Dear LPG,

So many things have changed over the years, but my love of computer games remains the same.  I have always liked to play some computer games between bouts of internet surfing and pretending to work, when I used to.  I am what my grandson calls ‘old school’ because one of my favourites is Tetris. 

I was a proud dad when it first came out and bought it for my children to use on their Commodore 64 games console.  In those days it was the ‘done thing’ to go to a shop and buy a disk with programmes on it, there was none of this downloading it off the internet for the average family.  I would wait till they were in bed before getting involved myself and then when it re-emerged for PC if felt like it had never been away.

 I now, with great sadness have to inform of the demise of my long serving laptop.  It has gone wrong a few more times than usual lately and the last time I took it to the computer repair shop they told me that there was no point in trying to fix it again.  So, I got myself a new laptop the other day and everything is different from the one that I have come to know and love, although there are some similarities as well.   It has most of the programs that I really wanted, but I was going to have to find Tetris for myself. 

I had a bit of trouble finding a version that would not include lots of extra downloads and while I was looking I found out that this, my game to escape to when I need a break from whatever work I am trying to accomplish when on a computer,  was originally released 35 years ago today.

So for those retro computer users who still enjoy the relative simplicity of Tetris, I feel the need to say a public Happy Birthday.

SJ, Blackheath

LPG did a little research and found that in 2018, in spite of its great age as computer games go, and all the newer, more sophisticated games that have been invented since, Tetris was still number 9 in the top 10 computer games charts last year.   We found a little on its history and a free version of the game just in case you have never tried it…

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