How to Play Jenga with Dice

If you enjoy some relatively simple strategy games that involve a lot of hand-eye coordination and a heck of a lot of fun, then Jenga is a game that you definitely want to check out. The fact of the matter is that when it comes to games that are fun and appropriate for the whole family, it is hands down one of the best ones out there.

It’s fast-paced, it’s very simple, it’s fun, and people of all ages can play.

Now there is the of course the regular version of Jenga where each player simply takes turns removing a block and then stacks it on top of the tower. However, there are also some versions of the game that can be played with dice, and yes, this can definitely make things more interesting.

Let’s figure out how to play Jenga with dice right now. You might also want to check other ways to make Jenga harder.

Should You Play Jenga with Dice?

To figure out whether or not you should add some dice to the game of Jenga, it is probably beneficial for you to know how the original game itself is played without dice.

Basic Jenga Gameplay

Just so you know what you were getting into, let’s quickly cover the basic rules of Jenga when there are no dice involved:

1. Stack the blocks on top of each other in a perpendicular manner, with each layer having three blocks.
2. Choose who goes first. You can flip a coin, play rock, paper, scissors, or whatever else.
3. The first player then removes a block from the tower and stacks it on top perpendicular to the layer below (the top layer that the new blocks are being stacked on). Keep in mind that blocks cannot be removed from the top layer, or from the second-top layer if the very top layer is not complete.
4. The player who causes a block to fall (other than the designed block being moved) or the whole tower to fall, is the loser.

Should You Add Dice?

Whether or not you want to add some dice to the mix is totally up to you. Now, Jenga is not a big strategy game of course. The extent of strategic thought here is being able to judge which blocks can be removed without toppling the tower.

In fact, for some people, although the game is not really strategic or thinking-heavy, it can be hard to play, particularly if you do not have steady hands. That said, this is a game that tends to get easier with practice because you can really learn what the best places to remove blocks are without toppling the tower. Moreover, as your fine motor skills increase, your hands should get steadier, and for some people, this could make the regular version of Jenga too easy.

Therefore, if you want a bigger challenge, or you just want to add some more rules and facets to the game to make it a bit faster-paced and a bit more interesting, then adding some dice to the mix is definitely an option.

How to Play Jenga with One Die

Alright, so now that we know how to play the regular version of Jenga, and that the game can be a lot more exciting when played with dice, let’s figure out how to play Jenga with a single die. It’s definitely worth a try!

The only thing that you really need to know about playing Jenga with a single die is that every player rolls the die and the number rolled on the die is how many blocks that player needs to remove from the tower. Therefore, if you roll three, you have to remove three blocks. This does of course add quite the challenge to the original game.

How to Play Jenga with Two Dice

The cool thing about Jenga is that you can play with one die and two dice, as well as four dice, as you will see later on. Let’s get to it and quickly talk about how to play Jenga with two dice:

1. Keep in mind that Jenga comes with a total of 54 blocks. Before you start playing with two dice, what you need to do is to label each of the 54 blocks from numbers one through 36, using an erasable marker (nothing permanent). Once you get to 36, you can then start again from 1 to fill in the rest of the blocks.
2. The reason why you are labeling the blocks from number 1 through 36 is that here you will be using two dice. A player rolls the dice and then multiplies the two numbers by each other. Seeing as the numbers on dice top out at six, if you have two dice, through multiplication, the highest number you can get is 36.
3. So, if you roll a two and a three, you would multiply those together to get six. This, therefore, means that you then have to remove the block that corresponds to that number. If there is more than one block with that same number, you may choose a specific one.

How to Play Jenga with Four Dice

Lastly, yes, Jenga can also be played with four dice, so let’s talk about how to do this right now:

1. What you need to do here is to label each of the 54 blocks with numbers one through 24. Since there are 54 blocks, you will be able to repeat the sequence more than twice. Remember to not use a permanent marker, or else you’ll never be able to remove the numbers.
2. The reason why you are numbering the blocks with numbers 1 through 24 is that when playing Jenga with four dice, when you roll the dice, you add all four of those numbers together. Seeing as the highest number on a die is six, if you have four dice, the highest number you can get through addition is 24 (6+6+6+6).
3. Once you have rolled the four dice and have added the numbers together, you must then remove the block from the power with that corresponding number. If there is more than one block with that same number, you may choose a specific one.

Summary

There you have it folks, everything you need to know about playing Jenga, playing it with dice, and what the differences between all of these variations are. Sure, the original version of Jenga is a whole lot of fun, but if you add some dice to the mix, whether one, two, or four, it can add an extra challenge to the game that can make it much more entertaining for everyone involved.