One Kid Finally Beat Tetris And His Response Will Melt Your Heart

A 13-year-old boy has made video game history — by becoming the first person ever to win Tetris. Yes, really, ever. The strategy game, released in 1984, has never been beaten by a human being — as in, until Willis Gibson, who goes by the streamer name Blue Scuti, no one had made it to the end of the game. In Tetris's long history, it had only ever been beaten by AI, which Willis even outperformed in his recent run. And while his feat will go down in the history books, who he dedicated his to win will melt your heart — and maybe make you cry.

Willis shared his winning game on social media, posting the gameplay on YouTube on January 2. Nearly 40 minutes into his video, he knew he was reaching further than anyone. "Oh my God, oh my God," he said as the game's "kill screen" popped on the screen — and his score hit 999,999.

According to People, the teen gamer was alone at home when he won the game since his mom was at work. But when his mom got home, Willis captured her reaction to his win. "You can see I crashed the screen," he shared with his mom before getting a big high-five from her. His grandparents were just as excited for him too, and made the teen a custom sweatshirt with his winning moment taken from a screenshot of his video.

Tetris CEO Maya Rogers was just as thrilled for him, too.

“As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Tetris this year, moments like these truly showcase the passion and dedication of Tetris enthusiasts. Congratulations to ‘blue scuti’ for achieving this extraordinary accomplishment, a feat that defies all preconceived limits of this legendary game,” she said in an email to PopSci. “This monumental achievement not only breaks new ground in the realm of Tetris but also ignites our anticipation for its future. Here’s to the incredible journey ahead!”

In the aftermath of his win, Willis sat down for an interview with YouTuber ITZsharky1, which was posted along with his winning gameplay to the Classic Tetris YouTube channel. The two talked briefly about his incredible win, and the 13-year-old opened up about the person he dedicated this historic moment to — his dad.

As the interview wrapped up, ITZsharky1 asked Willis: “Is there anyone you'd like to dedicate this game to?”

“My dad,” he said. “I’d like to dedicate this game to him.” At the end of the video, a tribute to his dad — Adam Gibson — who passed away just a few weeks ago, flashed on the screen.

People have been trying to best Tetris since it was released in the early ‘80s. According to PopSci, Tetris has been a favorite among competitive gamers worldwide — many enthusiasts chase the “kill screen” Willis got to himself.

It was long believed that level 29 was the highest anyone could reach — until 22 years later, in 2010, when someone reached Level 30 thanks to some interesting and intriguing gameplay called “hypertapping,” which, per PopSci, allows gamers to move the cubes fast enough with their controllers to manipulate the blocks just enough to keep the game going.

Willis ended his game at Level 157.