Get your classic Tetris on

If you're looking for a fun and retro way to kill a few minutes this weekend, The Tetris Game offers up a simple freeware version of the classic game. There's no frills here, but anybody who's got a craving for that four-block goodness will probably find this rendition instantly satisfying.

The controls are mapped to your keyboard's arrow keys. Up rotates the piece, left and right shift it in one direction or another, and down accelerates the rate of descent. Pieces come in red, green, gray, yellow, and blue. You can save your high scores or submit them to The Tetris Game Web site, pause the game, and start a new one, and that's about it. The main page of the Web site also features a lengthy history of the video game.

Along with the lack of complex features that newer versions of Tetris might feature, The Tetris Game has a tiny installer that weighs in at around half a megabyte and it sucks up a wonderfully underwhelming 7MB of RAM while running. The only thing missing is the minimalist electronica of the game's original soundtrack. But for a fast dose of old-school nostalgia, this game doesn't mess around.