Monkeyland
Monkeyland Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Assembling the Figures
Attach the figures to the bases as shown in the illustration. Stick the pictures of fruit onto the underside of the bases.
Game Setup
Choose 6 monkeys of your choice that will search for their favourite fruit in this game. The base of each figure has a picture that tells the players what can feed that monkey. The remaining 2 monkeys and their favourite fruit tokens should be put back in the box for now; they are needed for the more complex variant of the game.
Lay out 7 lianas in the centre of the table. Seat the six chosen monkeys on six of the lianas. One liana remains free. Turn the fruit tokens so that the palm-frond pictures face up, shuffle them, and lay them out around the lianas.
Before the start of the game, turn over 1 token to see which fruit will be the first treat.
Playing the Game
Choose the first player. If this is your first time playing, the first player is the most fidgety participant!
A player chooses a monkey and moves it to the free liana. They must look at the picture on the monkey's base themselves and then show it to the other players. Now all players know which fruit this monkey likes, and they should try to remember it.
If the face-up token shows the same fruit as the base of the chosen monkey, the player takes that token. The player then turns over the next token and may again choose a monkey, which jumps to the freed liana.
If the face-up token shows a fruit that does not suit the chosen monkey, the player's turn ends.
Now the player sitting to the left of the player whose turn just ended may choose a monkey and move it to a free liana.
At the start of the game, while it is not yet known exactly what each monkey is looking for to eat, players may hope that they will simply be lucky in choosing the right monkey. But once all the monkeys have jumped from branch to branch at least once, and the players have tried to remember their favourite fruits, a player must choose a figure for their move with great care — now everything depends on memory!
End of the Game
The game continues until all the fruit has been collected. The winner is the player who has collected more fruit tokens, that is, who has fed more monkeys.
In addition to being recognised as the best friend of the cheerful monkeys, the winner has the honour of starting the next round of the game.
Rules for Experienced Players
Once you can easily and quickly feed 6 monkeys with fruit, you can make the game more challenging. One more monkey joins the cheerful company, and 3 more fruit tokens that it likes appear on the palm trees. The game now needs 8 lianas.
If the 7 monkeys already manage to find their favourite treats, the eighth monkey can boldly be included as well — just do not forget its 3 fruit tokens and the ninth liana.