Leslie Scott (game designer)

Leslie Scott (born 1955) is a British board game designer and author,^[1] best known as the inventor of the game Jenga, which she launched at the London Toy Fair 1983.

Early life and education

Born in Tanzania, Scott was raised in East and West Africa, and educated in Uganda, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Ghana and England.^[2]

Career

Scott is inventor of the game Jenga, which she launched at the London Toy Fair 1983. She founded Oxford Games Ltd in 1991.^[3]

She is a founder trustee of The Smithsonian UK Charitable Trust.^[4]

Honours

She is the recipient of the 2010 Wonder Women of Toys Inventor/Designer Award,^[5] and the 2012 Tagie award for Excellence in Game Design.^[6]

Private life

Scott is married to the Oxford zoologist Professor Fritz Vollrath. They have two children, Frederica and Digby.

Works

Games

• Jenga
• Ex Libris, the game of first lines and last words
• The Great Western Railway Game
• Anagrams, the game of juggling words
• Tabula, the Roman game
• Bookworm, the game of reading and remembering

Books

• About Jenga, the remarkable business of creating a game that became a household name^[7]

References