The last few years have been good forTetrisfans, man. We’ve gotTetris Effectin VR making us feel like we’re hallucinating in geometry class. We’ve got the original NES and Game Boy versions on the Switch reminding us of the first time we shot that good stuff straight into our eyes. We’ve got a ton of obscure versions inthe Tetris Forever collection by Digital Eclipsegiving us a glimpse into the odd diverting paths the series has taken. And now? Well, now we’ve got Tetris The Grand Master 4 - Absolute Eye, a Tetris game for weirdos and sickos who hate themselves as much as God hates them. And it’s just become my new in-between game.
If you haven’t played a Tetris The Grand Master game, it’s basically the puzzle game equivalent of this quote from the 1984 cinema classicThe Terminator: “Listen, and understand! That [Tetris game] is out there! It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead!”
If you’ve played the sub-series, you know I’m not exaggerating this. Tetris Effect may have been like having your brain massaged by gentle, caring hands but Tetris The Grand Master is like having your brain beat to death witha golf club like JoelinThe Last of Us. I guess I should say spoiler alert, but, I mean, if you’re finding that news out in a column about Tetris, there ain’t much I can do to help you, pal.
Tetris The Grand Master 4 Likes It When You Suffer
The point is, Tetris The Grand Master is all pain. Which makes sense considering it started as an arcade game and it’sveryfocused on competitive play. In fact, Tetris The Grand Master 4 - Absolute Eye wassupposedto be an arcade game. And then it was canceled. And then it was un-canceled. And then it didn’t have the Tetris license. Then it got it back. And now here we are, in the year of our lord 2025 with a new Tetris The Grand Master game on Steam.
And here’s how you know it’s good: It costs $35 -for a single Tetris game!- but has an 85 percent positive rating from players. Usually I don’t just go with ‘trust the crowd’ but you have to admit the rarity of something being way too expensive on Steam and almost everyone still saying, ‘Yeah, it’s got the juice’. Which is me, I’m saying that it’s got the juice.
Now, there are a lot of small, but significant differences between Tetris The Grand Master 4 - Absolute Eye and regular Tetris. There are far better YouTube video explainers than I’ve got the time or energy to give you here. But the first time you play it, the whole game is just slightly off from what you expect. Blocks hit the bottom of the screen very fast and often immediately. The way you move and flip them also feels slightly different. The way you’re scored or ranked feelsextremelydifferent.
It’s like playing a version of Tetris that came from a different dimension and, once you understand what it expects of you, it’s so rewarding. You feel like a god once you begin anticipating everything and getting those T-spins right. It’s Tetris at its most pure, with all the extra details and elements stripped away. It’s nothing but challenge and speed. I spend less time thinking while I play Tetris The Grand Master 4 - Absolute Eye and far more time panicking.
Tetris The Grand Master 4 Is A Game You Play When You Should Be Playing Other Games
And, folks, that just makes it perfect for playing between larger games. Let’s be real: It’s roleplaying game season and might just be that way forever. In the last few months there have been - I don’t know - a thousand re-releases, remasters, and collections? Even beforeOblivion, I had remasters of Saga Frontier 2, Lunar, andSuikodenon the docket. And now we also haveClair Obscur: Expedition 33, a newgame so goodthat people finally stopped talking crap about its wonky title.
Best case scenario - conservative estimate - each of these will take dozens of hours to complete. And that’s great news, I’m always happy to have more fun times, what a value, but it also means that playing a game right now involves setting aside time to focus up and dig in. It’s hard for me to enjoy a quick ten minutes inAvowed.
It would also be hard for me to enjoy a quick ten minutes in Tetris The Grand Master 4 - Absolute Eye - but that’s only because having a game last ten minutes is pretty freaking difficult. True, you could say this about a lot of puzzle games, but there’s something about the sheer purity and speed of Tetris The Grand Master 4 - Absolute Eye that makes it feel just right for a quick session.
The menus are so simple as to look bareboned. The only thing that matters here is Tetris that movesvery, very, very fast. No loading screens. No dozens of pages of options to sift through. No picking up where I left off. Playing it is like getting into a fight with a much stronger person who also has a train to catch soon. It’s this intensity, this speed, that makes it even better than other Tetris games for these slivers of time. When a game ends,it endsand you feel grateful for getting as far as you did.
Seriously, right now I’m overwhelmed with all the games I’m supposed to be playing. I’m sure as hell glad I beatBlue Princelast week before this week’s homework showed up. And I know that treating video games like vegetables isn’t a great path to having fun. But Idowant to play all these games. Idowant to have the full experience. Yet I also need something that can fill the moments that aren’t designed for quests that take five hours.
Hell, I need a video game that can fill the moments that aren’t designed for matches that take 15 minutes. Five minutes is enough. Five minutes to crush my spirit as I desperately attempt to flip a T block into place. Then it’s back to warring states and ancient prophecies and purple prose.
I know that Tetris The Grand Master 4 - Absolute Eye is a weird sell. Even more so that it seems to be a $35 PC-exclusive at the moment. That said, youcanbuy some of the older Tetris The Grand Master games on Switch for less money, so you have fewer excuses than you thought. Oh, and also Tetris The Grand Master 4 - Absolute Eye is best enjoyed with an arcade stick rather than a gamepad. That might also seem weird, but trust me on this. I know all I’m doing is making this game sound strange, difficult, and mean. But it’s one of the best forms of strange, difficult, and mean that our artform has to offer.
