Torre Minima is a sculptural board game - a reinvention of Jenga with 51 deceiving blocks made from combinations of wood, bronze, foam and Jesmonite. The different weights destabilize the tower, creating an altogether more intense and exciting experience for players.



This project was my Final Major Project for my 1st year at Northumbria University. We were tasked with researching everyday human behaviour for 5 weeks and then using our findings and experiments to design a product that would solve a particular everyday need. I was interested in our perception of 'fun' - why is it that fun is seen as something childish when it is clear that adults also enjoy having fun?



For my research I looked at current board games. Hungry Hippos, Mouse Trap, Snakes & Ladders... Although board games have been around for thousands of years, they've seen remarkably little innovation. Sure, Scrabble can now be played on an iPad and four iPhones, but why are we still reliant on these old board game analogies when people's needs have completely changed? Apartments are growing smaller and our possessions are becoming more and more digital, taking up less physical space. But deep down along with our wooden furniture and weighted cutlery there is still an innate love for materials and textures.



My research and experimentation led me to create a reinvention of one of these modern board games but making it more relevant to a contemporary market. I decided to use Jesmonite as the main material for this project because of it?s range of finishes, and its durability and weight. Jesmonite is a relatively new material and there is little information on how to mix it with other materials and pigments. I spent several weeks performing tests using different moulds (bubble wrap, cling film, foil?) and mixing in different materials (paints, rock dust, filings) until I had a wide range of blocks, some of which I sprayed to conceal their true identity.

With Torre Minima players aren't just encouraged to create beautiful towers: The disguised blocks slow down the game, allowing you to appreciate the range of colours, textures, forms and materials present in each hand-crafted block. To raise the stakes many of the blocks are fragile, creating an altogether more intense game. Torre Minima doesn't have to be packed away either - the blocks can create a huge range of pleasing structures that will be a talking point for any environment.

This game is currently a one-off and is not commercially available to buy.