Skip to main content

Everything you need to know about the Tetris mobile game show

Tetris, one of the oldest and most beloved puzzle video games ever, has once again evolved with the times. N3twork, the company behind the game’s official mobile app, updated it and added a daily game show with cash prizes called Tetris Primetime.

Since its inception in 1984 by Russian software engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984, Tetris has been a mainstay on video game consoles and computers generation after generation. It was famously bundled with Nintendo’s first Game Boy in 1989. It’s also available in a battle royale version, where 100 players square off to be the last player standing.

To date, the game has sold around 202 million copies, and with a daily mobile game show, its popularity seems poised to continue. Here’s everything you need to know about Tetris Primetime.

How does Tetris Primetime work?

Primetime is broken up into timed rounds, and each one has a score goal. The player needs to reach the goal to advance to the next round. If a player hits a score goal before the timer runs out, they enter a “Frenzy Time!” a bonus mode that lets a player score double points.

If a player doesn’t hit the score goal, they can keep playing, but they will get “garbage” added to their game. Some garbage can be cleared, and some can’t.

If a player survives all rounds, they are a victor and will make the final leaderboard. Even if players don’t make it that far, they might still win some money.

How do I play Tetris Primetime?

You can play the new game by downloading it for free for both Android or iOS. There are four game modes available: Solo Marathon, Tetris Together, Tetris Royale, and Tetris Primetime.

Pick Primetime, and you’re on your way.

When can I play Tetris Primetime?

The game will stream nightly at 7:30 p.m. in 16 countries (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, South Africa, Russia, Chile, the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Germany), with plans to add more in the future.

The 7:30 p.m. start time will be based on “anchor cities” like New York City, Moscow, Berlin, London, and Perth, Australia. Players will start based on those time zones.

What are the prizes in Tetris Primetime?

Every night players have a chance to win a piece of a $5,000 prize pool. To win actual money in the game, you need to be over the age of 18 and playing in a region that allows cash prizes. Prize draws come in three forms: Getting past a certain round, making it to the end and being a winner, or getting above a certain level in the leaderboards.

Prizes will be announced before the game starts each day, and the longer you survive, the more money you can win.

Who’s hosting the nightly Tetris Primetime show?

New Zealand actor Millen Baird is the host of the nightly show, which will feature previews of that night’s game as well as highlights from the best plays of the day.

Editors' Recommendations

This strategy game about photorealistic ants will have you bugging out
A colony of ants wanders in Empire of the Ants.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

As a long day of meetings at last week’s Game Developers Conference came to an end, I walked into a conference room to play one last game. I didn’t know much about it beyond its title, Empire of the Ants, and the fact that it featured “photorealistic ants.” It was the exact kind of curiosity-inducing sales pitch that I seek out at video game events like this, though I wasn’t expecting much more than an oddball curiosity. When I finally sat down at a PC and saw hundreds of intricately detailed ants milling around, my eyes bugged out.
Welcome to the colony
Empire of the Ants sports a truly unique premise. It’s a real-time strategy game based on a French science fiction novel of the same name. Players take control of one ant marching through the woods, though they command an entire colony with some clever controls. Some quick story setup introduced me to a bit of the insect conflict: I’m tasked with protecting the colony from the elements and invading bugs.

Read more
What is VSync, and why do you need it?
HP Omen 40L Gaming PC on a table connected to a monitor.

If you’ve been playing PC games for a number of years, you’ve probably heard the term ‘VSync’ tossed around once or twice. Maybe you’ve also heard of G-Sync and FreeSync. For those unaware, VSync is actually short for ‘vertical synchronization’. This is a display feature that is designed to keep your gaming screen running in sync with your computer's GPU. VSync isn’t just important for PC gaming, but it’s one of the most important criteria that goes into a good gaming display.

In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at VSync (and its related technologies) to find out exactly how it works, if you should have it enabled, and how to disable it if you don’t like the optimization. 
What is VSync technology?

Read more
Qualcomm just made some bold claims about gaming on ARM PCs
A laptop and a camera on a table with a Qualcomm logo on the screen.

Qualcomm shared an exciting teaser during the 2024 Game Developers Conference (GDC), hinting that the PC gaming market might not be so limited to x86 architecture going forward. The company spoke during a session titled "Windows on Snapdragon, a Platform Ready for Your PC Games," and it claimed that Windows games will simply work on laptops equipped with the latest Snapdragon X Elite chip -- no extra prep required -- all thanks to emulation.

As reported by The Verge, Qualcomm's engineer Issam Khalil discussed how the company hopes to achieve realistic gaming on its ARM-based chip as early as May this year. Khalil explained the ins and outs of x86/64 emulation on Snapdragon X Elite, explaining that game devs will be able to port their titles to native ARM64 for the best performance, but they can also do "next to nothing" -- the game should just work anyway due to x64 emulation.

Read more