Tetris has been enshrined in a functional McDonald’s plastic chicken nugget, a simulated 7-Eleven Slurpee cup, and an interactive wristwatch. However, the most captivating method to experience Tetris so far is encased in paper.
Last year, the Tetris Company collaborated with Red Bull for a gaming contest that reached its peak when the 150-meter-tall Dubai Frame landmark was transformed into the planet’s largest functional Tetris display, utilizing over 2,000 drones that served as individual pixels. Despite the synchronicity being accidental, Red Bull concurrently issued a 180-page special gaming issue of its The Red Bulletin lifestyle magazine. A finite quantity of these issues were enveloped in a more modest, yet equally technologically remarkable, rendition of Alexey Pajitnov’s renowned block-stacking game.
For the development of an interactive gaming magazine, Red Bull Media House (the company’s media division) engaged Kevin Bates. In 2014, Bates had astonished online audiences with his invention of an exceptionally slender, Tetris-playing business card. By 2015, he introduced the $39 Arduboy, a credit card-sized, open-source handheld that drew in a flourishing contingent of developers. Within a ten-year span, Bates additionally conceived a duo of similarly portable Tetris-playing handhelds, each priced under $30, alongside the miniaturized USB-C Arduboy Mini.
The GamePop GP-1 Functional Magazine System (as it’s formally named) represents the newest iteration of Bates’ endeavor to employ current, readily available, and economical technologies to redefine the possibilities of a mobile gaming apparatus. Its creation required the greater part of the preceding year, Bates disclosed during a conversation with The Verge. He declined to disclose the precise specifics of how his collaboration with Red Bull originated. However, if one is seeking to produce an officially licensed version of Tetris sufficiently pliable to bend, Bates possesses the expertise, and he imparted to us some of the engineering specifics enabling this invention’s functionality.
Although OLED display technology has afforded us tablet-sized devices that transform into mobile phones, they remain costly and delicate. To craft a display capable of enduring integration into a pliable magazine cover unsupported, Bates devised a bespoke array of 180 2mm RGB LEDs affixed to a flexible circuit board merely 0.1mm thick. While the display and coin-cell batteries render it bulkier in certain areas — nearly 5mm at its thickest point — one truly experiences playing a handheld constructed from paper. The flexible circuits are adhered between two sheets of paper to form the covering that envelops the periodical of book dimensions, and it feels pleasingly slender and pliable.
Flexible circuits are not a novel concept. They’ve been employed in electronic apparatus for many decades. One can discover them in clamshell phones so aged they now seem like relics, and in virtually every laptop. They are also commonly employed for compacting devices that lack any folding or bending capability, linking internal elements in environments with severe spatial constraints. However, it’s only in the recent half-decade or so that this technology has become accessible to independent creators, and Bates asserts he’s been ‘experimenting with these flexible circuits for a similar duration.’ This collaboration presented a chance to apply his accumulated knowledge to engineer a gadget intended for a broader application beyond his laboratory.
The GamePop GP-1’s display resolution is considerably inferior to the OLED screens found in foldable handsets, yet Bates’ invention is significantly more robust. The game has not only passed standard safety assessments, but Bates even ‘struck it repeatedly with a mallet’ to assess its resilience. The screen he designed withstood the impact, but refrain from attempting that with a folding phone. They are still considerably less resilient.
In lieu of conventional buttons, the game incorporates seven touch-sensitive capacitors that are directly ‘etched into the board’s copper substrate,’ Bates states. There is no authentic tactile response upon depression, but the pliability of the paper lends them a button-like sensation when pressed. Bates mentions the sensors’ sensitivity was precisely calibrated to factor in the density of the paper material and the adhesives employed in the ultimate production batch. While one won’t be pursuing global Tetris accolades on the cover of a periodical, the controls are pleasingly reactive, and the game is remarkably simpler to operate compared to alternative Tetris gadgets I have evaluated.
What is the production expense for a pliable Tetris game? Neither Bates nor Red Bull disclosed the overall expenditure for all the ready-made and bespoke elements embedded within the periodical’s cover. Nevertheless, to assist in minimizing expenses, not every component possesses flexibility. Along the cover’s perimeter, adjacent to the publication’s binding, resides a lengthy yet narrow unyielding PCB, hosting an ARM-based 32-bit microprocessor and four replenishable LIR2016 3V coin cell batteries.
Similar to contemporary gadgets, this game can be powered up via a USB-C cord, though its location isn’t instantly apparent. Concealed along the periodical’s lower cover edge is a dismantled USB-C connector. Rather than a metallic ring, its receptacle is a modest paper pouch enclosing a pin-studded connector. While it may not seem as robust as a smartphone’s charging outlet, it offers a commendable option to avoid rendering the game single-use once its power cells deplete.
Bates was compelled to make certain compromises. The GamePop GP-1 retains top scores, yet contemporary Tetris gameplay elements, such as glimpses of forthcoming blocks and the ability to store tetrominoes for subsequent use, are absent. Audio effects are present, though upon initiating play, merely a brief excerpt of the renowned Tetris melody is audible. The game’s piezo speaker “consumes nearly as much power as the entire remainder of the system,” Bates notes, thus aiding in extending the tiny replenishable batteries’ lifespan. He informs us that this allows for an hour or two of playtime, and the battery is projected to endure for numerous months when inactive.
Approximately 1,000 editions of the periodical were created by Red Bull. It is exclusively obtainable digitally within Europe, but can also be located in certain retail outlets and kiosks, such as Iconic Magazines in New York and Rare Mags near Manchester in the UK. Nevertheless, merely 150 units featuring the interactive cover were manufactured, and none of these were offered for general purchase. These were disseminated among Tetris contestants, individuals highlighted in the publication, influential personalities, and chosen media outlets.
This interactive cover is unlikely to fundamentally transform the publishing sector, nor will it clear a path for mobile phones that can be coiled and slipped into rear pockets. The primary objective was to deploy current technology in a manner novel to gaming enthusiasts.
Imagery captured by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge
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