As a huge nerd, I can’t think of a better way to get into the record books.
In April, Drexel University associate professor Frank Lee created a version of the popular puzzle game Tetris that people could play on the side of the 29-story Cira Centre in Philadelphia, just in time for the classic’s 30th anniversary. Now, Guinness World Records is officially recognizing the event as the “largest architectural video game display.”
“I’m delighted that we were able to earn this recognition once again,” Lee said in a press release on Drexel University’s website. “More so than breaking a record, my goal with this project was to unite the people of the city of Philadelphia around a public art installation — to give them a shared experience and inspire them to think about how a building can be more than just a building and, by extension, how the city can be much more than just a bunch of buildings and people sharing the same space.”
Tetris is no stranger to the record books. Notably, Harry Hong also got in the Guinness book with an incredible game of Tetrix DX, clearing 4,988 lines and reaching the max score of 9,999,999.
Russian programmer Alexey Pajitnov originally created Tetris on an Elektronika 60 computer. The puzzle game eventually found its way westward, notably in the incredibly popular Game Boy version. Blue Planet Software in Hawaii continues to license the phenomenon for modern machines, including smart phones and consoles.