Tetris Effect Developer Officially Explains How to Access Its Secret Levels

Today is World Tetris Day, which is really just the 37th anniversary of the release of the original Tetris, and the brand is celebrating in part by officially acknowledging for the very first time two different secret levels in Tetris Effect and its enhanced version, Tetris Effect: Connected. While both of the secret levels that were highlighted with details and explanations from Tetris Connect developer Enhance have been known about, it is still notable that it is the first time that either of them has been acknowledged or talked about.

More specifically, Tetris Effect and Tetris Effect: Connected include two secret levels: 1989 and 1984. The former is relatively simple to unlock and is a reference to the Game Boy version of the video game. Raising your player level in the video game to 50 unlocks it permanently, and the community Weekend Ritual can also unlock it for a period of time. The latter is… more complicated. “The second secret level has been found,” the official post reads in part, “but is still not widely known about: 1984, our tribute to the original version of Tetris for the Electronika 60, the old Soviet PC Alexey Pajinov first created the game on!”

Basically, 1984 is accessed by using the iconic Konami Code — Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A — in the title screen with “O” and “X” standing in for “B” and “A” on PlayStation 4. Additionally, a second screen requires players to enter the date of birth of Tetris, 06061984, which requires a USB keyboard or chat pad on consoles. Once unlocked, it remains unlocked.

Tetris Effect is currently available for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. An enhanced version, Tetris Effect: Connected, was released last year for the latter three (Windows Store for PC) and is expected to release as a free update for the PS4, Epic Games Store, and Oculus Quest versions of the title this year. You can check out all of our previous coverage of Tetris Effect right here.

Did you already know about the Tetris Effect secret levels? Have you been playing the enhanced Tetris Effect: Connected version of the video game? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things gaming!