Why Jenga’s Name Fits the Game
The name points to the game’s central tension: players keep building the tower even as each move makes it less secure. In Swahili, kujenga means “to build”; jenga is the form used for the game’s name. The British creator, Leslie Scott, chose the word, drawing on her connection to East Africa and the language.
A Name That Describes Every Turn
A Jenga turn is a small act of construction and demolition at once. A player removes a wooden block from the tower and places it on top. That adds height, but it also takes support from the structure below. The next player inherits a tower that has been rebuilt—and made more precarious.
So “build” is more than a label for stacking blocks. It captures the game’s recurring reversal: every attempt to build the tower higher begins by taking it apart.
