Ever since Warren Robinett hid his name in the Atari 2600 game Adventure, there’s been a rich and wonderful tradition of developers hiding little fun secret things in computer software. This one, found on Russian-made GAZelle Next vans and trucks, is especially good: you can play Tetris on the little dot-matrix screen in the instrument cluster. It’s perfect.


Tetris, the archetypal Russian game, played on a Russian van’s dash is probably one of the best, most gleefully absurd automotive/video gaming combined experiences a person can have.

Here, watch the magic happen:

I’ve taken the liberty of robo-translating the instructions for you, in case you happen to be near a (new, I’m guessing?) GAZelle Next and and need a falling-block fix:

1) Turn the ignition on 2) Start a car 3) Activate the right turn signal for three blinks 4) Two click the trip odometer reset twice (the computer translated this as “two times distant,” but this is what I think that means5) Push the clutch five times 6) Rev the engine to 2000 RPM while turning on the left turn indicator


How the hell did anyone figure this out? I’m guessing one of the developers of the firmware in that display module had to have talked, because that’s a lot of improbable and convoluted steps to take. Way more so than, say, the Konami Code.

I just love that this exists. And it’s probably no more dangerous to play while driving than texting is, really.

(Thanks, Tyler!)