The creators of Tetris & the Rubik's Cube collaborated on a puzzle that combines their work

In a promotion by Bandai Namco-owned Japanese toy maker Megahouse, Alexey Pajitnov and Erno Rubik reportedly met for the first time ever.

A meeting of puzzle gaming legends occurred rather recently as the creator of Tetris, Alexey Pajitnov, and the creator of the Rubik’s Cube, Ernő Rubik, came together in a special collaboration to present a new cube based on both of their iconic works.

The collaboration was made possible by Bandai Namco-owned Japanese toy manufacturer Megahouse. The company hosted an interview in which the 71-year-old Russian/American Tetris programmer and the 81-year-old Hungarian architect and inventor of the Rubik’s Cube met for the very first time ever. It was to present a type of Rubik’s Cube where the goal is not to match colors, but create a full set of tetromino shapes on each side.

There was a lot of fandom in the room as Pajitnov expressed his delight with the Rubik’s Cube’s design and marveled over his work as an architect alongside the creation of the iconic cube.

“I am so excited about meeting Mr Rubik today,” Pajitnov says in the video. “I’ve been obsessed for years with the Cube, and I dreamed to meet him, but finally it happened.”

“I love the form of the Cube by itself because it’s a very simple and very clear space relation,” Rubik said of the puzzle’s design. “The Cube changed my life in many ways, and I’m sure that happened with you as well [with Tetris].”

“When I show my game to everybody, people get it like ‘that,’” Pajitnov mused. “I’m pretty sure the Cube is even more easy to understand.”

The collaboration was a rare meeting of legendary minds. The Rubik’s Cube is still production today and is still considered to be the world’s best-selling puzzle. Meanwhile, Tetris has remained in the spotlight through competitions and games like Tetris Forever, which Alexey Pajitnov heavily contributed to via interviews and design documents. Whether the combination of their respective games is the best form of either is debatable, but having the two of them in one room to talk puzzle games and design sounds priceless.

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