Donkey Kong Jenga Game for Kids and Collectors Alike

If Donkey Kong and Jenga had a kid -- I wouldn't want to see the offspring!

Okay, okay! The "marriage" of Jenga and Donkey Kong has already occurred -- to the extent that the Donkey Kong Jenga Game exists. It is something you can purchase online -- or at the better toy stores. Would you want to? Well, did you like the originals?

Much to my chagrin, I am old enough to remember the 80s -- in all their vivid, day-glow glory (I use "glory" loosely here -- loosely, indeed!). And I do recall what hits were both Donkey Kong, and Jenga (despite coming from "different worlds" -- one being a video game, the other being wooden blocks).

I find the Donkey Kong Jenga game an appealing "collectible" that is made to be played.

How have Donkey Kong and Jenga been Brought Together?

One might think a "merger" of the great giant Donkey Kong and the demanding Jenga could not happen. But it has -- most certainly.

Somewhere in the confines of Nintendo or Hasbro (parent company of Parker Brothers -- Jenga's nameplate), someone realized the relative genius of combining Jenga and Donkey Kong into one. Let us henceforth, call that person "Master of All Game Inventors". (Okay! That is a little too "on the nose", but I do think the person or persons who came up with this "collaboration" was having a banner day the day s/he came up with Donkey Kong Jenga.)

And so, the Donkey Kong Jenga game found its way into reality. The game combines Mario's climbing quest to save his gal Pauline from DK's clutches with the "climbing tower" effect of playing Jenga. Perhaps, this marriage is genius, indeed!

What Is Included in a Donkey Kong Jenga Set?

When you buy the Donkey Kong Jenga Game by Parker Brothers, you get:

A complete Jenga set (54 blocks -- the same as "regular" Jenga, painted to look like Donkey Kong girders),
Four Mario pieces in different colors,
One Donkey Kong & Pauline piece,
A spinner (for movement determination),
A plastic tray for assembling the Jenga tower,
And the all important instruction manual.

Donkey Kong Jenga Game -- Collect It or Play It?

I think the real issue here is whether this game is for today's kids, or nostalgic adults.

As an adult who came of age in the 80s, I must admit a bias toward wanting to own and play this version of Jenga.

Will kids of today be into it?

Well, it is not as if Donkey Kong and Mario have been cast into the dustbin of bygone video games. No, these are still marketable video game characters.

If a child likes real world games -- those games aside from video games -- I think s/he would go for this.

Of course, anyone putting on a "Throwback to the 80s" party would do well to consider this element as part of the shindig.

Buy Donkey Kong Jenga, add to it some parachute pants and a Bananarama record, and you have got yourself an 80s throwdown!