Plain and simple, there is no reason this game should exist. Jenga should be left to living room antics with the family, not subjected to a terrible console interpretation that only frustrates anyone that tries to move a single virtual block.

By now, everyone knows the concept of Jenga, you remove a block from the stack and place it on top, and then your opponent repeats this motion until the previously organized pile is transformed into an impossibly complex series of jagged edges and peril. With this game, you’ll never get that chance. The first block you pull out will distort the tower irreparably, and then if you try to actually place the block on the top of the tower you will most likely be greeted by the wonderful sound of loss as the tower topples to the ground. In fact, it is almost impossible to perform the one game mechanic that this is based on. If in a Jenga game it is impossible to maneuver the blocks, then why should you play?

There is no answer for that question, because there is literally no reason. The whole game is just broken, and doesn’t give any reason to spend $30 on this when you could pick up the real thing for only $10.

You have a few options in this game, as you can simply jump in and play or you can engage in World Tour mode, where you travel to new and exotic living rooms around the world to prove you can truly Jenga with the best of them. World tour mode is full of strange power-ups like ice-blocks or vines, all which add some strange gameplay mechanic which you won’t care to understand. The vines will lock up certain blocks, making them impossible to move, which is fine since you can’t maneuver any of the blocks in the first place. The game simply won’t respond to the Wiimote actions no matter how frantically you wave it at the screen. It has no sense of where you are pushing the controller, and will sometimes become trapped behind the various scenery objects placed in the level. If you actually do manage to get the block in position on top of the stack, odds are that you will knock it over anyway in your attempts at placing it there. It becomes rather frustrating because the game will only tell you the right position within a few millimeters of the right place. It is nearly impossible to get the block on top without pushing too hard on the pile, sending it toppling to the floor. This does reward you with a nice slow motion sequence of the falling blocks as they hit the ground.

The blocks may be the only pretty thing in the game though, as every environment is blocky and uninspired. This just doesn’t help a game where everything is already broken about it. The music is just there for filler, and does nothing to add to this giant pile of crap.

The best advice regarding this game is to simply avoid it. It will give you a good case of the chuckles as you pass by it in the game aisle. Just stay away, you will be a happier person overall, and laugh at those who have not heeded the warnings and decided to spend $30 on this travesty of a game.