June 6th, 1984, the first-ever “block” oriented video game Tetris was released to the public. Tetris took the world by storm in the 80’s, putting up sales numbers that had never been seen by any game before. Now, in the year 2025, Tetris has been reborn and is flooding phones around BHS. In late 2022, the mobile game Block Blast was released on Android and IOS devices around the world.
Upon its release, the game started off slow as it only accumulated around 14 million downloads. However, in the summer of 2024, the game boomed and continued into 2025. According to App2Top.com.the game has been downloaded 43 million times in the U.S. alone
Andrew Tropp ‘26 said “I first heard about the game at the start of the school year when I started to see a lot of people playing. I recently downloaded the game and I’m hooked.”
A question many people have is why this game is appealing, especially for a younger audience. Well for starters, the game features a simple premise that consists of fitting different blocks into each other to fill out an entire board. The blocks in Block Blast are the same ones used in Tetris. This includes the “Z” block, the four-across block, the “2 by 2” block, and a “3 by 3” block. The purpose of the game is to jam these blocks together to fill out the board. Every time the board is filled, the blocks reset and your score goes up. The game continues until the board is filled up and no more blocks can be placed on the screen
Tetris and its spin-off, Block Blast, have many similarities but also some differences. For example, in Tetris, the blocks drop from the top of the screen, as they drop, the player can rotate them, and move them to where they think the block could help them gain more points. In Block Blast, the blocks don’t drop but are rather on the bottom of the screen where they can not be rotated, but can be placed wherever the player best sees fit.
Block Blast has made its way into Bernard’s classrooms. At any time during the day, students can be seen picking up their phones, opening the app, and exclaiming about their high scores.
However, to fully understand the satisfaction and enjoyment of this game, you have to experience it firsthand. The feeling you get upon clearing the board is incredibly rewarding, which makes the game so addictive. Additionally, the motivation to beat your record is what keeps players coming back to it day in and day out.
At any time during the day, students can be seen picking up their phones, opening the app, and exclaiming about their high scores. That range from high to low scores.
Liam Calulo’ 27 said “I have a constant addiction to trying to beat my high score. My high score is currently 22,000 and regardless of if I’m coming close to that or not, the thrill of beating my record never ceases to excite me.”
The other factor that makes the game so well-liked is the fact that it is an offline game. This means that regardless if you’re connected to the internet or not, the game is always accessible to play. During plane rides or long car rides, Block Blast will always be there to cure your boredom. Nowadays, finding a simple game that doesn’t require intense skill is hard. However, Block Blast offers a simple and fun experience that is favored by many around the world, including at BHS.
