The plot follows Henk Rogers of Bullet-Proof Software, who becomes interested in the game Tetris, created by Alexey Pajitnov, during an electronics show.

Desperate to obtain handheld console rights for Nintendo, he takes trips between Japan, the United States, and Russia to win legal battles over the game's ownership.

There, Rogers proposes Tetris as the launch title for Nintendo's upcoming Game Boy handheld console instead of Super Mario Land.

Nintendo of America's President Minoru Arakawa and General Counsel Howard Lincoln agree, provided Rogers secures handheld rights.

However, the growing potential of Tetris attracts scrutiny from Valentin Trifonov, a corrupt Communist Party official with KGB connections.

Stein furiously confronts Kevin for dealing with ELORG behind his back, leading the Maxwells to personally warn Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev against selling to capitalist interests.

[9] Baird explained that the appeal of the film's script lay in its focus on the legal battle over the rights to the game, set against the backdrop of the Cold War.

He noted that the film's portrayal of East-West relations during the Cold War would be more meaningful now than it might have been in the past, as modern audiences have a clearer understanding of how dangerous and politically charged that period was.

[10] Filming for Tetris originally planned for Moscow was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, prompting the production to relocate to various locations in Scotland, including Edinburgh, Ayrshire, Glasgow, and Aberdeen.

Director Jon S. Baird, a native of Aberdeen, described filming in his hometown as a special experience, highlighting the region’s untapped cinematic potential and the enthusiastic local reception.

The project began in the post-production phase, where Coffee & TV was commissioned to design various graphic and animation assets, including titles, scene establishers, and maps to enhance the storytelling.

In Adobe After Effects, the team discovered a simple method to preserve the pixelated look by disabling a specific checkbox that otherwise smoothed out lines and gradients, contradicting the desired aesthetic.

[17] Reflecting on the project, Boyle highlighted the rewarding nature of working within these boundaries, emphasizing the creative discipline required to convey narrative and visual elements in a minimalist style.

[20] According to a Samba TV research panel of 3.1 million smart television households who tuned in for at least one minute, Tetris drew in 88,000 viewers in its first two days.

The website's consensus reads: "While it's nowhere near as addictive or fast-paced as the game, Tetris offers a fun, fizzy account of the story behind an 8-bit classic.

"[24] In contrast, Vince Mancini of UPROXX found the film "mostly entertaining and simplifies an impossibly complex story admirably, but it also loses some its most important themes in the process."

"The legal battle over Tetris has been thoroughly dissected in the decades since," wrote Ollie Barder of Forbes, "and while this movie sticks to the spirit of that, there are some inevitable film related exaggerations.

[10] Rogers expressed excitement that the origin story of Tetris would be revealed to the public, as many people play games without knowing the behind-the-scenes history of their development.

Pajitnov, meanwhile, praised the filmmakers for capturing the most significant moment in the Tetris story, noting that it was a pivotal point in the game's journey to global popularity.

[28] In August 2023, Dan Ackerman,[32] the chief editor of Gizmodo, sued Apple for "illegally copying" his 2016 book The Tetris Effect: The Game That Hypnotized the World.

For instance, Rogers notes that he convinced Nintendo to bundle Tetris with the Game Boy at launch in place of Super Mario Land.