Seemingly simple but possessing a surprising depth, Tetris is perhaps the most instantly recognizable, popular video game ever made. But how did an obscure Soviet programmer, working on antiquated computers, create a product which has now earned nearly 1 billion in sales? As Dan Ackerman explains here, Alexey Pajitnov had long nurtured a love for the puzzle game Pentominoes, and became obsessed with turning it into a computer game. Tetris became one of the world's first viral hits, breaking through the Iron Curtain into the West. International moguls waged a bitter fight over the rights, sending their fixers racing around the globe to secure backroom deals, but as Ackerman reveals here, a secretive Soviet organization named ELORG chased down the game's growing global profits.