Purchase

Amazon

Kindle

Barnes & Noble

Books-A-Million

Indie BookShop

Ripped Bodice

Add to Wish List

Also by Dan Ackerman:

The Tetris Effect, September 2016
Hardcover / e-Book

THE TETRIS EFFECT
By: Dan Ackerman

The Game that Hypnotized the World

PublicAffairs
September 2016
On Sale: September 6, 2016
272 pages
ISBN: 1610396111
EAN: 9781610396110
Kindle: B01DWX9T7G
Hardcover / e-Book
Add to Wish List

Non-Fiction

Tetris is perhaps the most instantly recognizable, popular video game ever made. But the fascinating story of its origins is lesser known. How did an obscure Soviet programmer, working on frail, antiquated computers, create a product that has earned nearly $1 billion in sales? How did an inspired, makeshift game turn into a worldwide sensation, which has been displayed at the Museum of Modern Art, inspired a Hollywood movie, and been played in outer space?

In this surprising, trivia-filled book, tech reporter Dan Ackerman describes how, as a teenager behind the Iron Curtain, Alexey Pajitnov was struck with inspiration, then meticulously worked for years to bring the game he had envisioned to life. Ackerman shows how Tetris worked its way first through Pajitnov’s office and then out into the world, entrancing player after player with its hypnotic shapes.

Then, tracing the stories of the British, American, and Japanese moguls who raced each other for the rights, Ackerman recounts the game’s complex and improbable path to global success.

The Tetris Effect is an homage to both creator and creation, and a perfect gift for anyone who's ever played the game—which is to say everyone.

Media Buzz

CBS This Morning - September 7, 2016