Monkey Palace

Monkey Palace sits in a very pleasant corner of the spectrum: it is a smart marriage of LEGO construction and resource gathering, clearly aimed at children around 6-12 years old. My son has a great time with it, whether he plays with me or brings it out with his friends, and that says a lot about how immediately the concept works at the table.

Each player starts with a few bricks and, on their turn, tries to build as many arches as possible in the Monkey Palace, climbing ever higher. The construction is not merely decorative: every build brings cards, and those cards provide more bricks for later constructions. The progression therefore has a clear, very understandable chain: I build, I gain cards, I acquire materials, I build more.

From the middle of the game onward, thankfully, things do not remain completely predetermined. This is where the central choice appears: do I improve my production line so I can continually fuel more construction, or do I chase the big scoring cards that can deliver victory? Player interaction lies mainly in this race for the available cards and in who makes the best use of their building, rather than in any heavy confrontation.

The ruthlessly competitive gamer in me does see one thorn: some production cards seem noticeably better than the rest—especially the permanent double arches at 4. If they appear early and someone takes them, it is hard to stop the plastic snowball. But let us not turn it into a Wallace game: it is a LEGO romp, and as such it is perfectly fine.