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Research >> HappyGiftsForKids >> Jenga for kids >> When was Jenga invented, created, made or first released?
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When was Jenga invented, created, made or first released?

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Jenga had a colorful timeline on how it reached its place now in the toy industry around the world.

What's Jenga?

Jenga is one of the most classic popular games out there. The classic block-stacking, the stack-crashing iconic game lets you see how you'll fare against the law of gravity, as you need slowly take away pieces from the durable Jenga wooden tower using only one hand.

Leslie Scott along with her family in the ’70s started playing a wooden block game from the woods she got from a local sawmill. She got the idea from her brother’s wooden blocks laying at home. It was their family bonding time in Ghana and she was barely 18! It was a hit for her family. This marks the invention of this game.

She created more sets and brought along a couple of sets when she went to Oxford in her 20’s. It became an instant obsession with her friends and whenever she got invited to parties, she always had a set f her wooden blocks with her.

This made her realized that no game like what she invented is in the market. It was her go signal to create more and out it out on the market.

Her next step was she joined in the London toy fair in 1983. She named it Jenga which is Swahili for “build.

It’s there that she met someone from Harrod’s who made a deal that he’ll buy from her if she would demonstrate it at their store. So, the first public outing of Jenga is in 1983. She sold it under her company the Leslie Scott Associates. The blocks of the first sets of Jenga were manufactured for Scott by the Camphill Village Trust in Botton, Yorkshire.

As luck strikes, a man from Irwin toys who happened to came across her game through her brother asked her to be an agent to her game. The man brought Jenga to the 1986 Toronto to fair and it had a whopping 400,000 sets order.

It’s through Irwin toys who’s the distrubutor of Jenga in Canada that Hasbro got hold of Jenga to become the key to its worldwide success. Funny to looked back but neither of the two wants Jenga as the name but they both loved the game!

The sage continued for Jenga as it took off in Canada and the US. The next big thing for Jenga was in Great Britain and family in more than 90 countries in the world and more than 50 million Jenga’s sold!

Discover more about real-life facts about Jenga. Watch how to play Jenga in this YouTube video.

How do you play the Jenga game?

We have a full article on how to play Jenga.

How many pieces does Jenga have?

The number of pieces in the Jenga set is the same as the classic version and with all its other variations. Read it in the link below.

Jenga rules of the game

The rules to play Jenga in the classic and original game is an official one from the manufacturers. Other rules are applicable in its other versions. 

How to build a Jenga tower?

There is a proper and right way to stack and how to build a Jenga tower. Please click the link below for your reference.

Jenga is grateful to Trivial Pursuits

Jenga came out in the ’80s when the world is agog with computer games. Leslie Scoot remains grateful that Jenga was launched after Trivial Pursuit in 1983. Although they are different wherein Jenga requires fine motor skills, while Trivial Pursuit requires a memory warehouse of knowledge.

But both offered the traditional way of game as compared to computer games. Trivial Pursuit was a big hit and it paved the way for more traditional games and Jenga filled that bill.

Can you imagine in the electronic games invasions that both  Jenga and Trivial Pursuits were able able to pull it through against those giants at that time?

Trivial Pursuit proved there was still a market for analog games as it sold 15 million copies in 1984 alone and Jenga was able to hoard in its sales.

You can read more about other games to play with Jenga blocks:

  • Try playing Giant Jenga - life-size Jenga rules, how many pieces in life-size Jenga, highest Jenga tower record levels, Jenga's world record
  • Drunken tower Jenga game rules - Jenga drinking game block rules, best drinking Jenga rules, 

Best Jenga Tower

You can find one of the best Jenga tower on our article.

Best Jenga move

Watch the best Jenga move ever recorded at the link below. See for yourself the wonderful Jenga move!

World record Jenga stack

Read our detailed article on the Jenga record levels to date.

How to play number Jenga

This is another great way to play Jenga. There is a number Jenga available in the market today. It's one of the most popular variations of the classic Jenga game. Read more about it below.

After Thoughts

Jenga is a great game and its inventor believed in it. The success of Jenga could be attributed to its quality, relevance, how good a game it is, and Leslie Scott’s vision and perseverance.

As they say, if it’s meant to be it would be.

Jenga is meant to be the iconic game that it is for good!

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