Long ago, a majestic palace rose in the jungle. For years, it stood abandoned until... for reasons unknown, it was found in ruins...

Now the fate of the Monkey Palace rests in your hands!

A Board Game and LEGO® Set in One Box

In the board game "Monkey Palace," the LEGO® set isn’t just decoration—it’s the core gameplay element, enabling 2 to 4 monkeys to rebuild their palace.

You’ll compete to become the best staircase builder for the Monkey Palace. The goal is to earn as many banana points as possible. The higher your staircases and the more arches you construct, the more building pieces—and, most importantly, banana points—you’ll gain during the game.

Gameplay Overview

Before construction begins, place 4 corner bricks on the baseplate and secure one of the terrain maps onto it. One brick and two arches are positioned on map sections marked with a white dashed line. The box includes 4 terrain maps (two double-sided sheets), adding variety to each session.

Each player then receives a personal board and the bricks depicted on it. Two card decks are formed on the table: yellow bonus cards and trophy cards featuring a LEGO® monkey, laid face-down from 1 to 9 "monkey credits." After setup, the first player’s turn begins.

Player Turn

The game continues until the brick supply runs out. On your turn, follow these steps in order:

1. Build a staircase using your building pieces.
2. Decorate your staircase with a decorative piece from the shared supply, matching the color of the terrain beneath your staircase’s starting point.
3. Count monkey credits, equal to the number of arches used in your staircase. Add 1 extra credit if your decorative piece sits higher than others of the same color.
4. Buy monkey cards with credits matching your decorative piece’s color. These cards provide building pieces and banana points.
5. Gain building materials from the purchased card and place it on your board.
6. Take LEGO® bricks from all cards on your board.
7. Draw a bonus card if your staircase is at least 5 bricks tall.
8. Claim trophy cards if you meet their conditions.

After these straightforward steps, your turn ends, and the player to your left goes next.

Key Rules for Building the Monkey Palace

Though game designer David Gordon calls this a light strategy game, placing LEGO® bricks follows special rules:

• Staircases must start from an open ledge on the terrain map (baseplate) or any building piece in your personal supply.
• Staircases must end with an arch.
• You can place pieces on any other pieces, even decorative ones, but placing on the two central arch ledges is forbidden. You also cannot stack an arch directly on another arch.
• Staircases must connect to at least one piece on the terrain map, and no building piece must hang in the air.

These special building rules might seem tricky at first, but after a few turns, players will easily grasp the Monkey Palace’s construction quirks. By the way, the game includes two modular mini-expansions for added strategic depth.

Mini-Expansions: "Frog" and "Butterfly"

The Butterfly card lets you earn 2 banana points at game’s end if you’ve placed the highest decorative piece of any color. The Frog card, conversely, makes you lose 3 banana points at game’s end but lets you immediately take an extra column from the parts tray when you claim this trophy card.

Trophy cards (Butterfly or Frog) can be taken from the table center or their current owner.

We recommend watching the video rules in the “Video” section and, if desired, exploring the illustrated PDF rules in more detail in the “Files” section.

One Last Note

The palace takes shape gradually with LEGO® elements. Each time you play "Monkey Palace," the building experience and the palace itself will be unique. Gallu the Rooster guarantees it’s perfect for family fun and for those who love LEGO® building and competition.

If you’re itching to build more with a dexterity twist, check out "Beaver Creek", where you race to place all your logs to build a beaver dam without toppling it.