From The Simpsons to a clever Chevy ad, there are Tetris references littered throughout pop culture.

Tetris is one of the world’s most universally beloved puzzle games. While this love often manifests in regular Tetris marathons and challenges through games like Tetris Blitz and Puyo Puyo Tetris, there have also been several loving references made towards Tetris in pop culture.

Whether it’s film, television, games, or commercials, people are always finding creative new ways to share their love of Tetris. While you may have heard a few of these Tetris references before, some of them may surprise you. So, how many of these Tetris references have you been able to spot over the years?

1) The Simpsons - Episode #298, “The Strong Arms of the Ma”

Back in 2003, The Simpsons referenced Tetris in a pretty unique, creative way. In the episode, you can see the Simpsons family set to return home from Rainer Wolfcastle’s garage sale.

After purchasing quite a few things at the sale, Homer is left puzzling over how to fit his family and purchases into the car. To solve the problem, Homer begins to picture everything as Tetriminos before rotating and loading his family into the car, Tetris style. It’s a hilarious scene we can certainly relate to, as we’ve played many a game of car Tetris in the past!

2) The Big Bang Theory – Trestling

In the hit TV show, The Big Bang Theory, a unique Tetris mashup was created. In the clip, you can see Sheldon and Raj duking it out in a Tetris battle with one extra addition… arm wrestling.

This ups the ante as not only do the two have to best each other at Tetris, but they also have to maintain control of their arm wrestling match as well. It’s a scene that definitely fits the show, as the characters are always coming up with interesting new ways to take their favorite games to the next level whether it’s Trestling or Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock.

3) Just Dance 2015 - Tetris Theme

Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to choreograph a dance around the Tetris theme? Well, the video game Just Dance 2015 did just that, with a playable dance centered around the iconic Tetris music.

We’ve tried this ourselves and have to admit, it’s harder than it looks! Fortunately, the figures dancing on the screen make it easy to learn with enough practice. Just like Tetris! If you own Just Dance 2015, have you beat the Tetris theme yet?

4) 1989 Tetris Game Boy Commercial

We bet it’s been quite some time since you’ve seen this Tetris reference. The official commercial for Tetris on the Game Boy is pure nostalgia goodness. It’s also pretty clever, with a teen challenging a robot to a Tetris battle. This scene really encapsulates what it was like to play Tetris against the computer.

It also summarizes how Tetris is easy to pick up and play, but hard to master. Seeing this commercial again gives us the warm fuzzies, and makes us remember all of the hours we spent playing Tetris on the Game Boy throughout the 90s. How about you?

5) Chevrolet Traverse - Cargo Tetris

This last one feels like a nice combo between The Simpsons car reference, and the nostalgic Tetris Game Boy commercial. In this 2013 commercial for the Chevrolet Traverse, we see real-life Tetriminos descend from above on a conveyor belt style Matrix.

Below, two sets of people challenge each other to fit each item into the back of their assigned cars. On the left is the Chevrolet Traverse, on the right a Ford Explorer. It’s a clever way to signify the storage space of a vehicle—in this case the Chevrolet Traverse—and it definitely hits close to home. After all, we end up playing car Tetris just about every day!

How many Tetris references have you been able to spot over the years? While this list includes just five examples, we know there are countless more out there waiting to be spotted.

If watching these clips put you in the mood to play a few rounds of Tetris, be sure to click here to play Tetris online!

• Tetris
• Feature