A 13-year-old from Oklahoma became the first person ever to beat Tetris. The teen, Willis Gibson, is known online as Blue Scuti. Tetris is a puzzle video game that was first released in 1989. It has sold over 200 million copies. In 35 years, no one has ever beaten it. That changed early last month.
Willis shared a video of his successful “run” on social media. A “run” is when someone tries to beat a video game quickly. A month later, the video was viewed over two million times! Until recently, people thought Tetris couldn’t be beaten. After Level 29, the puzzle pieces move too fast. Only a computer program was able to beat it. Gibson proved that a human could beat the game, too!
Gibson started playing Tetris when he was 11. Two years later, he is playing in competitions. He has won over three thousand dollars! But he has learned how to balance playing games with other responsibilities. He still needs to do his homework. He also plays clarinet in his school‘s band.
Many young people have been inspired by Gibson’s run. He shared some advice with them. “If you set your mind to something and you put the work into it, most likely you will get it, if you try hard enough,” he said.
What Do You Think? People believed that Tetris couldn’t be beaten. What lesson did you learn from Willis Gibson’s story?
PHOTO: Wachiwit/Shutterstock; TEXT: Willis Gibson. “Blue Scuti Beats NES Tetris.” Classic Tetris, YouTube. December 25, 2023.
