13-year-old gamer beats 'unbeatable' Tetris and makes history

Willis Gibson, 13, became the first player to officially "beat" the original Nintendo version of Tetris by breaking it.

Thirteen-year-old Willis Gibson, known as "blue scuti" in the gaming world, has made history by becoming the first player to "beat" the original Nintendo version of Tetris, a falling-block video game. He reached a point in the game known as a "kill screen," where the Tetris code glitches and crashes the game. This achievement is highly coveted in the world of video games, where records involve pushing hardware and software to their limits.

This is a significant victory for players of Tetris, a game that many have long considered unbeatable due to its lack of a scripted ending. Players have continued to find ways to extend their winning streaks by reaching higher and higher levels, but the game ultimately defeated them. Willis managed to trigger a kill screen on Level 157, pushing the software past its own limits, in what is considered a monumental achievement by the makers of Tetris.

The road to this accomplishment was long and challenging. Early on, players didn't know how to reach higher levels, but eventually, they found techniques to make progress. Players have used various techniques over the years, such as "hypertapping" and "rolling," to move the game controller faster and reach higher levels. However, bizarre quirks began to appear at higher levels, such as random color combinations and longer game times, which slowed progress.

A Tetris-playing AI program called StackRabbit managed to make it all the way to Level 237 before crashing the game, which helped map out scenarios that could cause such crashes in the original game. This led to the compilation of a large spreadsheet detailing which game levels and specific conditions were most likely to lead to a crash, inspiring Willis to make his run for the record.

When Willis crashed the game at Level 157, he appeared shocked and overwhelmed, expressing disbelief and concern about his physical state. This historic achievement has defied all preconceived limits of the legendary game, marking a significant milestone in the world of video games.