Tetris: The Games People Play

It is, perhaps, the perfect video game. Simple yet addictive, Tetris delivers an irresistible, unending puzzle that has players hooked. Play it long enough and you’ll see those brightly colored geometric shapes everywhere. You’ll see them in your dreams.  Alexey Pajitnov had big ideas about games. In 1984, he created Tetris in his spare time while developing software for the Soviet government. Once Tetris emerged from behind the Iron Curtain, it was an instant hit. Nintendo, Atari, Sega—game developers big and small all wanted Tetris. A bidding war was sparked, followed by clandestine trips to Moscow, backroom deals, innumerable miscommunications, and outright theft.  New York Times–bestselling author Box Brown untangles this complex history and delves deep into the role games play in art, culture, and commerce. For the first time and in unparalleled detail, Tetris: The Games People Play tells the true story of the world’s most popular video game.
 
Box will appear as part of Science Arcade, a hands-on science event that connects all ages to the science, technology, engineering, math and, of course, the fun behind games! The evening will showcase vintage arcade games, virtual reality with the Living Environments Laboratory's Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, augmented reality, DIY cardboard games, multi-player games, place-based games, board games and so much more! This event is family-friendly and open to the public, but best of all, it's FREE! Concessions and beverages will be available for purchase, provided by Steenbock's on Orchard. A cash bar also will be available.
 
Throughout the evening we will be featuring three keynote presenters who will speak in the H.F. DeLuca Forum about their involvement in the world of games and answer your burning questions!
 
6:30 p.m – John Kovalic
A cartoonist, illustrator and writer, John Kovalic is well known for his Dork Tower comic series, illustrations and design of card game series such as the Munchkin, Chez Geek and Apples to Apples. John's work has appeared in The Wisconsin State Journal, New York Times and The Washington Post. He was the first cartoonist inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design Hall of Fame in 2004.
 
7:30 p.m. – Box Brown
Box Brown is an Ignatz Award-winning cartoonist, illustrator and comic publisher from Philadelphia. His book Andre the Giant: Life and Legend was released in 2014 and spent three weeks on the New York Times' best-sellers list. His second graphic novel with publisher First Second is Tetris: The Games People Play. Box launched the independent comics publishing house Retrofit Comics in 2011.
 
8:30 p.m. – Roger Sharpe
Known as "The Man who Saved Pinball," Roger Sharpe went from being a 26-year-old magazine editor to one of the most idolized people in the pinball community. As the game was facing country-wide bans, Roger, a UW-Madison alum, proved to the New York City Council that pinball is a game of skill. In a Manhattan courtroom he called the precise shot he would make and went on to do so, winning over the votes needed to remove the ban in New York as other cities eventually followed suit. Roger has continued his advocacy of the game as a designer, author and marketer and is still a world-ranked player.
 
Presented in partnership with the Wisconsin Science Festival.