On December 21, Willis Gibson beat Tetris for the first time in the game’s 34-year history.
Gibson, a 13-year-old from Stillwater, Oklahoma, beat the game by reaching a kill screen on level 157 where the game froze and ceased to work. Not only has he become the first person to beat Tetris, but he has also become the new record holder for the highest level reached in Tetris. His 38-minute run is completely viewable on his YouTube channel, “Blue Scuti.”
When he reached the end of his run, he could be heard saying, in shock, “Oh my god, oh my god yes. I’m going to pass out.”
Gibson dedicated his achievement to his late father, Adam Gibson. Previously, the 13-year-old had participated in several Tetris tournaments, the most recent among them was his participation in the 2023 Classic Tetris World Championship in October and he placed third. Before Gibson’s achievement, only with the inhuman abilities of a program called “Stack Rabbit,” created by programmer Greg Cannon, could the kill screen of Tetris be reached, at level 237. This run is viewable on his YouTube channel which is named after himself.
Unlike other games, obtaining the kill screen is considered beating Tetris because there is no end programmed into the code of Tetris. The kill screen is achieved by causing the game to encounter an error in its programming and crash. The kill screen can be achieved on levels 155 and above, with varying chances of the game crashing. Despite Gibson’s major achievement, this is not the end of accomplishments to be obtained in Tetris. The last level that is possible to reach, level 255, resets to the first level once completed, and to many in the Tetris community it is considered a “rebirth” rather than an end.
