is a

puzzle video game Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, Sequence, sequence solving, Spatial ability, spatial recognition, ...

developed by

Alexey Pajitnov Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov (born April 16, 1955) is a Russian-American computer engineer and video game designer. He is best known for creating, designing, and developing ''Tetris'' in 1985 while working at the Dorodnitsyn Computing Centre un ...

and

Vladimir Pokhilko Vladimir Ivanovich Pokhilko (Russian: Владимир Иванович Похилько; 8 April 1954 – 21 September 1998) was a Soviet Russian psychologist, entrepreneur, and video game designer. He was an academic who specialized in human� ...

of ParaGraph for

Bullet-Proof Software Blue Planet Software Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher founded by Henk Rogers in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1996. The company was founded as the successor to Bullet-Proof Software Inc. (BPS), founded in 1983 by Rogers in Japan ...

. An

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

version was manufactured by Video System.

Gameplay

''Hatris'' plays similarly to Pajitnov's previous ''

Tetris ''Tetris'' () is a puzzle video game created in 1985 by Alexey Pajitnov, a Soviet software engineer. In ''Tetris'', falling tetromino shapes must be neatly sorted into a pile; once a horizontal line of the game board is filled in, it disa ...

'', in that game objects falling from the top of the screen must be arranged in specific patterns to gain points and to keep the play area clear. In ''Hatris'', hats of different styles fall from the top of the screen and accumulate at the bottom. To eliminate hats from the play area, five hats of identical style must be stacked. Different style hats stack differently.

Development and release

''Hatris'' was originally developed with different ideas, such as using utensils and other kitchen objects before eventually settling on hats.

decided the team settled on hats as it was the most fun of the objects. ''Hatris'' was showcased by

at the

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

booth of the

Consumer Electronics Show CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typi ...

in 1990. An arcade version was developed by Video System.

Ports

''Hatris'' was released in arcades, on the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

and

TurboGrafx-16 The TurboGrafx-16, known in Japan as the , is a home video game console developed by Hudson Soft and manufactured by NEC. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. The first console of the fourth generation of video game con ...

, and on the

NEC PC-9801 The , commonly shortened to PC-98 or simply , is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit Personal computer, personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2003. While based on Intel processors, it uses an in-house architecture making it inc ...

home computer. Additionally, two versions of the game exist on the

Sharp Wizard The Sharp Wizard series, introduced by the Sharp Corporation in 1989, was among the first electronic organizers and a precursor to personal digital assistants (PDAs). The debut model, the ''OZ-7000'' (known as the ''IQ-7000'' in Europe), combined ...

, the first of which being released in December 1990, and the second being called Organizer Hatris and releasing in 1991. Hatris DX, a mobile remake of the game, was released by Alti in 2004. Another mobile version of the game was released by G-Mode in 2006. An unofficial port of ''Hatris'' exists on the

Acorn Archimedes The Acorn Archimedes is a family of personal computers designed by Acorn Computers of Cambridge, England. The systems in this family use Acorn's own ARM architecture processors and initially ran the Arthur operating system, with later models ...

, being developed by Joeri De Winter and first releasing on 18 September 1997. The

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

, Game Boy and NES versions of the game are included in the compilation title Tetris Forever, which released on 12 November 2024 for PC,

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

and

Xbox Series The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed the arcade version of ''Hatris'' on their June 1, 1990 issue as being the eighteenth most-successful table arcade unit of the month. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' gave the Game Boy version of ''Hatris'' an A and wrote: "There is, after all, a cure for ''Tetri''s addiction. It’s ''Hatris'', a habit that's even harder to kick." Pajitnov later said in an interview with ''Retro Gamer'' published in 2018 that "sales didn't match our expectations, I still can't explain what was wrong with it and why it was not as addictive as we wanted it to be. We thought it had some smart moves so it was a big disappointment."

References

External links

* 1990 video games Alexey Pajitnov games Arcade video games Blue Planet Software games Falling block puzzle games Game Boy games Java platform games Microcabin games Nintendo Entertainment System games TurboGrafx-16 games Video games developed in Japan {{Puzzle-videogame-stub