Paper-thin playable Tetris game forms cover of GamePop magazine
Red Bull's GamePop magazine has developed a "first-of-its-kind" cover with a built-in display and controllers, allowing readers to play a game of Tetris on its paper surface.
The GamePop GP-1 Playable Magazine System was developed as a limited edition dust cover for the latest edition of the magazine, which focuses on the culture of video games.
Energy drinks brand Red Bull teamed up with engineer and designer Kevin Bates to design the interface, based around the iconic 1980s game.
The paper cover integrates a custom matrix of 180 two-millimetre RGB LEDs, soldered onto a flexible circuit board with a thickness of just a tenth of a millimetre.
The circuit board is sandwiched between layers of paper, creating a bendable cover that measures roughly five millimetres at its thickest point, where the rechargeable coin-cell batteries are housed.
The game is controlled using seven touch sensors that are etched into the circuit board to replace physical buttons, and the falling tetrominoes appear as small cells of light that shine through the paper.
The game is accompanied by sound effects and a snippet of the iconic theme tune played through a piezo speaker – a low-cost speaker that uses a piezoelectric material like a tiny ceramic disk instead of a traditional magnet and coil.
The batteries and a narrow, rigid circuit board housing a microcontroller are positioned along the magazine's spine.
A deconstructed USB-C connector hidden in a small paper pocket along the bottom edge allows the batteries to be charged, with playtime extending to roughly two hours per charge.
The system was officially licensed by the Tetris Company and was developed by Bates, who is known as the creator of a credit card-sized games console called Arduboy.
The playable publication, which Red Bull described as a "first-of-its-kind magazine-cover game system" is limited to 150 numbered editions.
In 2025, Red Bull launched a Tetris competition that culminated in a live final with the game being played using 4,000 drones flying around within the Dubai Frame building.
The company, which is known for its associations with sports, music and video games, previously turned a Brazilian skyscraper into the world's largest skate ramp and outfitted an East German radio centre to function as a music academy.
All imagery courtesy of Red Bull.
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