Published , by Asif Khan
Published , by Asif Khan
Nintendo shocked the world on February 13, 2019 with the surprise release of Tetris 99 during a Nintendo Direct. On the surface, a multiplayer Tetris battle royale sounded like the most ridiculous chasing of a trend imaginable. In practice, the developers at Arika have created one of the best multiplayer experiences of all time. Tetris 99 is taking home our Shacknews Best Multiplayer Game of 2019 award. Boom! Tetris!
Tetris 99 comes as part of the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service. Nintendo is not very well known for robust Internet services, so the fact that Tetris 99 works even remotely well is a miracle. 99 players enter each game and only one lucky person walks away with a Tetris Maximus at the end of the game. If the regular battle royale mode becomes too easy, the devs added an Invictus Mode where only players who have won a game of Tetris 99 compete in an epic battle. Nothing compares to winning a game of Tetris 99.
I became quite obsessed with Tetris 99 earlier this year, playing it every day. The game loop is very addictive, allowing players to pick it up and play for a few minutes, or get sucked into multiple hours of a play session. This reminds me of how Rocket League got its hooks into me. The developers have done an amazing job with supporting the game. Weekend events call Maximus Cups have popped up all year, allowing players to unlock new themes and skins, and the game has also added team battle modes. Tetris 99 keeps getting better each month, and it shows no signs of slowing down.
Battle royale games are still very popular, but Tetris 99 reimagined the genre in a truly timeless manner. While Tetris 99 might not win any Game of the Year 2019 awards, it certainly deserves recognition for the innovation and joy created by its surprise release in February. Tetris 99 is the Shacknews Best Multiplayer Game of 2019. Boom! Tetris!
Check out our Year of the Games: 2019 article to find out more of The Shacknews Awards 2019 winners and check back tomorrow for our Game of the Year 2019 reveal.