The TETRIS effect

Back when I was playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City regularly (a little too regularly, some might say,) there were times when I wasn't playing the game and something would happen to give me Vice City flashbacks. I'd be driving along, I'd see a few large planks of wood leaning against a dumpster, and I'd have to fight the impulse to use them as a sweet ramp to jump over a corner pharmacy. Or I'd be on a hotel balcony looking down at the street, and I'd see all the business people on the sidewalk below and I'd reflexively reach for my sniper rifle.

Well, it turns out I wasn't crazy! I was merely experiencing what science now calls the Tetris effect, which Wikipedia sums up thusly: "The Tetris effect occurs when an activity to which people devote sufficient time and attention begins to overshadow their thoughts, mental images, and dreams."

Obsessive Tetris players look at stacks of boxes in the supermarket and see how they might fit together, or they'll close their eyes and see tumbling Tetris blocks. And the phenomenon is by no means limited to games. Almost any repetitive action can lead to the Tetris effect. Sometimes when I'm on writing deadlines I'll see words on a screen whenever I close my eyes, and it's not unusual for me to go to bed and spend all night dreaming that I'm still writing. (Sadly, all that work when I'm asleep doesn't actually bring me any closer to meeting my deadline.)

The Tetris effect is quite common, but it's one of those weird little things that people don't really talk about. Have you experienced it? Share your crazy Tetris hallucinations in the comments!


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