Netflix’s Hidden Gaming Feature: A Frustrating Letdown

Netflix has been quietly expanding its offerings beyond streaming movies and TV shows, venturing into the world of gaming. While this move might seem like a natural progression for the entertainment giant, the execution has left much to be desired. A recent discovery of Netflix’s gaming feature, particularly its version of Tetris, has left many users frustrated and disappointed.

A Promising Start

The idea of playing games directly through the Netflix app on your TV is intriguing. It eliminates the need for additional hardware and offers a convenient way to enjoy casual gaming with family and friends. The concept is similar to how you can play games on Xbox without downloading anything, making it accessible to a wide audience.

When I first stumbled upon Netflix’s gaming feature, I was genuinely excited. The prospect of playing a classic game like Tetris on my TV, just like I would an old rerun of “The Office,” was appealing. After all, I’ve been a fan of Tetris for nearly 40 years, ever since it came packaged with my Nintendo Game Boy.

The Control Nightmare

However, my excitement quickly turned to frustration when I realized the control layout for Tetris was poorly designed. The game uses your smartphone as a controller, which pairs effortlessly with the app and offers minimal lag during play. This is crucial for a fast-paced game like Tetris, where you need to rotate, move, and drop blocks before they reach the top of the screen.

The control layout is simple, with four arrow keys and a few face and menu buttons. However, the placement of the Up Arrow key is where things go awry. In Tetris, the Up Arrow is used to instantly drop a block, which can be useful during gameplay. But why you need to press Up to make blocks go straight down is certainly a questionable choice.

The real issue is that the hard drop button is right next to the Left and Right Arrow keys used to move a block into place. Without the texture of a physical controller, it’s too easy for your finger to hit two buttons at the same time, causing you to drop a block early and into the wrong place. This design flaw is unavoidable unless you want your hands and fingers to be incredibly strained.

A Princess and the Pea Situation

In the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, “The Princess and the Pea,” the princess can’t sleep comfortably because she can feel a tiny pea underneath twenty plush mattresses. I can relate to this story because I fully acknowledge that I’m nitpicking here. For the most part, Tetris Time Warp is a solid take on the classic puzzle game. Literally, the only issue I have is the placement of this one button for this one control, one you could arguably play without.

But the Drop button is my pea. I feel it the entire time I’m playing, through twenty mattresses of colorful blocks (technically called tetrominoes). How can I enjoy playing a game if it’s constantly ending prematurely because of misplaced blocks? Like a bad line of code, this one, tiny problem is a complete showstopper, breaking the game for me and rendering it completely unplayable. I won’t—or can’t, really—play Netflix’s Tetris again until it’s fixed.

A Broader Issue

This tiny flaw may end up being a big one for Netflix, though. It kind of turned me off from their entire gaming platform in general. That’s a shame, since it’s such a good idea. Using smartphones as controllers, with the TV as the virtual “board,” is such a clever way to play games with family and friends. It’s the same system ingeniously employed by Jackbox Games for titles like “Quiplash” and “Blather ‘Round.” Having games with this format directly available in the Netflix app opens it up to an incredibly wide audience—I can imagine getting everyone at my Dad’s house hopping into a party game after Thanksgiving dinner. At least, this could be the case if not for one other big issue.

The Lack of Games

The Tetris controller fail is a specific problem for Netflix, but there is a much broader issue with its gaming platform that I think is keeping it from becoming a mainstream hit with subscribers. There just aren’t many games to play. Netflix launched this in-app “Netflix TV Party Games” feature a few months ago, though it had been beta testing it for over a year. Yet, with all this lead time, its roster of launch titles is still extremely thin—just five games, plus the new “Knives Out” one.

The other party games are solid and include “Boggle,” “Lego Party!,” and “Pictionary,” but the platform needs a more robust lineup. Its “Party Crashers” is the most Jackbox-like of its games—and the platform should lean more into that format. It would be amazing if the company worked out a licensing deal for heavy hitters like “Bomb Corp.” and “Quiplash.” Netflix Party Games needs quantity AND quality to really take off.

Misleading Game Listings

There are actually a ton of games listed on Netflix’s gaming menu—but this is incredibly misleading. Most of these so-called Netflix games are just ones you can play only on your smartphone as part of your paid subscription. It’s no different than Apple’s new Games app. I don’t need more options when it comes to games on my phone—I need more when it comes to party games I can play on my TV, with my friends, using our smartphones. That’s second on my wish list, though. First and foremost, I need Netflix to get this damn pea from under my back and fix the Hard Drop button for Tetris Time Warp.

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