Alternatively, Badges targets players with the most knockouts, which is a risk because they are typically among the best in the field and will likely fire back, but the reward is that if you knock them out you absorb their multiplier. Attacker automatically sends cleared lines to those targeting you – represented by yellow lines from their miniature screen to yours – which can be helpful as a defensive strategy. piles onto players who are already close to death, and if you’re the one who strikes the killing blow it increases your multiplier (from 25, to 50, to 75, and 100 percent) for how many garbage lines you send to future targets when you clear them. You can either manually move the cursor to choose a player to target, or pick between one of four presets: Random, K.O.s, Attacker, and Badges. In the two games I’ve managed to win, I’ve used a combination of the targeting options to my advantage. It’s a vice I will gladly live with, though, because the overbearing tension is also what makes it such a thrilling and ultimately fulfilling multiplayer experience. I’m 99 percent sure Tetris 99 is bad for my health.

When I make it into the top five, I feel like I can run through a brick wall. If I had a blood pressure cuff on during a top-10 run, my doctor would probably tell me I need to be on medication. I get irrationally nervous during a seemingly solid run a palms sweaty, heart beating out of my chest, jittery kind of nervous. Other times the garbage is too much, and all that remains of my screen is a gray dumpster that signals an early exit from this frantic, pulse-racing spin on one of the most beloved puzzle games of all time. Sometimes it really is fine, and the right sequence of movements mixed with a little luck returns my grid to a nice, orderly structure.

Tetris 99 is the 'This is Fine' meme in video game form – only instead of ignoring encroaching flames, you have to keep your cool during an onslaught of gray garbage blocks piling onto the screen from any of 98 other players in the match, making each moment more panicked than the last.

Bad tetris screen