Leaning Tower of Pisa rules of the game. Testing the board game Jenga from Hasbro
This game is very simple and at the same time can bring many pleasant moments to both children and their parents. The number of players is practically unlimited: you can train alone and hold tournaments for 2, 3 and 10 people! First you need to buy a special kit from 54 wooden blocks.
Rules of the game "Jenga"
First, a tower is built from a set of blocks on a table or floor. To do this, the blocks are stacked three in a row and the resulting layers are stacked on top of each other, one across the other. This turns out to be a tower of 18 levels. As a rule, a cardboard guide is included in the kit, which will allow you to level the tower for its exceptional evenness and verticality.
As soon as the tower is built and the order of the players' turns is determined, you can begin!
Each player, on his turn, tries to pull out any block that seems free to him. This must be done using only one hand. You cannot work with both hands at the same time, but you can use your hands in turns if it is convenient. After the block is released from the tower, it is laid on its top so that construction continues according to the rules: 3 bars per layer, each next layer across the previous one. You cannot take bars from an unfinished top layer and the next layer below it.
As soon as the block is placed, the turn passes to the next player in turn and further in a circle. The player on whom the tower collapses with a roar is considered the loser, and the game starts over. You can organize a knockout game.
Tricks:
- First of all, you need to look for loose bars. They can be either on the edge, and then they can be “picked out” from the side, or in the center, then they must be pushed out with a finger on one side and then pulled out on the other;
- It is very important to pay attention to the tilt of the tower: sometimes, after a new block is placed on one side of the tower, on the other side it becomes possible to pull out the block that was previously clamped;
- You can set up “traps” for the following players: taking into account the tilt of the tower, aggravate it by placing your block on the same side. But the main thing here is not to overdo it!
- Although you cannot use both hands, you can use several fingers of one hand, for example, grab the block with your thumb and forefinger, and with your middle hand carefully rest against the tower so that it does not fall. Well, use your hands in turn.
Jenga video game:
Board game Jenga Boom (Tower)
Hello, Dear friends! Today I want to tell you about an extremely exciting and at the same time very simple game with wooden blocks.
It's called Jenga and has many varieties. The popularity of this board game all over the world is due not only simple rules games, but also 
many other advantages.
But more about this below.
My review of the board game Jenga
What is Jenga?
Jenga is a board game of skill and ingenuity. The standard set consists of 54 wooden blocks, not varnished or painted in any colors. Also included with each game set is a sleeve for building a tower and a booklet describing the rules of the game and various options for complicating or simplifying the gameplay. We had the version with 45 parts, but the game was no less fun!
Rules of the game "Jenga"
At the beginning of the game, participants build a tower using all the blocks in the set. This can be done independently or using a special sleeve, which allows you to make the structure as even and stable as possible. There are three bars at one level of the tower, and the parts of the next floor should lie perpendicular to the previous ones (crosswise)
After the tower is ready, players take turns removing blocks from any part of it and moving them to the top. The main requirement is that when the part is removed and installed at the very top, the building does not collapse. Also, in most versions of Jenga, it is necessary to remove the bars with one hand, no matter whether it is right or left. The goal of the game is to make the tower as tall as possible.
The participant whose actions caused the tower to collapse is considered the loser. The winnings are calculated based on the number of successful moves for each player: whoever has the most successfully moved bars wins.
Why is Jenga so popular and why do we like it?
Despite the simplest, if not primitive, rules of the game, Jenga can drag on for several hours. Reading the description, it seems that it’s easy to play, but as soon as you sit down at the table, your opinion changes dramatically.
Firstly, choosing the right block, the removal of which will not damage the tower, is not so easy, especially after other participants have already made more than one move.
Secondly, it is very difficult to carefully remove the part from the building - one wrong move, and the tower collapses.
Playing with wooden blocks develops qualities and skills such as:
- fine motor skills (this is why it is useful to play Jenga with preschool children);
- agility. You train this quality by trying to pull the block out of the structure as carefully as possible;
- attentiveness;
- spatial thinking;
- ingenuity and logic. These skills are needed to correctly calculate which block can be removed from the tower without the threat of its collapse.
I would also note the following advantages of this board game:
- fascination. It is very difficult to tear yourself away from an unfinished batch. And even after the tower collapsed because of some player, you want to immediately build it again and resume the game;
- universality for all ages. This game will be interesting for both children from five to six years old, and adults up to retirement age;
- no restrictions on the number of people. If most other board games can be played by no more than 6-8 participants, then in Jenga the number of players can exceed this number. Moreover, the more players take part, the more interesting the process becomes;
- durability. Wooden blocks do not break, do not wrinkle or wear out, and therefore one set of games can serve the family for many years;
- compact packaging sizes. Thanks to this, Jenga can be taken with you on trips or to visit.
True, you can’t play it on the road, because for stability wooden tower requires a fixed surface, such as a table or floor.
Today, the rights to publish the game belong to various global companies, including Russian manufacturers. This will allow you to choose the right option for your family in terms of price and completeness.
Who created Jenga?
Do you know how this fascinating board game was born, and who became its creator? Even before 1983, no one knew about such a simple thing, but brilliant game. But everything changed thanks to a woman from Britain named Leslie Scott.
As a board game designer in those years, Leslie decided to temporarily move away from the canons of complex role-playing and turn-based board games that were so popular in America and Britain. Wanting to create something as simple as possible, but at the same time very exciting, she remembered her childhood. Then her whole family enjoyed playing with simple wooden cubes, building towers and other structures from them. Leslie remembered how much she enjoyed this activity and decided that this process could be varied by extracting parts from the structure.
Initially, cubes were considered as parts for Jenga. But for variety and greater variability in the gameplay, it was decided to use rectangular blocks. Having released her creation to the market, Leslie did not even expect that it would be so popular. In the very first year, the entire circulation of the board game was sold out, and then companies who wanted to purchase the rights to publish the game reached out to its creator. Today it still continues to sell out in thousands of copies, and a new generation of preschoolers is developing fine motor skills for such an exciting activity as building a tower.
How to diversify the gameplay in Jenga
Despite all its fun, over time the standard version of the game Jenga can get a little boring friendly company. In this case, you can diversify your pastime by slightly changing or supplementing the rules. For example:
- Playing Jenga with forfeits. Write different tasks on pieces of paper, for example, “Close your eyes” or “Tell a rhyme.” The player who has to get the block from the tower draws a forfeit, and during his turn completes the task.
- Game until the last block. Here, players will not place the bars removed from the tower on the upper level of the structure, but will simply begin to pull parts out of it and put them next to them. Whoever managed to remove the most bars before the building completely collapsed won;
- Jenga with numbers. The side edges of the bars can be marked with numbers from first to tenth or from first to twelfth. Now all you have to do is take the dice and roll them before your turn. Whichever number is dropped, under that number we remove the part from the tower. There are no bars available with the required number? It's sad, but you'll have to skip a turn.
- You can also discuss additional options for complication in the company, for example, alternating the right and left hand for removing bars, and so on, as your imagination tells you.
As for the quality of this game, there are no complaints about the manufacturer. The bars are dense, smooth, and pleasant to hold in your hands. Plus they are very well polished, which means there is no risk of getting a splinter in your finger while playing.
Jenga is a fun, interesting and exciting game of dexterity, attentiveness and ingenuity. It will allow you to spend pleasant and useful time with your family, colleagues or a group of friends who appreciate such entertainment.
Buy board game Jenga can be done using the button below in an excellent store without cheating or overpaying. You can engrave the box and write any name, for example, if the game is purchased as a gift.
How to win at Jenga
The winner is the one who is the last to get the block and does not bring down the tower. You need to act carefully and carefully, and you should also immediately think about how exactly to place the element on top: after all, this is often more difficult than simply pulling it out of the “foundation”.
How tall is the tower?
If the players are experienced and careful, then the tower turns out to be very high: from the outside it seems that if a butterfly lands on it, the whole structure will collapse. Many are building high tower not as part of a game, but simply for fun - for example, to take a photo with it or to drop it beautifully. By the way, the Jenga fall is studied in American schools in physics lessons.Why is this game good for children?
What will I find in the set?
The box contains 54 smooth blocks of dense wood, the thickness of which is slightly less than the width, the shape and. The latter serves to build a level tower, from which the game begins.
Who invented this game?
A Girl Named Leslie Scott: The first set was released in 1974. Leslie grew up near a house made of similar blocks - and as a child she often assembled various structures from “wooden bricks”. In the 80s, the game became famous in the UK, and in 87 - in America. This is how bricks and neighboring construction can have an irreparable impact on the psyche of millions of people around the world.
What modifications are there for the game?
Jenga can also be played with colored blocks and dice: in this case, a die roll decides which block needs to be moved. You can buy two sets of Jenga so that you can play the classic version with one and give the other one to your child to color - this will help improve his Creative skills and will significantly increase interest in this useful and educational game.What other names for this game are used?
Throughout the world, Jenga is known as different names. In our country it is called “Town”, in Brazil – “Earthquake”, in Europe it is known as the “Leaning Tower of Pisa”, in Denmark – as the “Brick House”.What other sets are there:
Lera
“Yesterday we sat with a group, we sat for two hours)”
Oh no! I dropped the tower again!
Do you have strong nerves? No? Pass by. Are your hands shaking? Also past, next one! But if you have a steady hand and nerves of steel, this seemingly simple game is for you.
Jenga, also known by the names Town(Russia), Leaning Tower of Pisa(Europe), Earthquake(Brazil), Brick house(Denmark stood out among other European countries with its original name).
Rules are simple, one might say there are almost none.
First, a flat, beautiful tower of 18 floors is built. During the game it can more than double. Do you have high enough ceilings? Each floor consists of three blocks placed closely and parallel to each other. The blocks of each next floor are placed perpendicular to the blocks of the previous floor
Jenga. Your little Leaning Tower of Pisa
Jenga. Your little Leaning Tower of Pisa
Jenga. Your little Leaning Tower of Pisa
Jenga. Your little Leaning Tower of Pisa
According to traditional rules, you can touch the tower with only one hand at any time.
The game continues until the tower falls. I think this will happen quite quickly in the first games.
Now everything is also simple - the one who dropped the tower lost, the one who made the previous move won.
That's it, let's build the tower again so that it can be beautifully destroyed again!
Do you think there is little dynamics in the game? Play others non-classical Jenga variants:
- Jenga with cubes: More dice will be needed, and the blocks will need to be numbered. Before each block, we roll the dice and take out only the block with the corresponding number.
- Jenga forfeits: on the blocks we are already writing various tasks that correspond to your company and party, from “sing a song” and “tell a rhyme”, to romantic evening ones - “kiss on the lips” (here you can safely turn to Captain Obviousness and Fanta-flirting for ideas. Shkolota, shoo out of the post!). You are limited only by your imagination.
- colorful jenga: we paint the blocks in different colors and play the same way with cubes or any other rules you come up with for pulling out blocks
Jenga can always be with you, and you don't need all those 54 pretty wooden blocks, the game is available for mobile phones- java game, game for iPhone. I just haven’t found one for Android yet, I’ll be grateful for help in finding it.
Here are the hero games of our review today. Let's start playing by seniority in The Mikado and Jenga.
But closer to the point...
How to play Jenga?
The meaning of the game
Our task is to build a tower out of blocks, and then carefully pull one block at a time from the base and move it to the top. The game continues until the tower collapses. The one who caused the fall of the tower is given a punishment. For example, let him build a tower for the next round. If your building blocks are of different colors (this happens, they can be different in texture or color), then the game can develop according to several scenarios.
Scenario #1
This is a lightweight version of the game to “shoot” and get acquainted with Jenga. We are building a tower of 16 floors, as shown in the figure above. Consider that the game has already begun, since building a high-rise building is like putting together a construction set. Then, one by one, we pull any block we like and place it on the top of the tower. We continue until complete collapse.
Scenario #2
Events develop in the same way as in Scenarios No. 2. This is where the dice comes into play. We've built a tower, then we roll the dice. Whichever pattern appears is the one you drag. Each time the tower becomes more and more unstable, it is not even an hour, and it will crumble like a house of cards.
Scenario #3
Let's complicate the game. Let's say we have 2 players. Distribute the cubes between them. One player is allowed to drag blocks only with a panda and a giraffe, and the second - with a cheetah and a zebra. Blocks without a pattern remain spare. They can be pulled out by both players, but only in desperate situations. Here you will have to think carefully))
Scenario #4 - Domino effect
We arrange the blocks vertically in a row at a distance of several centimeters. Then, with one movement of the finger, we push the last block, and the entire row falls together one after another. It makes the kids a lot of fun))
Scenario No. 4 - Large construction site
Building incredible structures from Jenga blocks is almost an art. Our customers are so carried away that they purchase a second set of parts. Take a look...
And this building seems like a light cobweb. Blow and it will fall down, but no, it’s worth it....
From Jenga, of course, it’s hard to tear yourself away))) But he’s already languishing in the queue Mikado, no less interesting game. So let's move on.
Japanese tranquility with Mikado
Mikado- antique Japanese game, somewhat similar to our spillikins. Does not tolerate fuss and sudden movements. You need to play thoughtfully, slowly, smoothly pulling sticks from the general pile. Such finger movements are excellent for developing fine motor skills in people of any age.
How to play Mikado?
The essence of the game
Place a handful of sticks freely on the table or floor. Then you try to pull out the stick without hitting the neighboring ones. If you hit it, the turn goes to another player. If the “operation” was successful, the move is yours. The whole trick is that the sticks have different values, and the player who gets larger number points.
Chopstick cost table
Spirals (“Mikado”) 1 *20 points 20 points
2 blue rings + 3 red rings (“Mandarin”) 5 *10 points 50 points
1 red ring + 2 blue rings 5 *5 points 25 points
1 red ring + 1 blue ring + 1 yellow ring 15 *3 points 45 points
1 red ring + 1 blue ring 15 *2 points 30 points
If you pulled out the Mandarin or Mikado sticks, you can use those to pull out the rest.
Options for playing Mikado
1. Righty-Lefty- make the game more difficult for yourself. If you are right-handed, try pulling out the sticks with your left hand, and if you are left-handed, try pulling out the sticks with your right
2. Counting sticks- use Mikado sticks as counting material
3. Mikado in the ring- you will need a ring that will fit tightly around the sticks. This could be a ring from a pyramid, a not too tight hair tie, etc. Fold the sticks into a tube, then turn them, as if you were wringing out laundry.
Place the sticks in the ring and place them on a flat, smooth surface. Now this hut needs to be dismantled. Take the sticks out of the structure one by one. Whoever destroys the hut is the loser.
Mikado is so popular that a “garden” version of it has even been invented for playing outside. You need to play with giant sticks 90 cm long (!) Try to pull out such a stick))) 
These are the “thinking” games of skill. Not only your fingers, but also your brain cells become dexterous. Enjoy playing!
Olga Polovinkina
