By Jove it's Jenga (Jenga)

Member Name: duskmaiden

Product:	Jenga
Date:	24/11/03 (356 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: cheapn , simple to play, versatile

Disadvantages: None I can think of

Another day another challenge. This time it is a games challenge from bizzetto . He suggested I reviewed a board game but there are no board games in our household. Actually thinking g about it that is a shame as there are so many good ones about! However I do have Jenga which is the nearest thing to a board game that I own so thought that would fulfill the challenge.

I love Jenga. I first discovered it round my friend Meg?s chalet in fourth year at university. When I was supposed to be researching and writing history essays on topics such as the fall of Gaelic in the Scottish Highlands in the 19th century and literacy rates in England in the same period I would spend hours in Meg?s chalet with the Jenga bricks and a bottle of wine or Baileys. It truly is a wonderfully simple and versatile game.

So what exactly is Jenga?

Jenga is a game where you build a tower with rectangular blocks then have to remove the blocks one at a time without knocking over the tower. It is made by MB games and it is fairly cheap to buy. You can buy it for 6.99 at www.toyopia.co.uk. It is suitable for anyone over the age of 7 and can be played by any number of players. You can even play a solo game if you have no mates!

The contents.

I have the box in front of me. It says you get 54 bocks and a tray. The tray is plastic an is merely there to keep all the pieces in place so they do not fall out of the box and get lost (Well that is the theory as our Jenga set only has 53 pieces now!) The blocs are cuboids and are made out of wood with Jenga written on them. They are approximately 1x2x6 inches in size.

How do you play Jenga

Firstly you need to set it up. You put a row of three blocks facing one way then put another three so they crisscross the previous row. The next row is facing the same way as the first row and you build like this until all the blocks are used up and you have a tallish tower.

You play by tak

ing turns to remove a block from the tower and putting it onto the top layer only one hand can be used when doing this. At first this is easy but it gets harder as the tower gets more unstable. Good eye and hand coordination plus a good sense of judgment is needed when plying this game. This is why it is not suitable for young kids as they do not have the required motor skills needed to play the game The loser is the person who manages to topple the tower. The games usually take around quarter of an hour to play but you will want to play agan and again and again

This game is ideal for a party game and is great after you have had a pint or four. I know pubs such as the It?s a Scram chain have giant versions of the game. It is great because it is fun with two people or six playing it. If you are playing solo you aim is to see how many levels you can get to before it falls. The bonus is you do not have someone else taking out a piece that should not have been taken out as it would make the tower unstable.

Other uses for Jenga

The blocks are great and if you get bored of the normal game much fun can be made making abstract sculptures, Stonehenge and Greek temples. A prize could be awarded for the most ambitious or unusual sculpture!!

Jenga is not suitable for under threes as you do not want them risking getting splinters in their mouths.

Jenga is a great game. It has few rules to remeber, few fiddly pieces. If you lose one it does not matter too much as long as you do not lose too many pieces. You can have as many or few players as you want and if you get bored it makes an excellent set of building blocks. What more do you want out of a game. I would recommend all households have a Jenga set. There you go a novel and interesting housewarming gift that will cause hours of amusement that will not break the bank!

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