This New Way of Playing Jenga is Amazing

JonB

Don't Take Crap from Life
Sep 16, 2012
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This New Way of Playing Jenga is Amazing

[youtube=YN_F9bNuF0I

[B]Want to make Jenga fun again? Make time matter.[/B]

One of the problems with the classic game Jenga is that it takes, sometimes, an hour to play. It's supposed to be a tense game of struggling over which tile to pull at what time, but often devolves into carefully testing each block, each turn, one by one, until you find the one not integral to the tower's structure. These brilliant guys have a solution: Add a clock. Not just any clock, though, a Chess Clock. A Chess Clock is where each player has their own time limit - say, a minute - and when they hit their button on completing their turn an opponent's clock starts counting down. If you topple the tower, you lose. If your clock runs out, you lose. With that simple element of time pressure added, Jenga becomes a fast and furious game of physical and mental dexterity. Where before players merely had to focus on the game as their turn came up, slowly obliterating tension through the boredom of waiting, now players must move as fast as is humanly possible.

Check the video out to see it in action.

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Lvl 64 Klutz

Crowsplosion!
Apr 8, 2008
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Simple solutions are the best solutions. I'm sure it hasn't *actually* taken this long for somebody to think of this, but I'm still surprised I'd never heard of this idea before now.
 

Agayek

Ravenous Gormandizer
Oct 23, 2008
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That's kind of amazing. It looks like so much more fun than normal. Next time I play Jenga, it's definitely gonna be by these rules.
 
Sep 14, 2009
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speed run any% category.

(some will understand the joke with the recent threads about that)

OT: This is a simple and interesting way to make a game have alot more replayability, thanks for sharing
 

Avaholic03

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May 11, 2009
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I thought the best modification was giant Jenga, played with 2x4 blocks, at the local gaming bar. Mixing alcohol with enough wood to actually cause physical pain is always a recipe for fun.
 

Clowndoe

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Aug 6, 2012
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Huh, that's actually the only way I've ever played Jenga. I figured everyone did it that way.
 

JonB

Don't Take Crap from Life
Sep 16, 2012
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Avaholic03 said:
I thought the best modification was giant Jenga, played with 2x4 blocks, at the local gaming bar. Mixing alcohol with enough wood to actually cause physical pain is always a recipe for fun.
Must. Resist. Crude. Joke.
Lvl 64 Klutz said:
Simple solutions are the best solutions. I'm sure it hasn't *actually* taken this long for somebody to think of this, but I'm still surprised I'd never heard of this idea before now.
I feel similarly! Surely someone has done it, but it should spread far and wide.
 

FalloutJack

Bah weep grah nah neep ninny bom
Nov 20, 2008
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The new way to play Jenga is Dread. Time limits suck. Time limits always suck.
 

baconsarnie

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Jan 8, 2011
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Why not play two at a time jenga?
Where you have to whip out two blocks simultaneously.
That way you don't waste time with the pansy 'take the middle block' move, the game lasts 2 minutes tops and it becomes more about who disturbs the blocks the least rather than who can find the loosest block.
 

lacktheknack

Je suis joined jewels.
Jan 19, 2009
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I'm more a fan of <link=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVAT_yCB3Dc&t=68>"Jenga Boom", which knocks the tower down at a completely random time, same rules apply.

Same effect, moar boom and panic. :D
 

Vegosiux

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May 18, 2011
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I'm not a fan of adding time limits to "jazz up" a game, really. Maybe it's just my inherent dislike of deadlines.
 

Shamanic Rhythm

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Dec 6, 2009
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My experience with chess clocks is that people generally slam them so hard that they knock over half the pieces on the board in the process, so adding one to a game of Jenga will be like adding a paperweight to the 'drop' button in a game of Tetris.
 

Geisterkarle

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Dec 27, 2010
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I personally prefer the "old" way. Yes, it takes time, but you will get more impressive "results" if you are good!
I remember a LAN party, that did a Jenga tournament for fun. And damn the finalist where good! Have to search for the video... Never seen Jenga towers that big!
 

wulfy42

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Jan 29, 2009
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We use a timer for EVERY game we ever play cause otherwise a few family members will take forever which ruins pretty much every game. It's standard for us across all gaming platforms that involve taking turns pretty much.

That has included Jenga from the first time we ever played it...and it surprisingly doesn't really make a huge difference in how the game is played (or at least it doesn't appear like it ever would have due us almost never losing due to runing out of time).

For the most part, you are looking for a loose piece that is easy to pull out, the biggest difference would not be till the very end where there are no loose pieces left....and the games usually end around then anyway. So basically the start and middle of the game are the same, just the very end might be a bit shorter due to having a timer....and it makes the whole game more fun (since you never have to wait more then a minute between turns).

Scrabble, card games, tile games, you name it...use a timer. It's just more fun that way.
 

Kahani

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May 25, 2011
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JonB said:
One of the problems with the classic game Jenga is that it takes, sometimes, an hour to play.
No, it really doesn't. Not unless you're playing it horribly, horribly wrong.
 

JonB

Don't Take Crap from Life
Sep 16, 2012
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Kahani said:
JonB said:
One of the problems with the classic game Jenga is that it takes, sometimes, an hour to play.
No, it really doesn't. Not unless you're playing it horribly, horribly wrong.
Between people screwing around, children getting distracted, and "oh we were talking oops whose turn is it?" I says that it do.