An internet game called 'Slave Tetris' in which players stack as many Africans as they can into a ship's hold has been pulled after it caused a furious reaction online.

It was a segment of a wider game called Playing History: Slave Trade aimed at educating people about the horrors of slavery.

The different shaped blocks of classic title Tetris were replaced with emaciated black figures wearing only different coloured shorts.

'Slave Tetris' replaced the different shaped blocks of the classic title with emaciated black figures players had to cram into the hold of a slave ship but has now been pulled because of an online backlash

As in Tetris they would appear at the top of the screen and players would have to arrange them so they fit together, in this case inside the hold of a slave ship.

The game was designed by Danish firm Serious Games Interactive, whose CEO Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen wrote his PhD thesis on the 'educational use of computer games.'

He was savaged on Twitter over Slave Tetris, with on user calling him a 'clueless white Dane' and another saying the game was 'dehumanizing and anti-black.'

On Monday Egenfeldt-Nielsen bowed to pressure and removed the segment from Playing History: Slave Trade, though the rest of the game is still available on digital game store Steam.

But he has defended Slave Tetris, saying on Twitter the 'point [was] to disgust people so they understand how inhumane [the] slave trade was.'

Egenfeldt-Nielsen added it was only a 15 second part of a two hour long game where participants play as an escaped slave, reports The Daily Mirror.

Reaction on Twitter to 'Slave Tetris' was vicious, with one user branding Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen, the CEO of the company which developed it, a 'Clueless white Dane'.

One Monday Egenfeldt-Nielsen bowed to pressure and removed the segment from Playing History: Slave Trade, though the rest of the game is still available on digital game store Steam

This user accused the developers of 'horrendous inhumanity' but Egenfeldt-Nielsen was robust in his defence of it

The game was branded 'dehumanizing and anti-black', causing Egenfeldt-Nielsen to admit the controversy over 'Slave Tetris' had 'overshadowed the educational goal' of the rest of the game

In a series of responses to irate Twitter users he admitted he, 'should of course [have] know[n] how this would have played out,' adding, 'My naivety will be my doom.'

Egenfeldt-Nielsen also posted: 'Slave Tetris has been removed as it was perceived to be extremely insensitive by some people.

'This overshadowed the educational goal of the game.

'The goal was to enlighten and educate people — not to get sidetracked discussing a small 15 secs part of the game.

'I have sad earlier that I was sorry that the game harmed some people, and that wasn't the intention.'