YouTube channel Apple Demo published a mini review of the prototype of the third-generation iPod player with Stacker gaming, which never made it to the official release of the device. In addition to Apple’s Tetris clone, the engineering prototype iPod came with other unreleased games such as Block0 and Klondike.

On the back of the player, where the storage capacity is usually stated, there is DVT (Design Verification Test) inscription, indicating that this is a test sample in the middle stage of development. Two songs and a playlist were stored in the device’s memory, and this sample was used to test the battery. After some manipulations and installation of the driver on the second generation iPod, booting from the disk went normally and Stacker, a copy of “Tetris”, was launched from the games available on it.

The authors of Apple Demo contacted Tony Fadell, former senior vice president of Apple’s iPod division, to find out why the Tetris clone never made it to the final version of the device. However, he made only one comment on this topic in 2022: “Because we added games in a later software version”. A few years later, Apple released a licensed “Tetris” for “classic” versions of the iPod, supporting the installation of games purchased from the iTunes Store.

In Stacker, movement of parts left and right is carried out using the navigation wheel, and the button in the middle “drops” them to the bottom of the screen. The aim is to get more points by filling and clearing rows of blocks, just like in the original Tetris. The game turned out to be a bit lacking in this version – at least one shape block got stuck in a pile during rotation.