Monkey Palace: Review
Information:
Player Age: 10+
Player Count: 2 - 4 Players
Time to Play: 45 Minutes
Year Published: 2025
Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the VR Distribution.
Introduction:
For all the Lego-Lovers out there, Lego has made a reemergence into the board game hobby. Monkey Palace is a communal Lego placement game where players build an entwined staircase. Based on how well you build a staircase on your turn will determine how many bananas you gain through monkey, trophy and bonus cards. The player who has the most bananas at the end of the last round is the winner.
Game Anatomy:
Lego Bricks:
The core Lego Bricks come in three types and colour does not matter. A brick is one high and a standard single piece, a column is three bricks high and an arch is the core element you will use to build staircases.
Decoration Brick:
The decoration brick comes in three colours, this will always be placed at the end of building your staircase and the colour of decoration will depend on the starting location used. This will have relevance in what cards you are allowed to purchase each round.
Monkey Cards:
Monkey Cards have a monkey cost (currency) on the left-hand side and victory points awarded in bananas on the right-hand side. Below that is the colour that the decoration Lego has to match, as well as any instant or ongoing Lego pieces that will be gained. 
The ongoing Lego piece is shown on the back of the card and each player can only have four ongoing cards active at any given time.
Trophy Cards:
There are three trophy cards; the monkey (mandatory), and the butterfly and frog which are both optional additions to the game. If another player has the trophy when you go to gain it, you will simply take the trophy card from that player.
The Monkey trophy card will be awarded to the player who plays a golden decoration Lego piece on their turn. This trophy will gain the player two points and will also allow for placing the monkey on the end section of any arch on any staircase, effectively blocking that location.
If on your turn you placed the current highest decoration Lego, you will be awarded the butterfly trophy which is worth two points. The butterfly token will be placed on the decoration Lego you just placed, blocking the roof of your decoration piece.
The frog is worth negative three bananas and a player can choose to take this trophy to gain one column. The frog token will then be placed on top of the lowest open spot on your staircase. Blocking that location.
Bonus Cards:
A bonus card is worth four points and can be taken once a turn if you have a combination of bricks and columns that equal a height of five between two arches. This is hard to do at the start of the game but, if your engine is working, can be quite easy towards the end of the game.
Setup:
There is board setup and player setup.
Board Setup:
- Place the four corner pieces at the edge of the Lego board that allows the map to be locked in.
- There are four maps with different spread ground types. Choose one of these maps to use for the game and lock it onto the Lego board.
- Decoration bricks can be placed in a pile or around the board for easy access.
- Place the yellow bonus cards in one pile.
- Setup the trophy cards with their respective token on top.
- Each monkey card will be placed into separately shuffled piles. These piles will be made of the same colour and the same monkey value.
Player Setup:
- Deal the player boards to their respective players in turn order (clockwise).
- On the back of each player board there are specifications on which Lego bricks to gain.
How to Play:
On a turn players can build one staircase, decorate the staircase, count monkey credits and take monkey cards, take any one-time delivery and recurring deliveries, take a bonus card, and claim trophy cards. At the end of the round where a brick pile runs out, the player with the most bananas is the winner.
Build one staircase:
A staircase is made up of one or more arches. As part of your staircase you can use as many columns and bricks as necessary to help give support. There are a few rules that have to be followed;
- The middle knobs of the arches can't be used.
- Bricks and columns are used to support arches.
- The starting brick can be any type but the arch has to be the last piece.
- The starting point has to be one of the knobs on the board.
- It may build on any brick that is already on the board.
- Each staircase must be fully supported.
- An arch cannot be directly placed on top of another arch.
- A staircase may turn 90 degrees at a time.
- The staircase must be in a direct path, no split directions.
Decorate your staircase:
Based on the colour of your first piece placed, a matching decoration piece of that colour will now be placed on the top of your staircase.
Count monkey credits and take monkey card:
Monkey credits are determined by the amount of arches used in the staircase. There will also be an additional credit if this is the highest visible decoration piece of the type placed. These credits will be used to buy one or multiple cards from the top of their respective stacks. These could improve your engine and/or award immediate pieces. The monkey cards can only be bought if they match the colour of the decoration piece played this round.
Take the one-time and reoccurring deliveries:
If there are any immediate Lego gains from the monkey cards this turn, they will be gained now. More pieces will be gained by the pieces on each reoccurring card on the top of the four piles on your board, including the pieces printed on the board.
Take any applicable bonus or trophy cards:
If a bonus card or trophy can be gained, do so now.
Final Thoughts:
- Great toy factor.
- Interesting engine building with the focus being how many staircases you use or the tallest of a certain decoration.
- Communal placement.
- Easy to understand but tricky to visualise strategy.
- Interesting engine building in regards to the arches of your staircase.
Monkey Palace is a game that is more than its toy factor. Due to the communal placement, players are constantly pushing their luck by creating potential paths for their staircases in the hope that no one else spots them. Communal placement games always have this interesting element as the board state becomes more and more built. The other interesting factor is how the engine building works. Simply said; the more pieces you have, the higher your staircase could be, the more points awarded to the player. At times players will have a smaller turn in pursuit of a larger turn further on. This is easily a game for any Lego fan, but you don't have to be in order to enjoy this game as there is a fun and tricky engine-building game behind it, not to mention the presence the game creates as it continues. Monkey Palace will be staying in my collection and if you enjoy placement games with a focus on communal boards, or simply Lego, then this is a game to hunt down.
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