Leave it to geeks to not be able to leave a perfectly fun, simple game well enough alone. The Donkey Kong Jenga: Collector’s Edition game is a challenging mutant hybrid of, you guessed it, Jenga and the premise of the video game Donkey Kong, in one. Sporting the original graphics of the original Donkey Kong video game, notice the black Jenga blocks disguised as neon pink “girders” (def.: large construction beams), the point of the 4-player game is to be the first of 4 Marios to get to the top and save Pauline. Though Mario must be careful not to knock down the tower and make her plunge to her death in the process. Game Over.
Each player must spin the spinner before each turn and do what it says. Hammers, springboards and ladders allow Mario to move upwards, but a barrel means he loses a turn and stays put. Mario game pieces are inserted into the girder holes, allowing our plumbing hero to scale the tower. For each turn, Mario must move to a different, adjacent side of the tower than the side he was on. But if an opponent Mario is occupying that particular girder he’s about to jump to, player Mario has to move one level above that opponent. Next step gets back to Jenga; one girder must be removed and placed on top of the tower, while Donkey Kong and Pauline are placed on the tippy top. Pretty confusing, huh? But you’ll get the hang of it. This game is designed for 6-year-olds and up, so it can’t be that hard.
There is a fun sabotage rule that lets you remove a girder occupied by an opponent Mario and bump him down one level, which grants you the opportunity to be a bully and talk smack amongst your friends and family.
Donkey Kong Jenga Features & specs:
- 1-4 players
- Ages 6 to adult
- 4 Mario pieces
- 54 Donkey Kong hard wood Jenga blocks (aka girders)
- One Donkey Kong and Pauline piece
- Donkey Kong Jenga spinner
- Plastic loading tray for quick tower assembly
- Product Dimensions: 3.1″ x 3.1″ x 11.4″
The Donkey Kong Jenga: Collector’s Edition game is available at Vat19 for $24.95 and at Think Geek for $19.99. It makes a unique gift, and also makes its lucky owner better than everyone else because it’s a collector’s edition!
Meanwhile, if you still yearn for the days of Donkey Kong and the original Super Mario Bros., maybe putting up some colorful Nintendo Wall Decals would bring you back to a time when things were easy.