US teenager becomes first player ever to beat Tetris game; shatters records in 38 minutes

An Oklahoma teenager has become the first person ever to beat Tetris, three decades after the release of the evergreen game. Willis Gibson, 23, who goes by the streamer name Blue Scuti has become the proud owner of the record which has left the gaming community astonished.

Gibson posted a video on Tuesday (Jan 2) that showed him breaking the record by entering the game's "kill screen" where things become so chaotic that the signature blocks start falling rapidly, rendering the game unplayable as it cannot continue.

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In the video, Gibson plays the game for roughly 38 minutes and reaches level 157 before saying, “Oh, I missed it,” believing that he had misplaced a block, scuttling his daring attempt.

However, after the screen froze and the score read '999999' suggesting the game had ended, Gibson erupted in joy.

“Oh my God! Yes! I’m going to pass out. I can’t feel my hands," he could be heard saying.

In an interview with a fellow streamer, Gibson dedicated the game to his dad Adam Gibson who died last month. He added that the game became a struggle after half an hour into it.

“My biggest struggle was when the nerves started kicking in after 30 minutes of play,” BlueScuti told streamer ITZsharky1.

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Gibson's strategy to achieve the record

Notably, Gibson, a Tetris prodigy used the “rolling” controller technique, a new way of holding and using the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) controller to achieve the rare feat. Before the rolling method, popularised in 2021, players used to employ the "hyper tapping" technique where one tapped the controller’s D-pad 12 times per second.

Under the rolling mechanism, players roll their fingers on the bottom of an NES controller and use that pressure to push the controller into their other hand, which presses the D-pad to move the blocks.

The achievement becomes even more huge as previously, only artificial intelligence computer programmes had beaten Tetris.

"This is unbelievable. Developers didn't think anyone would ever make it that far and now the game has officially been beaten by a human being," Vince Clemente, CEO of Classic Tetris World Championship was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The game was first released on the NES on June 6, 1984, and as of last year, it had sold over 520 million copies, making it the best-selling video game of all time.

(With inputs from agencies)