What’s Happening: A new thriller on Apple TV+ chronicles the turbulent origins of Tetris, the addictively simple puzzle video game that still captivates.

The Download: The classic puzzle game Tetris asks players to fit together falling geometric shapes composed of four squares (known as “tetrominoes”) to form horizontal lines. The completed lines disappear; the game ends when uncleared lines reach the top of the playing field. That simple premise has proven wildly popular. Since debuting in 1984, Tetris has sold nearly 500 million copies—the vast majority being mobile downloads—making it one of history’s best-selling video game franchises. Only Mario has outsold it.

But few people may be versed in the game’s dramatic origin story. That’s where Tetris, an Apple TV+ political thriller that debuted March 31, comes in, recounting the history behind the late-‘80s legal battle that propelled a clever concept into a global phenomenon. It stars Taron Egerton as Henk Rogers, a Dutch game designer who discovered Tetris at a Las Vegas trade show and traveled to the Cold War–era Soviet Union to secure the game’s licensing rights for the nascent Nintendo Game Boy despite the fraught political climate. He soon meets Tetris’s inventor, Alexey Pajitnov, and Hungarian businessman Robert Stein, who tried to secure the game’s rights for his own company.

What ensues is a high-stakes legal battle that director Jon S. Baird and screenwriter Noah Pink dramatize into a perilous two-hour saga of “treacherous KGB operatives, Machiavellian billionaires, blackmail, bribery,” and a car chase, observes The Guardian in a mixed review. All that to convey the protracted struggle of securing the license to an early video game may not seem like traditional thriller fodder, but Rogers and Pajitnov both praised the film’s accuracy. “That was emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually a very truthful movie,” the latter said on a panel after the film’s premiere at South by Southwest.

What’s also truthful is Tetris’s continued grip on culture, even four decades after Pajitnov coded it on a rudimentary Electronika 60 computer. Psychologists note that regular Tetris play can thicken the cerebral cortex to enhance one’s memory capacity and combat post-traumatic stress disorder. One might experience the “Tetris Effect” after devoting so much time to an activity that it begins to pattern thoughts and dreams—in Tetris’s case, blocks sliding perfectly into place. The word “Tetris” has even entered the lexicon as a verb—who hasn’t manically rearranged groceries in a tote bag to optimize space?

Pajitnov isn’t done, either. He envisions Tetris soon entering the esports scene, integrating AI, and debuting a two-player version, but isn’t quite there yet. Not to worry—the original clearly still has staying power.

In Their Own Words: “I didn’t make much money at first, but I was happy because my main priority was to see people enjoying my game,” Pajitnov once said. “Tetris came along early and had an important role in breaking down ordinary people’s inhibitions in front of computers, which were scary to non-professionals used to pen and paper. But the fact that something so simple and beautiful could appear on screen destroyed that barrier.”

Surface Says: The Tetris Effect applies to its theme song, too.

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Victoria Sass has cemented Prospect Refuge Studio as one of the Midwest’s go-to interior design firms to infuse local charm, contemporary craft, and memorable experiences inside homes of all shapes and sizes. Furthering that endeavor is the Minneapolis-based talent’s first-ever product collection, an interactive range of blown-glass fixtures designed in collaboration with local studio Hennepin Made that both explores how light elicits emotion within space and reevaluates how we coexist with everyday objects.

Overlooking the Seto Inland Sea in Hiroshima is the newly opened Simose Art Garden Villa, a quaint museum complex peppered in rentable structures designed by Shigeru Ban. The buildings might appear new, but the designs aren’t: the Japanese architect conceived the villas in the 1990s as private vacation homes, but were since demolished. They’re now getting a new lease on life thanks to Simose, which only slightly modified Ban’s original schemes.

“I wanted to make a museum that could change shape,” Ban says, “and to create a new experience for visitors upon revisit.” The exquisite landscape makes that a near guarantee, as does his signature flourishes—the Paper House comprises 110 paper tubes, while the glass-clad Wall-Less House bears a floating slab roof—that lend the complex its grandeur.

On the heels of a newly opened flagship in the Miami Design District, Kith has unveiled an outpost in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Founder and creative director Ronnie Fieg led a team of designers in creating a future-thinking space that nods to the riverfront neighborhood’s ample warehouses. Sleek touches like brick, steel, and polished concrete are complimented by an atmospheric wood-paneled dome, the store’s undeniable centerpiece. Along with the brand’s regular offerings of sneakers and ready-to-wear, shoppers can satisfy other cravings at Kith Treats, the marble-clad sweets boutique.

A standout among the lucid, melancholic canvases featured in the Ghanaian painter’s first stateside solo exhibition is a delicately textured portrait of close friend and mentor Amoako Boafo.

Here, we ask an artist to frame the essential details behind one of their latest works.

Bio: Adjei Tawiah, 35, Accra.

Title of work: The Helper I- How can I help? (2023)

Where to see it: Opera Gallery, New York, until April 11.

Three words to describe it: Enigmatic, heartfelt, deep.

What was on your mind at the time: I was contemplating my relationship with my close friend and mentor Amoako Boafo. I wanted to honor him and pay homage to his legacy because he has been a major driving force in my career and that of many artists.

In 1933, Mrs. Rosamond Borde had a vision in turquoise: a sumptuous getaway for Hollywood greats, rising on the Santa Monica coastline. With the help of architect M. Eugene Durfee, the Georgian Hotel became a favorite for everyone from Charlie Chaplin to Marilyn Monroe. This month, the hotel returns for its second act, refreshed by BLVD Hospitality and ESI Ventures, who brought in Fettle to infuse the property with a modern take on Tinseltown glamour.

The original Art Deco peepholes still adorn the 56 rooms and 28 suites, furnished with beds dressed in Bellino, antique bar carts, and Marshall speakers. Inside the suites, guests can push a button for champagne delivery or a cart of rare books to peruse on pastel sofas. For those wishing to be seen reading, the library is stocked with a collection of novels from, among others, Christopher Isherwood, who lived nearby.

HUSH designs experiences for the world’s most dynamic organizations. The firm seeks to create a world in which people and communities are more inspired, achieve greater knowledge and understanding, and have a deeper engagement with their own environment. To do this, they strategically help organizations translate and articulate their mission by connecting brand, people, and space in powerful ways.

Surface Says: HUSH isn’t afraid to think big, so it’s no wonder that they’re sought out for their ability to turn ideas into full-scale, immersive experiences.

Is there a foolproof way to twist Oreos apart so both wafers have creme?

A study suggests the moon’s surface could hold 300 billion tons of water.

Scientists engineer bacterial syringes for programmable protein delivery.

Tom Atton Moore’s hand-tufted textiles grace Burberry’s windows in Paris.