What is the name of the game with wooden blocks. Tower (with square bars)

If you want to find out how dexterous and have a sense of balance you are, then the Jenga Tower game is exactly what you need. If you are smart, you have well-developed manual dexterity, masterfully own a sense of balance, then it is for you. This game will captivate not only children, but also adults, be careful and attentive, and then you can build a tower twice as high as the original one.

Assemble the wooden block tower by removing the blocks from the lower "floors" and building the tower from above. The number of players is not limited, as well as their age.

Jenga tower rules

Gather the players and select a "master" builder. He must build a tower of 18 floors. Lay out all the bars in front of you and start assembling the tower. The first floor consists of three blocks lying closely parallel to each other. Subsequent floors consist of three bars lying perpendicular to the existing ones. And so all the bars are laid out on top of each other.
Level the tower so that Jenga's walls are level and the tower stands on its own.
The one who built the tower goes first. He takes one block from any floor and puts it on the top row. The player following him takes out another block and puts it next to the block of the previous player. Attention: you can get the bars with only one hand. The bars can be touched to find one that moves freely and is easy to remove.
Bars from top row cannot be taken. A row is considered complete when there are three bars.
The game continues until the tower collapses. The tower is considered to have fallen if any block has fallen, except for the one that the player is holding in his hand. The player who laid down his block last won, and the structure stood. If desired, the game can be continued if only a few blocks have fallen.

So, the basic rules are clear. But what if you have mastered this game and it doesn't seem so interesting anymore?

Then you can turn the Jenga tower. Write a task on each bar on the side and each player who gets it will have to complete it. Or you can number the bars according to the numbers on the dice and remove from the tower only the bar whose number fell on the die.

And these are just the most simple options. The rules of the game are only limited by your imagination. Get together with family or friends and play Jenga Falling Tower.

The word "jenga" is imperative mood from "kujenga", Swahili for "build". What is being built in this game? Tower! Until she falls...

It would seem, what kind of game can be with wooden blocks? Well, build something using it as a constructor, that's about it. However, the developer of the game - Leslie Scott - approached the issue of construction from a completely different angle. Building in Jenga will have to be done wisely. The very idea of the game originated in the Leslie family in the early 1970s, and initially it used ordinary children's wooden blocks. Then, special game blocks were made: each block is three times its width long, and its height is about half its width.

To reveal the intrigue of the tower, you need to familiarize yourself with the rules of the game themselves. So, there are 54 players in the game. wooden block. To start the game, you need to build a tower with a height of 18 floors. Each floor consists of three blocks laid close and parallel to each other. The blocks of each next floor are placed perpendicular to the blocks of the previous floor.

After the tower is built, the game begins. The players have the right to move. The one who built the tower goes first. A turn in "Jenga" consists of pulling one block from any level (except the one directly below the unfinished top) of the tower. The pulled block must be placed on top of the tower so that it can be completed (you cannot complete the floors under the unfinished top level). Only one hand is allowed to remove the block; the second hand can also be used, but you can only touch the tower with one hand at a time. Blocks can be pushed to find the one that sits the most freely. Any moved block can be left in place and not continue to get it if this will lead to the fall of the tower. The game has plenty of momentum: the turn ends when the next player touches the tower, or when 10 seconds have passed, whichever happens first.

Using the tower from this game in US schools, experiments are being conducted in physics classes.

The end of the game marks the fall of the tower, that is, the fall of any block other than the one that the player is currently trying to place on top of the tower. The loser is the one whose move caused the collapse of the tower. However, if only a few blocks have fallen, then the players can continue the game if they wish. Be sure the first time your tower will fall very quickly.

The rules seem simple, but it's not for nothing that the game has spread throughout the world over more than 30 years of its existence and has won thousands of fans. Because "Jenga" is a game of manual dexterity, ingenuity and a sense of balance. Children can also build a tower. This game is especially useful for them, since motor skills are involved, the ability to establish cause-and-effect relationships develops, perseverance and accuracy are instilled. You can also play in teams, which will help unite an unfamiliar company.

Experienced players have developed more than one system: which bars, in what sequence, to pull out in order to win. But general pattern one: it is better to pull out the blocks along the entire height of the tower, without concentrating on one of the parts.

Despite British citizenship, Leslie Scott was born in East Africa speaks both English and Swahili. Therefore, she gave her game such a catchy, unusual name for the ear.

Except classic version players have come up with many more additional "chips" to diversify and complicate the game. Those who have reached enchanting heights in the construction of the tower, write on the side faces of the number, take a dice and move only the bar whose number fell on the dice. Others, for the sake of fun, depict tasks on the verges (such as playing forfeits), for example, “Tell a joke”, “Depict a sad rabbit”. The player, moving any bar, is obliged to complete the task inscribed on it.

Of course, the producers, seeing such a hobby, did not bypass the game with various "replicas" and variations. So, there was "Jenga" with multi-colored blocks, a game with an increased number of blocks, a game in which the blocks are increased many times (the tower reaches one and a half meters!), And, of course, application games for all kinds of mobile devices: there the blocks are pulled out by one finger movement.

The article was prepared based on materials

Board game "Jenga" ("Tower") and its varieties

History of appearance

The familiar "Jenga" was coined by British board game designer Leslie Scott three decades ago. According to the author, it was created in the image and likeness of the game, behind which the whole Scott couple spent evenings in the distant seventies. Only then, instead of oblong wooden blocks, elements were used children's constructor"Takoradi", brought from Ghana. Based on the same African fun, another game was created called Ta-Ka-Radi (Ta-Ka-Radi), very similar to Jenga. It appeared on the American market a few years earlier, but did not find such deafening popularity as Jenga.

The game has a rather exotic name. "Jenga" is a Swahili word meaning "to build". The author of the game, Leslie Scott, is of British origin, but she was born in Tanzania and spent her entire childhood in African countries. Therefore, Leslie decided to pay tribute to her second native language, christening her new offspring with such an unusual name for Europeans.

Kit contents

The original "Jenga" consists of 54 oblong wooden blocks. The surface of each bar is carefully sanded, but not varnished or painted. This increases friction between structural elements and prevents the tower from crumbling. The dimensions of the block of the classic version of the game are 1.5x2.5x7.5 cm.

With the growing popularity of Jenga, a lot of its “remakes” appeared on the market, the dimensions of the elements of which may differ from the progenitor, but the aspect ratio of the blocks is mostly preserved.

"Ta-Ka-Radi" vs. "Jenga"

The two games are very similar but have some significant differences. Only 51 blocks are used in Ta-Ka-Radi rectangular section. As a result, the original tower is one floor lower than in Jenga, but the height of the structure is greater. The most important difference is how to place the bars. In "Ta-Ka-Radi" blocks are installed on the short side of the section with significant gaps between the elements of the same row. At the same time, in "Jenga" the bars lie close to each other on the long side of the section.

If "Jenga" is supplied in paper packaging, then "Ta-Ka-Radi" is sold in a fabric bag made of natural cloth with a print. The manufacturer also offers a choice of several types of fabrics from which the bag can be made, all colors in the spirit of Africa.

Preparing for the game

Before the start of the round, it is necessary to level the original tower. You can level it using the box from the game itself. Some Jenga kits come with a special plastic corner, which acts as a kind of level. Initially, our building has 18 "floors" of 3 blocks each. The bars are laid on the long side. All elements must fit snugly together. In this case, the bars of each subsequent row are perpendicular to the blocks of the previous one.

Rules and gameplay

Jenga is designed for two or more players. The principles of the game are very simple: each participant pulls out one block from an already standing structure and lays it perpendicular to the previous row. At the same time, the “penthouse” tier preceding the unfinished one remains inviolable. Also, you can not start stacking blocks in new level, leaving the top "floor" unfinished.

You can pull the block out of the tower with only one hand. Beforehand, it is allowed to touch the elements and tap the ends of the bars, checking which of them is the most pliable. If at the same time something has moved, then the player must return all the affected blocks to their original position before the end of their turn.

All participants take turns doing their moves. The turn ends when the next player touches the tower or ten seconds after placing the pulled block.

The nature of the game

The game trains fine motor skills and analytical skills. At the same time, it does not require the participants to develop a strategy and mental stress, so the gameplay is a relaxed fun pastime.

Varieties of the game

On the modern market Board games are represented by a great many varieties of "Jengi": from small portable versions with tiny bars to huge copies that perform more of an advertising role than serving their intended purpose. Such a "tower boom" among the manufacturers of "board games" was undoubtedly due to the popularity that the game found among fans of such fun. According to the creator of the classic version of Jenga herself, about 50 million copies have been sold worldwide. original game.

"Jenga: Drop and Go" (Throw "n Go Jenga)- a game resulting from the merger of the good old "Jenga" and gaming dice. The elements of the classic set are painted in three different colors. The bones are marked with colors and words that say exactly where the block should be pulled out from (middle, top, bottom of the tower), as well as exactly how many blocks you need to pull out in one move. For example, after the first roll, you get the words "any two" on the top of the die. This means that you will have to "fight" with two bars, and not with one.

Throw the bone again, and the crimson face with the word “beginning” turns out to be the top, which means that the first element is crimson, and it is located at the base of the structure. Then you throw a bone and get the word "middle" on a black background - you pull out a black bar from the middle of the tower.

"Jenga: Truth or Dare" (Jenga Truth or Dare). The set consists of the usual number of blocks, two-thirds of which are colored orange and purple colors(colors may vary in different editions of the game). Orange bars are desires, purple bars are questions. In this case, one third of the elements of the game remains unpainted. It is on these pristine bars that players are invited to write own desires or questions. Then the game gets individual characteristics and becomes one of a kind. In general, this variation is quite fun and aims to get the participants talking, and the gameplay is generously filled with fiction and eccentricity. Due to its nature, it is designed for players over 12 years old. Nevertheless, many rightly point out that this variety of "Jengi" is not suitable for children. The desires and questions proposed by the creators cannot be called crystal innocent. On the one hand, you may only need to sing a song or characterize one of the participants and the game (why not?). There are also more amusing statements, such as "sensual dance with a mop" and other similar inventions. Questions - from the category of tricky with a touch of the now popular "American humor".

More suitable for children Jenga Girl Talk Edition- a much more harmless edition of the game. The blocks are painted in pink and crimson colors, and in the same way as in previous version filled with questions. This could once be seen in children's questionnaires, which were then filled in by friends and classmates. Here you will find the traditional questions: “What is your most cherished desire?” or the more modern "Name your favorite website."

"Jenga: Extreme" (Jenga Extreme). The elements of the game are not a rectangular parallelepiped, but a parallelogram. This adds a certain extreme to the gameplay and makes it possible to build tilted towers of completely bizarre shapes.

"Jenga: Las Vegas Casino" (Las Vegas Casino Jenga)- a completely unexpected combination of two completely different fun: "Jengi" and roulette! During the formation of the tower, players make bets. The set consists of 54 numbered red and black blocks, a betting board and 75 chips. Recommended for players aged 18 and over.

Jenga XXL- an enlarged version of the classic Jenga (although there are also much larger copies of the game). The size of each bar is about 45x22.5x7.5 cm. The kit comes with 50 elements (48 directly for the game and 2 "in reserve"). All blocks are made not of polished wood, but of painted plywood, so that during the fall the structure will not knock the players to death. The original tower has a height of 120 cm and can theoretically grow up to three and a half meters during the game! This version of "Jenga" is especially good for playing on fresh air, with a bang it goes as a fun accompaniment to the barbecue.

We briefly talked about only some varieties of this simple board game. There are also special editions. special attention deserves "Jenga: The Nightmare Before Christmas" (Jenga Nigthmare before Christmas)- a game designed in the spirit of a popular cartoon that appeared on the screens more than twenty years ago. The blocks are colored black, purple and orange colors. Each of them has images of ghosts, funny, sad, cunning Jack Skelington mines and, of course, the name of the cartoon with its signature “Halloween” font.

In addition, there are many board games created based on Jenga. In some, the rules of the original game are preserved, but the elements themselves are significantly modified. In particular, the snow-white set looks very interesting. Jenga Stack The Bones with blocks in the form of bones and a skull crowning the tower. Such a set can become not only a favorite game, but also original decoration interior, which will also serve as a wonderful gift for lovers of various outlandish things. There are also similar sets on a more peaceful theme: with cats, bunnies, carrots, and so on.

As you can see, the good old "Jenga" does not stand still, but develops in accordance with the desires of modern users. The market is full of various options our favorite board game for a long time, among which you are sure to find the best "Tower" for yourself.

Oh no! I dropped the tower again!

Do you have strong nerves? Not? Pass by. Are your hands shaking? Also past, next! But if you have firm hand and nerves of steel, this seemingly simple game is for you.

Jenga, also known as Town(Russia), leaning tower of pisa (Europe), Earthquake(Brazil), Brick house (Denmark stood out among the rest of Europe with its original name).

rules are simple, you can say they are almost non-existent.

First, a flat beautiful tower of 18 floors is being built. During the game, it can increase more than twice. Do you have high enough ceilings? Each floor consists of three blocks laid close 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

According to traditional rules, you can only touch the tower with one hand at a time.

The game continues until the tower falls. It seems that in the first games it will happen quite quickly.

Now everything is also simple - the one who dropped the tower - lost, the one who made the previous move - won.

That's it, we're building the tower again to destroy it beautifully again!

Do you think there is little dynamics in the game? play others, non-classical variants of Jenga:

- jenga with cubes: you will need more dice, and the blocks will need to be numbered. Before each block, we roll a die and pull out only the block with the corresponding number.

- jenga fantas: on the blocks we write already various tasks, corresponding to your company and party, from "sing a song" and "tell a rhyme", to romantic evenings - "kiss on the lips" (here you can safely turn to Captain Obviousness and Fanta-flirting for ideas. Shkolota, shoo from the post!). You are limited only by your imagination.

- colorful jenga: paint the blocks in different colors and play the same way with cubes or any other rules of pulling out blocks that you have invented

Jenga can always be by your side, and you won't need all those 54 beautiful wooden blocks, the game is available for mobile phones- java game, game for iPhone. Only now for android I have not found it yet, I will be grateful for help in the search.

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 is called "Jenga" and has many varieties. The popularity of this board game around the world is due not only to simple rules games, but many other benefits.

But more on that below.

My review of Jenga board game

What is "Jenga"?

Jenga is a board game of skill and ingenuity. Standard kit consists of 54 wooden blocks, not varnished and not painted in any colors. Also included with each playset is a sleeve for building a tower and a booklet describing the rules of the game and a variety of ways to complicate or simplify the gameplay. We had the 45 piece version, but it was just as fun to play!

Rules of the game "Jenga"

At the beginning of the game, the participants build a tower from all the bars of the set. This can be done independently or with the help of a special sleeve, which allows you to make the structure as even and stable as possible. There are three bars on one level of the tower, and the details of the next floor should lie perpendicular to the previous ones (crosswise)

After the tower is ready, the players take turns taking out the bars from any part of it and moving them up. The main requirement is that when the part is removed and installed to the very top, the building does not collapse. Also, in most variants of Jenga, it is mandatory to remove the bars with one hand, no matter if 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. Winnings are calculated based on the number of good moves each player: whoever has the most safely 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 is easy to play it, but as soon as you sit down at the table, your opinion changes dramatically.

Firstly, it is not so easy to choose the right block that will not damage the tower, especially after other participants have already made more than one move.

Secondly, it is very difficult to carefully pull the part out of the building - one wrong move, and the tower collapsed down.

Playing with wooden blocks develops such qualities and skills as:

fine motor skills (which is why it is useful to play Jenga with preschool children);
dexterity. You train this quality, trying to pull the bar out of the structure as carefully as possible;
attentiveness;
spatial thinking;
ingenuity and logic. These skills are needed in order 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 game. And even after the tower collapsed because of some player, you want to immediately build it again and resume the game;
versatility for all ages. This game will be interesting for both children, starting from five or 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 crumple and do not wear out, and therefore one set of the game can serve the family for many years;
compact package sizes. Thanks to this, "Jenga" can be taken with you on trips or on a visit.

True, you can’t play it on the road, because for stability wooden tower a fixed surface is required, 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 the price and completeness for your family.

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 but ingenious game. But everything changed, thanks to a woman from Britain named Lesley Scott.

As a board game designer during those years, Leslie decided to take a break from the complex role-playing and turn-based board games that were so popular in America and Britain for a while. 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 buildings out of them. Leslie remembered how much she enjoyed this activity, and decided that this process could be varied by extracting parts from the structure.

Initially, it was cubes that were considered as parts for Jenga. But for variety and greater variability of the gameplay, it was decided to use rectangular blocks. Having released her creation on 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 wishing to acquire 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 already developing fine motor skills for such an exciting action as building a tower.

How to diversify the gameplay in Jenga

Despite all its fascination, over time, the standard version of the Jenga game can become a little boring for a friendly company. In this case, you can diversify your pastime by slightly changing or supplementing the rules. For example:

Playing "Jenga" with phantoms. 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 phantom, and during his turn he completes the task.
Game to the last bar. Here, players will not put the bars taken out of the tower on the upper level of the structure, but will simply pull the parts out of it and stack them next to them. Whoever managed to take out the most bars before the building collapsed completely, he won;
"Jenga" with numbers. The side faces of the bars can be marked with numbers from the first to the tenth or from the first to the twelfth. Now it is enough to take the dice and throw them before your turn. What number fell out, under this number we remove the part from the tower. There are no available bars with the desired number? It's sad, but you have to skip the move.
You can also discuss with the company. additional options complications, for example, every move to alternate the right and left hand for extracting bars, and other things that your imagination tells you.

As for the quality of this game, there are no complaints about the manufacturer. The bars are dense, smooth, it is pleasant to hold them in hands. Plus, they are very well polished, which means there is no risk of getting a splinter in the finger while playing.

Jenga is a fun, interesting and exciting game of dexterity, attentiveness and ingenuity. It will allow you to spend time pleasantly and profitably with your family, with colleagues or with a group of friends who appreciate such entertainment.

Buy board game Jenga is available at the button below in an excellent store without cheating and overpayments. On the box, you can engrave, write any name, for example, if the game is purchased as a gift.

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