How tall can you build with 54 Jenga blocks?

A computational search explored how tall a tower made from a standard set of 54 Jenga blocks could stand when the floor was tilted. The maximum simulated height fell sharply as tilt increased: 331.5 cm at 0.1°, 153 cm at 1°, 84.5 cm at 5°, and 19 cm at 25°. The central trade-off is between height and stability. Upright blocks add the most height, so the tallest low-tilt designs use them heavily; as the tilt grows, designs shift to blocks on edge or laid flat, and sometimes leave blocks unused. The first degree of tilt is especially costly: it reduces the theoretical flat-floor height of 405 cm by 252 cm, while the increase from 1° to 25° costs another 134 cm.

The winning designs concentrate roughly 40% of their blocks in the bottom quarter, creating a broad-enough base and keeping the center of mass low, while narrowing toward the top. Yet a wider base also consumes blocks that could add height. At low tilts, a slender single-block column supplies much of the height, but its length is limited by the point at which it would tip over independently. Small layout changes matter: at 2°, moving just one block produced a tower 7.5 cm taller. The search tested 15 floor angles and progressively stricter conditions, including block-by-block construction, force checks, and tilts in multiple directions. Its results are simulations using idealized blocks and friction; real wooden towers still need to be tested, and the designs may not be optimal.