Tetris: The Games People Play

Tetris: The Games People Play isn't just the story of the beloved Russian video game. Covering prehistoric excavations, the Egyptian game of senet, and the creation of the Nintendo Playing Card Company, this non-fiction graphic novel is a complete history of gaming. Written and illustrated by Andre the Giant: Life and Legend’s Box Brown, this was an enjoyable read. But it's not without some difficult sections to cull through.

  The main story takes place during the waning days of the 1980s Cold War. Anytime one tries to craft a capitalist business venture with a Communist nation, there's going to be red tape. Several companies thought that they had the rights to distribute Tetris including Atari and Nintendo. Of course, the Soviet Union wasn't about to let their claim to the puzzle game go without milking the contract to their advantage.

    Thankfully Brown gives introductions to all of the players that entered into the dealings. But there was a lot of characters involved with turning Tetris into the cultural icon it became. So I had to go back from time to time to refresh myself over who was who.

   I promised to pass this book to a little fella after I read it. But I'm not sure if he's going to be able to enjoy it. There's no cussing or sex in this book. Some mild discussion of violence towards the end of the book however. But I think that the lengthy discussion of international trade law might just be too much for fan of Tetris under the age of 14. (The boy who saw my with this book at the library couldn't have been older than 7!)

    I'm really digging Box Brown's style. Pop culture and geek history seems to be Brown's genre of choice. He's a very good story teller of nonfiction, much like Rich Geary or Marjane Satrapi. Being that this volume on games doesn't really cover role playing (RPGs) that much, maybe that could be a companion piece to Tetris.

   Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.