Jenga
|
|
Template:Infobox Game Jenga is a game of physical skill, marketed by Hasbro in which players remove blocks from a tower. The player who causes the tower to collapse loses. The word jenga is derived from the Swahili word for "build".
Jenga is played with 54 wooden blocks; each block is 3 times as long as it is wide, and slightly smaller in height than in width. The blocks are stacked in a tower formation; each story is three blocks placed adjacent to each other along their long side, and each story is placed perpendicular to the previous (so, for example, if the blocks in the first story are pointing north-south, the second story blocks will point east-west). There are therefore 18 stories to the Jenga tower. Since stacking the blocks neatly can be tedious, Hasbro includes a loading tray.
Once the tower is built, the person who built the tower moves first. A move in Jenga consists of taking one and only one block from any story below the 2 topmost current stories, and placing it on the topmost story in order to complete it. Only one hand at a time may be used to remove a block; both hands can be used, but only one hand may be on the tower at a time. Blocks may be bumped to find a loose block that will not disturb the rest of the tower, but any block that is moved out of place must be replaced (still with one hand) before examining the tower further. Your turn ends when the next person to move touches the tower, although he can wait 10 seconds before moving for the previous turn to end.
The game ends when the tower falls in any significant way -- in other words, any piece falls from the tower, other than the piece being knocked out to move to the top. The loser is the person who made the tower fall (i.e. whose turn it was when the tower fell); the winner is the person who moved before the loser.
Variants
Jenga Truth or Dare is an adult variation of Jenga also marketed by Hasbro. This version looks like regular Jenga except there are three colors of blocks, red, black and natural, instead of just the natural color of Jenga. Play is the same, but if you move a red block on your play, you have to complete the dare printed on it before stacking the block on top. If you move a black block, you have to truthfully answer the question printed on the block before stacking it. The natural blocks have nothing printed on them and are played as in Jenga. However, it is permissible to write your own truths or dares on the natural blocks if desired.
Jenga Extreme uses blocks with different shapes and angles instead of the rectangular blocks of Jenga.
Drinking Jenga is a home-made variant using the standard Jenga game. Played at a party, each of the tiles has a command written on the bottom. The commands usually involve drinking or doing something embarrassing, from simple commands such as "Take a Drink" or "Give Away 2 Drinks" or "Do a Funky Dance Move," to more complicated commands such as "Look at someone, and try to get them to say "What?" If they do, they have to drink. If they don't, you have to drink."
When a player takes a tile, they must obey the command written on the bottom. The remainder of the game is played in the standard way, with the loser (the one who collapses the tower) drinking an entire beer.
External links
- Jenga (http://www.hasbro.com/pl/page.viewproduct/product_id.8530/dn/games/default.cfm) at Hasbro
- Play it online (http://www.hasbro.com/games/Jenga.swf)
- Jenga Truth or Dare (http://www.hasbro.com/pl/page.viewproduct/product_id.8621/dn/games/default.cfm) (Truth or dare questions on blocks) at Hasbro
- Jenga XTREME (http://www.hasbro.com/pl/page.viewproduct/product_id.13363/dn/games/default.cfm) (angled blocks) at Hasbroja:ジェンガ