A small Canadian study has found that playing Tetris may be a more effective way to treat lazy eye than existing practices, as it trains both eyes to work together.

“ It's much better than patching, much more enjoyable, it's faster and it seems to work better.

Current Biology (via BBC ) and reveal that in a test group of 18 adults, playing Tetris treated the disorder more effectively than the current practice of patching the good eye to make the weak one work harder.The researchers now want to see if it'd be as successful in treating children with the condition, though such experiments have been occurring in the UK for around a year.Dr Robert Hess, who was part of the team, explained that it all came down to getting the eyes to work as a team. "When we get the two eyes working together, we find the vision improves," he revealed. "It's much better than patching, much more enjoyable, it's faster and it seems to work better."It's estimated that one in 50 children has lazy eye, or amblyopia. It happens when the vision in one eye doesn't develop properly, often expressing itself through squinting and the eyes not looking in the same direction. Without intervention, it can lead to permanent loss of vision in the weaker eye.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Junior Editor. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter