In the 30 years since Alexey Pajitnov first launched Tetris, the world’s most popular game has regularly been immortalized in fashion. Luxembourgian Mark Kreger wanted to do the same, but instead of cooking up a colorful print, he’s staving off boredom with something much more interactive: a playable Tetris T-shirt. Featuring 128 LEDs powered by an Arduino Uno microcontroller, Kreger’s marvellous tee requires only four rechargeable AA batteries to power the game. It’ll keep score and display level numbers, the only thing it appears to be lacking is the super-funky soundtrack.
Some computer games fade into the history books of technology. Then there are games like Tetris, which endure for decades, defying advancements in computer graphics and processor speeds to gain new players every year. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Tetris back on June 6, game enthusiast Marc Kerger applied his programming and hardware skills toward creating what might be the ultimate wearable tribute to the game: a playable Tetris T-shirt. The Luxembourg-based tinkerer, inspired by an earlier LED hack of a pumpkin (yes, the fruit), used 128 LEDs, an Arduino Uno microcontroller board, 3D-printed housing and soft material for the buttons and two Adafruit Matrix controllers. All the T-shirt needs is four rechargeable AA batteries to power the game. Along with the hardware components, Kerger also designed a T-shirt to house the construction, which features visual design elements that correspond with the hidden hardware controls.