4 Monkeys Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game overview
• Figure cards
• Combo tiles
• Round setup
• Player actions
  • A) Grabbing a combo tile
  • B) Burning a combo tile
  • ‘Hand replenish’ tile
  • C) Revealing a new combo tile
• End of the round
• Scoring phase
  • Step 1. Look for any repeated combos
  • Step 2. Determine who is the Smartest Monkey
  • Step 3. Verify the combos for the Smartest Monkey
  • Step 4. Noting down the score
• Bluffing
• Game end
• Optional rule: Banana skins
• Games with 5 or more players
• Family version
• Scoring example

Components

• 4 decks with 40 figure cards each
• 4 sets with 11 combo tiles each
• 4 "Banana skins" tiles
• 1 timer, 4 player aids and 1 rule set

NOTE: some paper and pencil might be necessary at the end of each round to note down the score.

Game overview

In this game players will be monkeys in a research lab where scientists are trying to determine which of them is the smartest in order to send him to the first space flight to Mars. Various sets of colored figures are projected onto a screen and monkeys will have to do their best to quickly try and reproduce these combinations by pressing the right buttons on their individual panels. If they do it right they get some peanuts.

Each game lasts for 3 rounds during which players will try to score as much as possible. The player with the most points at the end of the game will be the winner and be eventually sent to Mars!

Figure cards

All four decks are made up of the same cards and come in one of the following colors - yellow, green, red or blue. There are four figures in the game – circle, triangle, square and pentagon. Each card has two of such figures, which may be of the same kind or different. If both figures are the same, then one of them will be on a golden button.

Combo tiles

Combo tiles indicate the combination that has to be reproduced with the figure cards and the points awarded to the player during the scoring phase. Both sides of the tile show the same combination, but the orange side of the tile is worth 1 point less than the green side.

Round setup

1. Each player select a deck. If there are less than four players put back into the box any decks that have not been chosen.
2. Each player shuffles his cards and places them face-down between himself and the player sitting on his right.
3. Take one set of combo tiles for each player (Exception: in 2-player games three sets are used).
4. Each player receives the starting combo tile ‘Hand replenish’ and places it in front of him with the 0 value facing up.
5. Player aids should be kept within easy reach.
6. The combo sets are shuffled together and placed in the middle of the table with the green side up. Next, divide them into as many leveled stacks as the number of players plus 2.
7. One player sets the timer to 4 minutes and switches it on while saying ‘Start!’. (ATTENTION: Before starting the game, players must decide whether the timer is to be left in full view or if no player may look at the timer once it’s running).
8. All players draw 5 cards from their decks.

Player actions

All players perform their actions simultaneously, without taking turns – the fastest player will most likely get more points! Available actions:

A) Grabbing a combo tile

Each combo tile indicates the set of figures or cards that are needed to fulfil that combo. If a player has the necessary figures/cards in his hand, he can grab the combo tile from the combo stacks and place the required cards face down in front of him, beneath the combo tile (bluffing is allowed; see below). The combo tile must be placed with the green side up. If, after completing a combo the player has less than 5 cards in his hand he draws from his deck until he has 5 cards again.

Once a player has grabbed a combo he may not put it back in the stacks, even if he later realizes he has made a mistake.

NOTE: As combo tiles are grabbed some stacks will eventually be depleted and therefore there will be less stacks available.

NOTE: If a player runs out of cards from his own deck he may draw cards from another player’s deck.

B) Burning a combo tile

A player may ‘burn’ one of his combo tiles at any time. In order to burn a combo the player must turn the combo tile to the orange side. After doing so he immediately draws three cards. Combos that are already burned (i.e., on their orange side) may not be burned again.

‘Hand replenish’ tile

The combo tile which is given to all players at the beginning of the game is special and may be used in two different ways:

a) It may be used at any time to discard all the cards in one’s hand and draw 5 new cards from the deck or; b) It may be used at any time to draw 3 additional cards.

Just like other combo tiles, this tile must be turned over when it is used and therefore may only be burned once per round.

C) Revealing a new combo tile

A player may only reveal a new combo tile if he has already acquired all combo tiles displayed in the stacks. In order to reveal a new combo tile the player simply selects one of the combo stacks and puts the top-most tile next to the other stacks, hence revelaing the tile underneath and so having in total one more tile available for all players. This process may be repeated as long as the player has already acquired all available combos.

End of the round

The round finishes immediately as soon as:

• The timer rings or;
• A player calls ‘Stop!’, indicating he has completed all 10 different combos (the ‘Hand replenish’ tile and the ‘Banana skins’ tile are not counted).

If the player that called “Stop!” is found to have less than 10 different combo tiles, he is subtracted 10 points from his previous score and the round is played again from the beginning.

Once the timer goes off or a player calls “Stop!” all players must immediately interrupt their actions and discard their hand. Next, the scoring phase takes place.

Scoring phase

Once the round is finished the following steps are carried out:

Step 1. Look for any repeated combos

All players must check if they have any repeated combo tiles. If two or more combo tiles are repeated the player must discard all cards beneath and place the repeated combo tiles aside.

Step 2. Determine who is the Smartest Monkey

All players add up all visible points in their combo tiles. The Smartest Monkey is the player with the most points.

In case of a tie, the Smartest Monkey is the person (among tied players) with more burned tiles. If still tied, all tied players are considered to be the Smartest Monkeys.

Step 3. Verify the combos for the Smartest Monkey

The combos of the Smartest Monkey are checked one by one, from lowest to highest visible combo value. If two or more players are tied for the Smartest Monkey then the combos are checked alternating from one player to another. If two or more combo tiles have the same value, the player who made the combo decides which to check first.

A combo is considered to be correct if the two following requirements are met:

• All figures needed to fulfil the combo are present in the cards beneath and;
• The combo couldn’t have been made without one of the cards.

If the combo is correct then the cards are left face up beneath the combo tile.

If the combo is incorrect (in other words, if it doesn’t meet both requirements) then the cards beneath are discarded, the combo tile is placed aside and the Smartest Monkey is determined once more (Step 2). As soon as all combos belonging to the Smartest Monkey have been verified, all scores are noted down.

ATTENTION: Only the combos for the Smartest Monkey are checked – the other players’ combos are NOT.

Step 4. Noting down the score

Each player scores as follows:

• The visible value of his combos tiles.
• -2 points for each combo tile that has been set aside.

Bluffing

Bluffing is permitted. Remember that since only the Smartest Monkey’s combos are checked players may take the risk of grabbing some combo tiles and put some cards that clearly don’t fulfil the combo criteria beneath them. As long as that player is not the Smartest Monkey during the scoring stage, he might easily get away with it.

Game end

The game is played over three rounds. At the end of the third round, the player with the highest score is the winner. In the event of a tie, the winner is the person (amongst tied players) who scored most in the last round. If still tied, the players share the victory.

Optional rule: Banana skins

‘Banana skins’ tiles may be used in games with players of different levels or to increase interaction between players.

When setting up the game each player receives a ‘Banana skins’ tile together with the ‘Hand replenish’ tile and places both tiles in front of him.

During the game a player may take one of his Banana skins immediately after grabbing a combo tile and hand it over to another player. Banana skins subtract 3 points to a player’s final score during Step 4.

Games with 5 or more players

You may combine two different game sets in order to play with up to 8 players with the following rule changes:

• 5-6 players. Players should seat so that no one has another player with the same deck color sitting on neither side. All other rules remain the same.
• 7-8 players. Two playing areas must be arranged, one 4 players and the other for 3 or 4, depending on the total number. Even though players will be in different playing areas they should seat so that no one has another player with the same deck color on neither side. After each round players must change their seats so that the four players with the highest score are in the same playing area while the remaining three or four players are put in the other one.

The following rules must be applied:

• Only one timer is used for the two playing areas.
• If one player calls ‘Stop!’ the game finishes immediately in both areas.
• ‘Banana skins’ tiles may only be handed over to players in the same playing area.
• Players that run out of cards may only draw from decks in their same playing area.
• Combo tiles can only be grabbed from one’s own playing area.
• The scoring phase is common to both playing areas.
• A game lasts four rounds.

Family version

If you want a lighter, more forgiving game apply the following rule changes during the Scoring phase:

• Step 2. The Smartest Monkey is the player with the most combo tiles. In the event of a tie, the following tie-breakers are applied in this order:
  • The player with the least burned combo tiles.
  • The player with the combo tile of highest value, followed by the second highest value, etc.
  • The player who is ahead in the score.
  • If still tied, all tied players are considered to be the Smartest Monkey.
• Step 4. Scoring:
  • +1 for each unburned combo
  • +1 for every two burned combo tiles
  • – 1 for each incorrect combo
  • +1 for being the Smartest Monkey at the beginning of Step 4.
• Set the timer to 5 minutes.

Scoring example

Claire, Tom and Ian have finished the first round with the following combo tiles. (The tile diagrams are images in the original and are not reproduced; the text of each step is.)

Step 1. Ian has repeated one combo. He puts aside both combo tiles and discards the cards beneath them.

Step 2. Claire has 7 points and Tom has 11. Ian, with 13 points, is the Smartest Monkey.

Step 3. Ian’s combos are checked. [Combo tile] is correct. However, the cards beneath [combo tile] are [cards] and therefore 1 pentagon is missing. The combo is set aside.

Step 2. Ian with 12 points still is the Smartest Monkey.

Step 3. They continue verifying Ian’s combos. Beneath the [combo tile] tile there is [cards]. The combo could have been fulfilled also without the second card, and therefore is incorrect. The combo tile is put aside.

Step 2. Now Tom has become the Smartest Monkey with 11 points.

Step 3. Tom’s three combos are checked and all of them are found to be correct. No other combos are checked (even though everyone can clearly see that Claire has placed only one card beneath the 5-points combo tile!).

Step 4. Scores are noted down for each player:

• Claire: 4 points (7 combo points – 3 for the Banana skins tile)
• Tom: 8 points (11 combo points – 3 for the Banana skins tile)
• Ian: 2 points (10 combo points – 8 for four discarded combos)

Play continues with the setup of the second round.