Monkey Palace

Monkey Palace has an idea you understand at once and immediately want to try: build a LEGO palace, then keep pushing it higher. For a child, that is half the victory already. For a parent, it is lovely to watch the palace change shape rather than stare at another board covered in numbers.

You begin with a small supply of bricks and, each turn, try to build as many arches as possible in the monkey’s palace while climbing higher at the same time. Building earns cards, and cards bring more bricks. It is simple, clear, and very easy for a child to grasp. Pro tip: build more arches. It helps.

By the middle of the game, the proper choice appears: do you improve your production line so you can keep building, or chase the big scoring cards that can decide the win? The competition is gentle, but it is there; you see someone gathering momentum and know you need to keep up. A few production cards are unfortunately much better than the rest — the permanent double arches at 4 especially — and if they appear early, that plastic snowball is hard to stop.

Still, my son has a brilliant time with it, whether he is playing with me or with friends, and that matters a great deal. It is not a Wallace game, and it does not need to be: it is a fine bit of LEGO nonsense with enough decisions to keep an adult at the table.