Tetris Font (2020) (erikdemaine.org)

Article summary

The Tetris Font is a typeface where each letter and digit is made up of exactly one of each of the seven Tetris pieces. The font was designed by Erik Demaine and Martin Demaine, with the help of the BurrTools software. The letters are designed to be constructible by stacking the Tetris pieces one at a time, following the standard Tetris rules. The font also features puzzles and animations, allowing users to guess the letters before they are fully constructed.

Main themes

• Tetris Font
• Typography
• Puzzle Design
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Game Development

What commenters say

• The Tetris Font is a unique and interesting combination of typography and puzzle design.
• Some commenters found the font's construction rules to be too restrictive, limiting the potential for variation and creativity.
• The use of the browser's back button to undo changes in the font generator is seen as both useful and annoying by different users.
• There are differing opinions on whether the font generation should be automatic or manual, with some arguing that automation would allow for more variation and others preferring the manual approach.
• The discussion touches on the complexity of Tetris and other games, with some commenters referencing the NP-completeness of Tetris and the PSPACE-completeness of Sokoban.
• Some users appreciate the educational value of the font and the accompanying discussions, which provide insights into mathematics, computer science, and game development.
• The font's design and implementation are seen as impressive and inspiring by many commenters, with some sharing their own related projects and experiments.
• There are suggestions for improving the font generator, such as replacing state in the history stack rather than pushing a new state, to reduce the number of history events generated.