Monkey Palace: A Lego Board Game - Build Your Way to Victory Brick by Brick! Fun Family Brick-Building Game for Kids & Adults, Ages 10+, 2-4 Players, 45 Minute Playtime, Made by BezzerwizzerThe Forest Stewardship Council

My family loves Lego - even my wife has a near full collection of their flowers - and board games. When this game was announced, I knew it would be a perfect fit for us if the gameplay was solid. I'm happy to say that for us it is.The Good:This game is fully backed by Lego, so you know the quality of the bricks. The rest of the components are good as well. The cards are fine, especially because there is limited shuffling, the iconography on them is easy to understand, and the cardboard player boards are heavy & sufficient. I thought the instructions were going to be overkill at first glance, but once I got through them I can say they are nicely done. They only looked overwhelming because they go to great length - with pictures - to make everything clear. My son is 10 and had no problems jumping right in. Setup will be quick after your first playthrough (more on that below), it looks great on the table assuming you're a fan of Lego, and the gameplay moves quick enough not to overstay its welcome. Scoring is super simple; you count bananas on cards at the end of the game. There are also a couple of "mini-expansions" in the box (which are each literally a single Lego piece & new rule), which show how easily you could create your own expansions with a little creativity.The Bad:Every player's turn is the same... every turn. While the tower will be constructed differently each time, offering different paths, the basic game will be the same every time. While we have yet to tire of it, I fear some may get bored with it after repeat plays. The game is also very dependent on the colors on the cards and playing board - light green, dark green, and tan. I fear that for some with color blindness the greens may be difficult to differentiate. While the coloring makes sense thematically, it is a slight nitpick. The instructions, while clear and easy enough to follow, are printed are pretty thin paper & not even stapled together. Perhaps that's a cost-saving measure, but they look pretty bad compared to the rest of the presentation.The Indifferent:There is no component organization in the box, other than 3 trays for the various "stairway" components. The first time you setup the game, you have to sort/separate all of the various Lego pieces. While tedious, as long as you separate all of the components into Ziploc baggies when you put it away, subsequent setups will be very quick. If you store your games upright, baggies will be a necessity anyway if you don't want a jumbled mess the next time you open the box. Thematically, you're rebuilding a lost palace for monkeys... or something... I'm here for the gameplay, not the theme! To be clear, this isn't Chutes & Ladders or Candy Land. There are rules, quite a few of them actually, for how you can and cannot build the tower. It's going to take some reading - or watching a How-To Play video on YouTube - before you can jump in and play. For anyone familiar with modern board games this won't be a problem. If you're looking for something to set in front of kids and let them have at it, I think you'll be disappointed.Overall I feel this game is fantastic as a family game, and fantastic as a lighter-weight intro to modern board games. I do feel like it will eventually get to feel very "samey" if played a lot, but if rotated with other games I don't think that will be an issue. I also think this is the perfect game for creating new house rules with your own Lego you may have laying around!

Love this game! It's such a brilliant use of Legos. The game captures the fun that's inherent in building something with Legos, plus it's an exceptionally good board game independent of the Lego aspect. The game itself is great because it's accessible and fun for people who aren't that into games, but the strategy involved is very deep, so it appeals to hard core board game fans as well. Plus, when you're done you end up with an amazing palace building that's different every time you play and is always cool looking. Really can't say enough positive things about this game.

This is a fantastic all-ages game. The rules are pretty simple, and the fact you have tactile legos to build makes it easy for younger players to learn. There's plenty of opportunity to strategize for older players, but a younger player whose only goal is to put the monkey where she wants it every turn can still trounce strategic players in pursuit of her goal. It's a lot of fun. I recommend it for any family of board game enthusiasts, but honestly, even if you only plan to play with adults, this is a great choice for your board game collection.

Great game! Once you get the rules down it’s very fun for 2-3 people. I haven’t played it with 4 yet. Would certainly recommend if you like Lego and boardgames

My son loves this game (he is 8y.o), and even teenagers and adults have been receptive to the game play. The rule book is a little confusing regarding some of the nuance rules, but a YouTube tutorial helped to clarify our questions. All pieces were included, and the game play is not overly complicated once you get started. Overall game play isn’t too long, either. This game supports problem solving and dexterity without being too taxing on the kiddos.

I bought this for my son who loves Legos and he absolutely loved this Lego game. It’s such a fun way to be creative with Legos! He’s nine and was able to easily figure out how to play. We played as a family and it’s great for everyone. Highly recommended!

My six year old likes this game and is able to play well.Though now we normally build houses and towers and play tower house instead of playing the game.

If a game requires 6 full pages of instructions it is way too complicated of a board game. Went to play this with my kids and we were all frustrated just getting through understanding the instructions. After 30 mins of us trying to figure out how it works and the point system we gave up and played life instead. I will be donating this game. Not worth the money in my opinion.