Lego is breaking a decade long dry spell with the release of Monkey Palace – Lego’s new officially licenced board game! The game is currently available from both Amazon.com for $39.99 and Amazon.co.uk for £34.99 and will likely be available in most play / toy stores later in the year.
The Lego Group is collaborating with Dotted Games, which is a new arm of Asmodee Studio. Asmodee are the creative team behind numerous famous board games including CATAN and Ticket to Ride.
Monkey Palace is set to be the first release of many, with another Lego game “Brick Like This!” already in the works – according to Dotted Games.
“the LEGO Group and Asmodee have announced that they have entered a multi-year partnership, joining forces to create and distribute new shared play experiences. The partnership will create an exciting range of high-quality LEGO board games for all types of players, inventing new ways for families and brick fans around the world to play within the LEGO universe”
From Dotted Games’ press kit.
What is the game about?
The game takes around 45 minutes of play time with the overall aim being to collect the most Banana Points. The game is for ages 10+ and is described as being competitive and strategic.
2-4 Players compete against each other to rebuild the Monkey’s palace. As players physically use Lego bricks to build staircases upwards and outwards from the center. Players gain points, depending on the height and length of their staircase, which can then be spend on either more building bricks or Banana Points.
Overall the player with the most Banana points wins!
For those who want to read the full rules Dotted Games have them freely available on their website. Alternatively I’ve attached them below.
What’s in the Box?
Monkey Palace comes filled to the brim with contents including over 230 Lego bricks! The game is played on a 32 x 32 green Lego plate however not all the baseplate is utilised as the game is played on a ground map.
The ground map is double sided, printed card that shows the players where they’re allowed to place the starting elements for their staircases.
The full contents are: 1 Lego 32×32 Place; 231 Lego Bricks; 67 Monkey cards; 14 Bonus cards; 3 Trophy cards; 4 Player boards; 2 double sided Ground maps; 1 Brick tray; 1 Rule book.
Conclusion
As a fan of the old Lego board games, especially the Hobbit (2012) and Battle of Hoth (2012), I welcome this return to creating Lego board games. The mechanics of board games have advanced considerably since the 2010s but Monkey Palace feels suitably modern. There are no luck based elements like rolling dice for example.
The older Lego games felt like someone had simply used Lego to create the game board. Monkey Palace refreshingly embraces Lego’s key play feature – its changeability. No two games of Monkey Palace will look the same, let alone play the same. Upon completing a game, you’re rewarded with a unique brick-built creation.
Come payday I know I’ll be picking up Lego’s second attempt to crack into the board game market. I’ll also be keeping a watchful eye on Dotted Games!
Will you be trying Lego’s Monkey Palace? Let us know in the comments below.
