How many pieces in a Jenga game?

When you first see Jenga, the first question that usually comes to mind is: “Is it a game or a puzzle?” Indeed, seeing a set of identical wooden parallelepipeds, one can’t immediately guess that this is a game with all that follows: a large number of participants and a competitive effect. But, nevertheless, this is exactly so!

Jenga components

Board game Jenga in many respects is not similar to other games. There are no usual maps, fields, chips or tokens. From the first view, it’s just a set with a great number of strange wooden blocks. The first question that occurs is “how many pieces in a Jenga game?” because it seems like there are really a lot of them. The set of this game is similar for all its varieties and includes a special sleeve to form a tower and 54 polished wooden blocks. All components of this board game are wooden, smooth and lightweight. Despite that Jenga has a large number of pieces, each of them is made of the natural wood, has a rectangular shape, and is pleasant to touch. As a rule, the decoration is high-quality and all bars are strong so that Jenga will endure many cheerful parties.

The tower on the table

Before the game starts, you need to build a neat, tidy 18-story tower from the small blocks. For many fans, the game begins already at the preparatory stage because the construction of the tower by hand is a responsible task and will require a good eye and a solid hand from the player. Bricks should be laid out three in a row, densely adjusting to each other wide side down. On the next floor, they should be placed perpendicularly to the direction of the previous row. Preparation for the game can be greatly speeded up by using a special sleeve to form a tower. However, if you want to train a bit before the game starts, creation a tower by hand is a great chance to feel the weight of the blocks, touch their shape, and try to pull them out.

The rules of the Jenga are very simple: you just need to take out the bars from the lower floors and build the upper one out of them. While the previous floor is not completely built, the next one does not start. Bars can be lightly taped, pulled or pushed but it is completely prohibited to use both hands at the same time. One hand, one brain, one player.

Holding his breath, the player tries to stop the trembling in his hands and do not ruin the entire construction, while his opponents, on the contrary, sincerely wish these hands to twitch. And so block after block until the tower will be ruined under its own weight. During the game, the center of gravity of the “building” can change and you need to use all your agility and attentiveness in order not to become the culprit of collapse.

Jenga varieties

If you wonder about the Jenga varieties and their rules, the answer is very simple – they are similar. For example, if you want to know how many pieces in giant Jenga or what is the difference in its rules, you will be surprised because it will be the same rules and the same 54 wooden bars but with the larger size.

In the modern market of board games, there are a lot of Jenga varieties starting from small portable versions with tiny bars to huge copies with the human size. Such a “tower boom” among the manufacturers of board games, undoubtedly, has occurred due to the popularity that this game got among fans all over the world. According to the statements of the classical version of Jenga creator, about 50 million copies of the original game were sold in the world. And of course, this number rises with every minute. Let’s consider several varieties of this legendary game:

• • Throw ‘n Go Jenga. This game has resulted from the merger of its traditional version and dices. Classic blocks are painted in three different colors. The bricks of dices are also painted in different colors and have different words that say exactly where the bar (middle, top, a bottom of the tower) should be pulled out and how many blocks it is necessary to pull out in one turn.

• Jenga Extreme. Elements of this game have a shape of a parallelogram instead of a rectangular parallelepiped. This adds a certain extreme to the gameplay and makes it possible to build an inclined tower of completely bizarre shapes.
• Jenga Stack the Bones. This is a very interesting set with blocks in the form of bones and a skull crowning the tower. Such variety can become not only a favorite game but also an original decoration of the interior which will serve as a wonderful gift for fans of various strange things. There are also similar but more peaceful kits with cats, bunnies, carrots and so on.
• Jenga Nightmare before Christmas. This version of the game is designed in the spirit of a popular cartoon that appeared on screens more than twenty years ago. Blocks are painted in black, purple and orange colors. On each of them, there are images of ghosts, funny, sad, clever mines of Jack Skelington and, of course, the name of the cartoon with its unique “Halloween” font.

As you can see, the old Jenga does not stand still but develops in accordance with the wishes of modern users. The market is full of varieties of this board game, among which you will surely find the best “tower” for yourself.