[Wood]

I have to say, I disagree with the doubts expressed on the Jenga tower thing. I really do think that's genius, that is.

Yes, it's gimmicky, but it's gimmicy in a good way. It perfectly represents the tension of a stalk-and-slash flick (or even a *slightly* more sophisticated film like Final Destination) more than dice ever could.

In fact, Final Destination is a great model for the way the bricks work. Remember the bit with the train, and the car, and the little bit of metal...? That's three guys pulling on the bricks, maybe. Is it going to fall? Is it going to fall? Aagh! It's just fallen, and Seann William Scott's just been randomly decapitated!

Seriously. In a good horror flick of this particular sub-genre, the tension builds and builds. You know that the kids are going to die. You know that they're going to go one by one. You know that something's going to jump out and get them. Is it... now!?

Nope. The brick sits on top of the tower. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief, but the tension's worse the next time, because someone's had a lucky escape, and this time, that tower's starting to sway... and bam. Gory topply death.

The tower's reset, and then the tension builds again... until the next time. Until the monster's died for the last time, or death's been cheated, or the sun comes up... or everyone is dead.

As for the hand-eye co-ordination thing. Well, I think that, judging by the description of chargen and stuff, gamist and simulationist players Need Not Apply. This is not a game you play for character advancement. This is a game you play in order to see how you're going to die horribly, just as you watch a slasher flick in order to see how the kids are going to die. So what if you're crap at Jenga?

If you care about being crap at Jenga, I suspect that this game isn't going to be for you, and it's refreshing to see that the designers appear - if the review is accurate - to have said as much in their intro.

Having said all that, it's not something I'd imagine being easy to run for any length of time. It'd be great for a one-shot, though. Big, gory fun.