The basic goal of Tetris is to compile the highest score and essentially last the longest amount of time without letting the tetrominoes stack all the way up to the top of the screen. With that said, the question has been asked over and over again about whether or not it may actually be possible to play a game of Tetris forever.
A thesis done all the way back in 1988 came to the conclusion that games of Tetris are doomed to come to a conclusion at some point, based on the shapes of the tetrominoes in the game. If during the game a player receives a number of Z or S shaped pieces in a row then there is no way to avoid leaving a gaping hole in the corner, which will ultimately prevent a player from ridding themselves of all shapes. These holes will stack up over time and end the game, thus if any game is played for a long enough period of time, it will in fact end.
Recent Tetris Game Variations
Some Tetris experts argue this theory based on the fact that recent versions of the game allow players to take advantage of Easy Spins, and continuously rotate tetrominoes without actually locking them into place. This would in fact allow someone to play the game forever, but would prevent them from landing blocks on a continuous basis, thus removing the fun out of the game, leading to the question of whether one would even want to play Tetris forever.
Increasing Tetris Speeds
Furthermore, Tetris involves increasing speeds that would make it impossible for human players to keep up after a certain period of time. Even with incredible reactions, the computer or screen would not be able to keep up with the game, thus a player would succumb to too many blocks coming down at once. Blocks would eventually appear and land in one frame, preventing anyone from being able to position them.
While there are many theories out there and even arguments involving Tetris strategy and the likelihood that someone could play forever, the idea is simply not possible. There would come a time when the blocks would form unbeatable patterns or when the speed would be too much for the computer or game screen to handle.
Attempting answering this question would require basic knowledge in Tetris strategy. Unfortunately, the answer to this question may never surface as the quest for the answer leads to an endless loop. Theoretically, it would take forever to make certain that the game can in fact be played forever. So can Tetris be played forever? There is only one way to find out!
