Honolulu-based Blue Planet Software Inc. said Tetris has surpassed more than 100 million paid downloads on mobile telephones since 2005, making it the best-selling game on cell phones.

Blue Planet manages the licensing rights for Tetris, an exceedingly simple but addicting game created by Soviet programmer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. Tetris gained popularity in the 1990s when it was offered on Nintendo's Game Boy mobile gaming player.

"After Tetris' success with the Game Boy in 1989, we always hoped that potential would carry over into today's mobile devices," Henk Rogers, Blue Planet chief executive officer, said in a press statement.

"It's a testament to the game's staying power that it remains popular on today's most modern technology."

Blue Planet has licensed Tetris' exclusive mobile publishing rights to Electronic Arts Inc., which has brought a number of Tetris games to numerous mobile platforms. The game is available in 60 countries on about 64,000 different handsets.

Electronic Arts won't say how much money it has made on Tetris. It costs $5 to download on an iPhone.

The 100 million milestone is "a huge moment not just for EA, but for mobile gaming in general," said Adam Sussman, an Electronic Arts vice president.

"It speaks to the evergreen appeal of Tetris."