There are a handful of students at school who make up a niche community of Tetris enthusiasts. According to Owen Chen, former president of MHS’s Tetris Club, Tetris is a dedicated hobby which they take up in their free time. Within this community, there are some passionately competing online and ranking nationally, with others having run the school’s former Tetris Club.
Senior Henry Duewer started playing Tetris during his freshman year of high school, having been introduced to the game by a friend, he said. Although Duewer started playing casually, it quickly became a dedicated pursuit for him as he learned new mechanics and got better at the game, and he soon switched from tetris.com to the more competitive site, Tetr.io, he said.
“I started playing three years ago, but wasn’t really good at first,” Duewer said. “Now on standard Tetris I can go over a million points, which is more than three times harder.”
As the years progressed, he steadily rose in the game’s Tetra League ranking system, now becoming one of the top players in the country, Duewer said. He describes himself as being incredibly efficient at the game, Duewer added.
“I’m in the top 300 in America and top 1,800 worldwide,” Duewer said. “At my peak, I was mid-U rank, which is roughly the top 5% of players on the platform.”
Duewer’s interest in competitive Tetris stems mainly from enjoying the challenge and game, he said. The game is very skill-based, and it’s the skill and practice required to play the game that keeps him motivated, he added.
“I just play because it’s fun,” Duewer said. “Part of it is to compete with my friends, but I don’t really care about my rank personally. I honestly want to go to UCLA because they have a Tetris team, and I want to see how I do there.”
Beyond just competitive matches, Duewer also practices thorough warm-up sessions and casual matches, he said. His routines through Tetris have also influenced his academic and personal growth, he added.
“I like that it’s something I can dedicate myself to, and I can see my improvement in,” Duewer said. “It’s very motivating in that way. It’s nice to have something that I can continuously work on, continuously dedicate myself to, and see the results of my progress.”
Senior Owen Chen, a close friend of Duewer, helped build the Tetris community at school when he founded the school’s Tetris club during his freshman year, he said. He served as the club’s president until the club disbanded at the end of sophomore year, he said.
“I’m a pretty big Tetris enthusiast,” Chen said. “We held quite a few tournaments in the club. We also held a tournament with a high school in Reno. It was with their Tetris club. Both of our clubs had several people competing with each other. ”
Chen’s involvement with larger Tetris clubs also shaped his love for Tetris and his club’s activities, he said. He worked with the British Columbia Tetris League and helped run tournaments both inside and outside school, Chen said.
“I was top six in the Tetr.io Teams Cup,” Chen said. “I also helped with planning Tetris Tournaments with the University of British Columbia and the University of Waterloo. I think they had the top five of their Tetris players in each.”
Through competitive Tetris, Chen opened the door to many opportunities to connect with top players worldwide, he said. This included meeting competitors from several places internationally, such as Vietnam, Japan, and Malaysia, he added.
“I was on an online Tetris game show in Vietnam,” Chen said. “It was streamed through a Twitch channel named TetrisVietnam. I got to meet the top Vietnamese Tetris player. I met the number one (player) in Japan, too. He was cool.”
Even though the club faded and eventually disbanded due to declining attendance, he believes it offered students a good space to bond over their shared love of Tetris, he said
“It connected people that actually did come to the meetings,” Chen said. “Some people went. Some people didn’t go. We all felt connected, though.”
Senior Jeremiah Finuliar, the Tetris club’s former vice president, co-founded the club and quickly became part of the environment, he said. Finuliar was new to Tetris, but took up the game once he created the club, and he continues to play it weekly even after the club dissolved, he added.
“It’s a great game,” Finuliar said. “I see it as a way to stop thinking, and you might think that’s counterintuitive. But from the perspective of a Tetris player, it’s less about heavy thinking and more about good strategy and muscle memory.”
Finuliar said that the club only averaged around seven to ten students attending meetings at any given time, with many more having initially signed up. Yet, despite its short run, the club helped some students meet and connect over a shared interest, he said.
“It was very chill,” Finuliar said. “The fact that we all play Tetris was kind of what held us together. In the end, it really felt like a big friend group.”
