Change settings for games in Jessie

I am currently running Jessie (Debian GNU/Linux 8 (jessie))

On occasion I like to play Tetravex, Sudoku, etc. I also like to play it at different levels of difficulty and complexity. It used to be very easy to change these levels, but now it appears to be impossible because Jessie offers me the possibility to close the game, move it to another workspace or minimize/maximize/resize/etc it.

But change the level of difficulty?

Nope, not a chance. That option, my dear fellow, is no longer available.

Why? Who decided to change the user interface to such an extent that simple and basic operations are no longer available? Did a MS or Mac mole infiltrate the Debian project team? Please, anybody, tell me how I can execute this simple operation!

that's a function of the particular game you're playing, not the general user interface.

i can, however, see that tetravex and sudoku are part of the gnome desktop.

so your problem could indeed be gnome-related.

i'm sure the option is still there, but the ui has changed.

i feel you; i'm not a fan of gnome.

fwiw, both games (tetravex is a tetris clone, yes?) have numerous other versions for linux.