I found a fun article a couple of days ago that tries to compare Tetris to life over Chess as the appropriate gaming analog. As a former addict to Tetris DS as well as a founder of my high school’s chess club, this comparison resonated on a number of levels:
Your Life Is Tetris. Stop Playing It Like Chess
Though shallow insights on Tetris are not hard to find, the author does make draw good parallels to how the simple structure of a single-player, repetitive puzzle game builds on some of what I call “zen” characteristics.
- The ideal to just compete with one’s past and future selves
- The readiness to adapt to changing and often unpredictable environments
- The mindfulness to continuously set self-imposed goals
There are worse things in life than to learn from timeless, ageless Tetris.