No Convincing Evidence that Playing the Computer Game Tetris Reduces Daily Intrusions of a Trauma Film: A Multilab Replication

Tetris has been suggested to reduce intrusive memories and is being explored as a clinical intervention. However, the literature on the ‘Tetris effect’ has several shortcomings, which we aimed to address. We conducted a multi-site independent replication in healthy participants with a large sample size and detailed pre-registration. Experiment 1 (N = 141) showed similar intrusion rates of an updated trauma film that was then used in Experiment 2. Experiment 2 (N = 433) demonstrated Tetris reduced intrusions immediately during the task, but not long-term (over the course of one week), compared to a perceptual vigilance control task. Our discussion highlights methodological strengths, and we note limitations including the online execution of the experiment and absence of a no-task control condition. Our findings caution against firm conclusions regarding the Tetris effect's long-term efficacy, underscoring the need for further investigating the robustness of the experimental effect before exploring further clinical applications.