After he developed Tetris, one of the most beloved and successful games ever, Alexey Pajitnov was a hot commodity in the game industry. He got a lot of attention from other game studios that wanted to work with him on whatever he had in store next.
Eventually, he joined up with American publisher Spectrum Holobyte to keep doing puzzle games. The first thing he made for them was a 3D sequel to Tetris called Welltris.
And then he made a third Tris game... called Faces... where you make faces.
Faces is a pretty spectacular misfire. The game doesn’t even seem to know what it is, because the full title is actually Faces ...tris III, with the “tris” tacked on the end to remind people that, yes, this was technically a sequel to Tetris. Maybe it was just a marketing decision, but that doesn’t make Faces any less weird.
Faces ...tris III (read on The Obscuritory)
Faces was released in 1990 at the tail end of the Cold War, as the Soviet Union was being dismantled and the future seemed to point to an increasingly open world. Pajitnov himself, a Russian citizen, had begun visiting the United States, eventually moving there the following year. So in the same way that Tetris went all-in on the Soviet theme, Faces feels like it was inspired by everything happening in the world – a more cosmopolitan puzzle game celebrating our global diversity and history. But the mixed-up faces just look kind of terrifying. They have a vague body horror aesthetic that’s less playful than it is like Frankenstein.
As glad I am that this singularly bizarre game exists, I also can’t help but wonder about what new developers had their ideas passed over in favor of bringing this weirdass follow-up to Tetris into the world instead.