10 Video Games That Only Get Better With Age

4. Tetris

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWEJ41vTqQE Casual gaming has arrived with a vengeance, and is here to stay whether we like it or not. Each day, the number of people on Earth that own some sort of smartphone or portable device grows, giving game makers the largest install base that this hobby has ever seen. As literally hundreds of casual games hit a wide variety of marketplaces on a daily basis, the role Tetris played in this seemingly unstoppable trend cannot be understated. Despite Tetris having been available previously on home computers, it was on Nintendo's classic GameBoy portable gaming system where the game sealed its legacy. Millions of people all over the world became addicted to the puzzler for its brain-teasing gameplay, which was simple to learn yet complex to master. Tetris may have not been the first "casual" game (whether it's a casual game at all can be debated) but it laid the foundation for the model that we are seeing today by embodying the three qualities that make these types of games succeed: It could be played in small doses. It was portable. It was addictive. Tetris and its catchy songs seem almost synonymous with Nintendo's little black and white console. To this day, Tetris remains one of the finest portable/casual games on the market, with core mechanics that have not aged one bit and remain as fun and addictive as they were almost 30 years ago. What is also interesting is how many of today's mobile games use the "clear the rows before space runs out" template that Tetris pioneered. Most likely, there is a device within an arm's reach of you that is capable acquiring and allowing you play Tetris within a matter of minutes. Oh yeah, did I mention playing Tetris makes you smarter?