That... that's brilliant. Damn. Never even occurred to me. Playing my scenario Separation Anxiety at GenCon, we got in a situation where you literally couldn't make another pull without toppling the tower. The tension stayed incredibly high. Remember, you're never obligated to make a pull and can always decline. Then it's just a matter of "when's the most dramatic moment to knock the tower down?"
Thanks!
I've played a lot of Jenga. Normally, I've only seen max pulls reached about 2 times. I played on the Giant Jenga set I made this weekend, and every game reached max pulls (29-33 levels). The last game, had 5 Lift&Twists to keep going (though the last one killed it). it is by no means a safe maneuver, but seems to fall within the rules and solves thes problem.
The refusing to pull concept always puzzled me in Dread. namely because the only way you can die is by toppling the tower. In which case, what bad stuff can happen that I wouldn't yet still keep me in the game if I refuse to pull when the barn is on fire and the alien is trying to drag me into its kitchen for dinner.
It seems a point is reached where "Pull if you want to live" becomes logical and that refusal or failure both result in death.