1. Mike Paterson Yuval Peres, Mikkel Thorup, Peter Winkler
Stacking bricks
CSOFASH, February 14, 2008
Uri Zwick
with the help of
Mike Paterson Yuval Peres, Mikkel Thorup, Peter Winkler

3. JENGA is a very popular game!
Note: Picture is more than six years old!

4. JENGA – The rules of the game
The game starts with an alternating n-story tower of wooden blocks, three at each level.
In the real-life game, n=18.

5. JENGA – The rules of the game
Each player, in her turn, removes a block from anywhere below the highest completed level and stacks it on top.
The player that topples the tower loses.

6. Who wins?
How?

7. Everything else is stable!
Instability …
Everything else is stable!

8. Stability of Jenga towers
Top most level, or the level just below it, is always full.
The tower is stable, unless it contains the forbidden level:
The orders of the levels is irelevant !

9. Every three turns a new pile of two matches is added
Jenga  Nim
Every three turns a new pile of two matches is added

10. Some interesting JENGA5 positions
*15
*17

11. Which towers are stable?