Tetris is the most famous and successful computer game developed in Russia. It was created in June 1984 by Soviet programmer Alexei Pajitnov on the Elektronika-60 computer. At first, his colleagues liked the simple game of folding shapes and filling in the horizontal lines at the bottom. A few months later, Tetris began to spread throughout the world and was released on both computers and game consoles. Today you can play it on your smartphone, for free and in dozens of different options. You can say that this is a very old and primitive game that can no longer bring any pleasure. But scientists are sure of the opposite: the Russian game can not only entertain, but also provide benefits for mental health.
Scientists have proven many times that Tetris is the best game for human mental health< /p>
Contents
- 1 Rules of playing Tetris
- 2 The influence of computer games on humans
- 3 How to take your mind off anxiety and stress
- 4 How to alleviate PTSD
Rules of playing Tetris
When playing Tetris, the human brain solves a visuospatial problem. Almost every second the player needs to recognize the figures falling from above the screen and decide where in the space below they need to be placed. You need to fold them so that lines are formed horizontally: they disappear, and there is more space for new figures.
Gameplay of regular Tetris. Source: gameogre.com
If the player makes a mistake several times and the screen fills up, he will lose. The longer a person plays, the more points he will score. During single player play, people try to beat their own high scores. But players can also compete, even at the professional level. Since 2010, the Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) has been held around the world, in which players compete for first place.
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The influence of computer games on humans
Some people believe that computer games generate aggression and generally have a bad effect on the human psyche. But the results of scientific research indicate the opposite. In 2020, scientists explained how computer games increase teenagers' interest in reading and creativity. And in 2024, it turned out that computer game lovers are developing their brains.
A simple game can have a good effect on a person’s emotional state, and these are not empty words. Source: horosho.info
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How to take your mind off anxiety and stress
Especially many scientific works are devoted to the study of Tetris. In 2018, an article was published on our website stating that this game is the best for combating stress. During the game, all people enter a state of flow, in which they fully concentrate their attention on what they are doing.
People with severe anxiety and stress can try playing Tetris. Source: probiznesmen.ru
To prove this, the authors of the experiment invited students to play Tetris who were experiencing a lot of stress due to waiting for exam results or an answer about being accepted for a job. As expected, the game easily distracted their attention from anxious thoughts, and they survived stressful moments much easier.
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How to alleviate the condition of PTSD
Recently, the authors of the scientific publication Science Alert reported that Tetris can help people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This is the common name for a person’s condition after a traumatic experience, which is accompanied by frightening memories, bad dreams and many other symptoms that interfere with life. Post-traumatic disorder can occur if a person has witnessed death, been the victim of an accident or other accident, experienced a difficult childbirth, and so on.
Science shows that Tetris can relieve post-traumatic stress disorder. Source: semana.com
Playing Tetris cannot cure a person of a disorder, because this requires a long process of working through the injury with a specialist. However, the game can distract a person and significantly reduce the number of frightening memories. In 2009, scientists conducted an experiment and found that this effect is due to the fact that the game overloads visual memory and does not allow memories to take over.
Tetris can help even 7 years after a traumatic event. Source: popsci.com
In a laboratory test, scientists had volunteers watch traumatic films and then play Tetris. Another group also watched videos with heavy content, but were not given the opportunity to be distracted. Observations over the next week showed that the people who played felt much better than the volunteers from the second group. Other studies have shown that the therapeutic effects of Tetris can be felt even 7 years after the traumatic experience.
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In the end, it turns out that Tetris is a great way to escape from anxious thoughts, which is very useful in the current times. Of course, you can also watch TV series to distract yourself, but they can easily become addictive, here is the proof. The best way to distract yourself with games is to walk in the fresh air and play sports. But if this is not possible, why not add figures on your smartphone?