Jenga’s 30th birthday!

Leslie Scott launched Jenga at the London Toy Fair on 29th January 1983 – so Jenga turned 30 last week!

BBC interview with Leslie Scott on Jenga’s 30th Birthday

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Jenga & The Great Highland Bagpipe Competition?

The connection between a game of Jenga and the bagpipes may not be apparent, so let me explain. Leslie Scott, the inventor of Jenga, proudly sponsors the Scott-Vollrath Piobaireachd Trophy that is awarded to the winner of the Piobarieachd portion of the The Pipe-Major Sandy Jone Invitational competition held in Charleston South Carolina each year. Along with the award, the winning piper receives a game of Jenga.

So now you know!

But why Leslie, who lives in England and does not play the bagpipes, should sponsor this event in Charleston is another question. The answer to which may be garned when I let you in on a secret. Leslie has a bagpipe playing brother living in Charleston who, way back in 1983, helped her  launch Jenga into the United States.

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Jenga App towering success

NaturalMotion Games has worked closely with Leslie Scott, the inventor of Jenga, to create the most authentic Jenga experience ever.

“I’m delighted by how the team at NaturalMotion Games has so skilfully captured the essence and universal appeal of Jenga,  while adding new and thrilling dimensions to my original game.” – Leslie Scott

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Wired Magazine

How to beat anyone at Jenga by Dan Smith

Dan Smith of Wired asks Leslie Scott, the creator of Jenga, for her top tips on how to win the game.

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Craig Brown is thankful for Jenga

Craig Brown, in his Mail Online article‘ 1000 things to avoid before you die’, says  ‘Thankfully Jenga has made Pick-a-Stick obsolete.‘

Many of our childhoods, he claims,  were marred by Pick-a-Stick because the game invariably ended in a quarrel between players insisting that a stick was or wasn’t moved.

‘Happily, the launch of the game Jenga in 1983 meant that there was no need for anyone to play Pick-a-Stick ever again.

Jenga is a marvellous game, consisting of a tower ­constructed from sturdy rectangular building-blocks. Each player in turn removes one block from below and places it on top; the game continues like this until the tower collapses.

The collapse, when it comes, is dramatic, and even rather beautiful, leaving no room for argument. Furthermore, though Jenga is competitive, the shared process of building a tower higher and higher tends to induce a clubbable, all-in-this-together atmosphere among ­players, so that tiffs and tantrums are avoided.‘


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Leslie Scott @ the 303 Gallery Somerset

Leslie Scott & Sara Finch will be at the

303 Gallery’s Christmas Party

on Sunday 7th November

‘ The party will be from 4pm ‘til 6pm and we are very happy to be featuring the participation of the founders of The Oxford Games Company, one of whom is none other than our very own Sara Finch of Bower Hinton Bears fame. They will be introducing the reissue of their celebrated “Ex Libris” & “Anagram” games, along with About Jenga, the book of the story of Jenga by Leslie Scott co-founder of Oxford Games and inventor of Jenga. She recounts “the remarkable business of creating a game that became a household name” with several useful lessons for makers & artists who dream of inspiring the world.’ The 303 Gallery

Yandle & Son Ltd Hurst Works Hurst Martock Somerset TA12 6JU

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Political Jenga? They’re all playing it!

A Taste of the Cuts to Come

‘The Chancellor’s speech at the Conservative conference in Birmingham on Monday was political Jenga.’ The Motley Fool

Dr Vince swings back to the 60s with his vision for BIS

‘…but for now at least he is a key block in the coalition’s game of political jenga.’ Left Foot Forward

The Looming Political Jenga moment

‘The United States and the State of California are facing looming political Jenga moments.’ Political Vanguard

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Indiana Jenga!

Iain Douglas-Hamilton, the founder of Save the Elephants, has just received the world’s leading award for animal conservation – the Indianapolis Prize.  It’s a hugely prestigious award,which is presented with justifiable fanfare at a glittering gala awards ceremony. As Chairman of Save the Elephants, my husband, Fritz Vollrath, was very keen to accept the invitation to attend the award ceremony – and I, as one of Iain’s (and his wife Oria’s) greatest fans, wanted to be there, too. So we whizzed off to the US on Thursday, and returned to the UK early this Monday morning. We were away for barely three days – but three days that were chock-full of new and never to be forgotten experiences. Many of which took place at the Indianapolis Zoo.

The Indianapolis Prize is a visible component of the internationally recognized conservation efforts being undertaken by the Indianapolis Zoo. As guests of the zoo, we were taken on an amazing, behind-the-scenes tour of its less public but vital conservation efforts, which, for example brought me face to face (literally) with a handsome doe eyed walrus , and standing shoulder to knee (my shoulder, her knee) with a beautiful, laconic African elephant. This was the first time I have seen, let alone touched (and been kissed by), a walrus in the flesh, and it was the first time I have been so up close and personal with an elephant; the magnificent, wonderful animals that I love to watch, from a respectful distance, when in Kenya.

To round off an enchanting day at the zoo, I was surprised (pleasantly, I hasten to add) to come across the zoo’s custom made version of Jenga pulling in the crowds.Devised to illustrate to small children the interconnectivity of life in an Amazonian rainforest, each block represented an animal or plant. If a block was removed – the kapok tree for example – any creature supported by that tree found itself either without a foot hold, or hanging on with great difficulty.

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Anagram: the ingenious games of juggling words

Anagram, first published by Oxford Games Ltd in 1991 is back on the market again after a hiatus of a year or so.

Based on the Victorian game of Word Making, Word Taking, Anagram is a superb word game. The word game enthusiast’s word game – without a doubt. Fast and furious, it’s been likened to Scrabble on speed. Not for the timid or fainthearted wordsmith!

anagram-white

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Staffing rotas are like Jenga.

Take out a block, and it can all collapse.

According to Sam Lister in last week’s Sunday Times, compiling a hospital department’s staffing rota is now like a game of Jenga. It involves piling up hundreds of ‘shift’ blocks in careful positions to ensure the junior doctors’ working weeks are compliant with the European Union.

This was just one of several examples I came across this week of Jenga being used as a metaphor (or more accurately, as a simile). Others included one in which Charles Kennedy’s tie is accused of looking like it had been ‘the victim of a terrible Jenga accident’ (Guardian 8th Sept).

Spot the new Jenga metaphor has become a game in itself.

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