s powered by The Tetris Company and its CEO, Maya Rogers.

And it’s a full-time job.

“Just like in Tetris, I love strategizing and putting pieces together to bring order out of chaos,” Rogers told me in a recent interview. “It’s been a privilege to lead Tetris and discover innovative ways to keep the game relevant for both current fans and future audiences.”

To continue reading this column, which originally ran on Aug. 6, 2024, check out Game.