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Jenga is a super fun game to play. With that being said, it’s not the hardest game in the world. Sure, it requires a bit of manual dexterity and common sense. However, other than that, it’s a fairly simple game.
Today, we want to go over some cool ways to make Jenga harder. If the game in its basic form is too easy for you, the following ways to make it harder might make things a little more interesting.
1. Double Up
OK, so this method is going to require a bit of an investment, although it can be quite fun. By double up, what we mean here is to use a second Jenga set to create a much larger tower. A regular game of Jenga has 54 blocks. This results in a tower that is 18 levels high.
Sure, that might already be hard enough for some, but you can make it much more difficult by adding 18 more levels to the mix for a tower consisting of a full 108 blocks.
The higher the tower is, the less stable it will be. Right off the bat, this might just be the number one way to make it as hard as humanly possible.
2. Stack the Blocks Sideways
Another thing that you can do to make the game of Jenga harder is to stack those blocks sideways. Instead of stacking the blocks on their wide side, stack them on their narrow side.
No, here we are not talking about stacking the blocks vertically, but just laying them on their narrower side.
The result here will be a much taller tower that is also much narrower. The overall result is a much less stable tower that will fall down much more easily. This might just be one of the best ways to make this game more difficult without having to invest in a second set of Jenga blocks.
3. Time Your Rounds
Some people take a very long time when playing Jenga. Of course, it does require a bit of thought and common sense to choose the right block to pull out at any given time. With that being said, the more time you have to think about it, the easier it is. Therefore, one good way to make this game much harder is to keep everyone on a time limit.
Of course, exactly how long you set the time limit is up to you, but that said, the shorter the time limit is, the harder it will be.
For instance, if you want to make the game of Jenga very difficult, give everyone a 5 second time limit. Giving people a time limit will create a lot of pressure, and you better believe that pressure makes everything much harder.
4. Eyes Closed!
Yet another way to make the game of Jenga much more difficult is to remove sight from the equation. For the record, it is not uncommon for people without vision to play Jenga. Of course, people who are actually blind are going to have much better touch and overall heightened senses compared to someone who can usually see.
However, this is exactly what is going to make the game of Jenga so much harder with your eyes closed. You aren’t used to working with your eyes closed, which means that you have to rely solely on your sense of touch. When it comes down to it, this might just be the number one way to make this game as hard as humanly possible.
5. Make the Blocks Slippery
To pull out those blocks from underneath the other blocks, the blocks need to be a little bit rough. In other words, the game is relatively easy because you can easily grip those blocks with your fingers. However, what happens when those blocks become much more slippery?
Yeah, Jenga will be much harder if your fingers slip off those blocks. One thing that you can do is to use some fine-grit sandpaper to sand the blocks down. This will make them extremely smooth and hard to grip. If you want to take things one step further, you could even try staining the blocks with your stain of choice. Alternatively, you can paint your Jenga blocks. This will result in a very smooth texture that is hard to take hold of.
If that still sounds easy to you, then you can always try adding some lubrication to the mix. Covering your Jenga blocks in some kind of lubrication isn’t the best option to go with. However, that said, a bit of Vaseline smeared onto those Jenga blocks will definitely make them more than slippery enough to increase the difficulty level drastically.
For more information, read my detailed guide on how to make Jenga blocks slippery.
6. Use Dice to Play
The other way to make the game of Jenga much harder is to use dice when playing. Here, you can roll the dice, and then you have to pull out as many blocks as indicated by the dice.
If the tower is already close to crumbling, and you have to pull out two, three, four, or more blocks at once, it definitely increases the difficulty level a whole lot.
Summary
There you have it folks, six ways to make Jenga much harder.
Of course, we recommend first starting out with a basic game period then, if you find it too easy, use any one of the above tips to make it more difficult.