Monkey Palace: exclusive pictures
Posted by Huw,
Earlier in the year, games manufacturer Asmodee and LEGO announced a jointly crafted board game called Monkey Palace.
Today at the Autumn Fair toy trade show in the UK, the strategic building game was on display on the Asmodee stand, and thanks to attendee Matt, proprietor of Automattic Comics, we have exclusive pictures of it.
It's interesting that LEGO is making another foray into board games, having produced dozens of them between 2009 and 2012, only to quietly cancel the theme and many already announced titles a year later.
It's not known when it'll be released, although it'll almost certainly be before Christmas. The web page behind the QR code on the back of the box is already live, at which you can watch a promo video and find out how to play.
View the pictures after the break and let us know if you're looking forward to giving it a go.
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54 comments on this article
Looks very cool, I love the old lego board games era, I'm glad they are returning to this theme in a way!
I really hope that pearl gold monkey is actually included!
I've loved Lego's first try at board games so obviously I'm glad they are giving them another go. This looks very nice, too.
I like it but once again it seems to be WAY overpriced for what it is.
Oh wow, for some reason I didn’t expect there to be actual lego building involved. Looks pretty cool!
@WolfpackBricksOfficial said:
"I really hope that pearl gold monkey is actually included!"
It's not. :<
From photos it looks like the box could be half as thick. Based on boardgaming preferences this will instantly earn "box full of air" badge.
Looks more interesting than previous games
I saw the set already on the Dutch Intertoys website, with a release date of October 3rd.
I hope this partneship means better and more modern board game design. Because the previous era of "LEGO board games" were very lacking in that part.
There are more pictures and even a user review on BGG.
Sounds interesting, but a pass for me. I'll stick with Battleships thanks.
Watched a video last night. Looks like an interesting game but seems a bit complicated so I don’t know what age range they are targeting. The guy doing the video said don't expect this to be a cheap parts pack. I don’t know what the selling price is supposed to be.
A bit pricey way to expand my storage boxes so skip
And WTF a baseplate those are almost extinct in sets
Nice to see the sock game in the background. Big fave in our family.
Polish version is expected on October 3rd. There is a tutorial video by Watch It Played on Youtube.
The problem with the 2009 range was that they were DESIGNED to challenge kids to expand the game with their own rules. A game that was 100% balanced and complete would be counter to this aim, so the games had a deliberate prototype-y feel. The general public however was not very interested in half-completed games - the most successful games were the ones that needed no tweaking (Ramses Pyramid, and the later franchise based games like Harry Potter).
(The Ilrion games were a different line that aimed to break into the RPG scene but simply could not compete with existing miniature franchises, which imho is a shame)
@lordofdragonss said:
" @WolfpackBricksOfficial said:
"I really hope that pearl gold monkey is actually included!"
It's not. :<"
Boo :(
"When evil surrounds him, he'll rise up against them, and show them who's the Monkie Palace!
The Staff's now in his grasp, his friends watching his back, cause he's the Monkie Palace!"
Not a Monkie Kid set, I know, but still
@lordofdragonss said:
" @WolfpackBricksOfficial said:
"I really hope that pearl gold monkey is actually included!"
It's not. :<"
Well, that's disappointing.
@nushae said: "The problem with the 2009 range was that they were DESIGNED to challenge kids to expand the game with their own rules [...] so the games had a deliberate prototype-y feel. The general public however was not very interested in half-completed games"
Yes, it seems like Lego grossly underestimated the effort it takes to design, playtest and balance a good game, which led to the line's demise. The way these sets were placed in the boardgame aisle (rather than the lego one) didn't really help.
"The Ilrion games were a different line that aimed to break into the RPG scene but simply could not compete with existing miniature franchises, which imho is a shame"
The Heroica games had SO MUCH potential as buildable miniature RPGs, but were a massive disappointment as the simple rules reduced them to basic roll-and-move games. I did try to make some better rules, but my very limited RPG experience made this a hard task.
@Huw has there been any pricing announced for this game? I can't seem to find that info.
LEGO games from the early 2010s got me invested in board gaming (which led to an MtG obsession), so this seems like an easy buy for me. Might be a possible Christmas gift for the family.
If this isn't too expensive, I'll have to get it. I loved the Games line (even if some of the rules obviously weren't created by professional games designers), and, from the How to Play video on the website, it looks fun!
LEGO 2012 board games had GREAT minifigs.
@Rabrickzel said:
"Looking at this way it uses lego parts and baseplate with that cartboard overlay, got me thinking about potential of custom lego board games. "
I've seen two awesome adaptations of the Clue Board game at two different conventions this year. Both were quite well done. Clue was one of my favorite games when I was younger and I'd love to try my hand at making one myself.
We saw this at an earlier toy fair and the response from retailers was muted to say the least.
And it was very expensive.
Game in the UK has it for preorder of October 1st.
I'll reserve overall judgement until I get to see the gameplay. If it's easy to understand and quick to play, might be fun.
But crikey, those are dull colours. why not use red & yellow & blue & purple and make it look really fun?
I still need/want to know how this game play, rules, and such
There seems to be a "skull expansion", with a skull part ans card.
Will the game be sold at the Lego shop? I'm wondering if I should buy it there or elsewhere.
@pedro_lego said:
"LEGO 2012 board games had GREAT minifigs."
Actually these are called Microfigures. And yes they are amazing! I would always be happy to see their return. And the Lego-Dice were fun too.
@WolfpackBricksOfficial said:
"I really hope that pearl gold monkey is actually included!"
I'd like to, but it looks dark tan to me. Or maybe have I missed something.
@Mica86 said:
"Oh dear they'll never learn...
As to the Clownery i see in this comments section...what are you all on?
What's with you all have you not learned to dismiss this type of garbage yet....can you not recognise their blatant foolishness when they present it to you in same previous form they presented to you before?
It looks like crap....and their games have never been good...where's this confidence coming from?!
Is it the sock game in the back of the shot? Is that making you all think " these guys they got this" ? Lol"
most whimsical AFOL
I have bought many of the old board games. But only used and cheap. great for parts and great for storing lego of the theme that the box indicates.
It looks rather cheap to me, the cardboard board just overlaid on the baseplate in particular. The good thing about the games from 2009-12 were that the play areas were made from parts, so they could easily be extended or adapted if you want to.
This looks cool, but Asmodee is a terrible company. After their complete mismanagement of FFG I'm hesitant to buy into this, but having dedicated game designers working with Lego is a good idea.
@BioChan said:
"This looks cool, but Asmodee is a terrible company."
I knew it! It was a front by the demon king Asomdeus all along!
£34.99 seems very steep.
https://www.game.co.uk/game-monkey-palace-926717colcode=92671790
@predki said:
"Polish version is expected on October 3rd. There is a tutorial video by Watch It Played on Youtube."
Looks fun. My only question is the price.
When I saw the headline, I thought this was a Monkie Kid set.
For anyone complaining about £34.99 being expensive....have they ever brought a board game?
231 bricks isn't a lot for that prices, sure...but the amount of time that goes into developing a board game....that's what you pay for.
I was shocked at how cheap it actually was!
Hmm...just remembered, I'm in the brickset comments...now I understand why people are complaining...
@BioChan said:
"This looks cool, but Asmodee is a terrible company. After their complete mismanagement of FFG I'm hesitant to buy into this, but having dedicated game designers working with Lego is a good idea."
Yep, unfortunately Asmodee has had been known for some shady business practices. They're kinda the Ubisoft of board gaming. Not unexpected when you name your company after a literal demon.
Holy crap! An 18.5 minute how to play video??? My eyes glazed over halfway through.
@ALEXDTI said:"I still need/want to know how this game play, rules, and such"
There's a "how to Play" video on the website linked to in the article; a PDF pf the rules can also be downloaded.
@tomahawker said:
"Holy crap! An 18.5 minute how to play video??? My eyes glazed over halfway through. "
I didn't have a problem, but I've been an avid boardgamer for years.
@zux said:
"From photos it looks like the box could be half as thick. Based on boardgaming preferences this will instantly earn "box full of air" badge. "
That’s often down to big USA retailers wanting product to be a certain size for shelving planograns and viability. My mate designed a superb award winning game but once it hit mass production Walmart requested a bigger fascia.
Can anything new be introduced with these board games? They are all the same I think (the same concept).
@zux said:
"From photos it looks like the box could be half as thick. Based on boardgaming preferences this will instantly earn "box full of air" badge. "
Remember when CDs (music and games) were on the shelves? And then DVDs came. CDs and DVDs have the same physical size. So bigger box was required for DVDs so manufacturers and sellers could increase the price. Same goes here I guess - bigger box means higher prices.
There is production value of cards and such... so take a price of a polybag, PUB box, baseplate and you could have a ballpark figure for the brick part of this deal... but this is a game first, so I guess it depends on playability since I see "age from 10 up" which is odd to me... and box of air seems alright considering it has to fit baseplate inside and this also serves as a tray used in game...so I have seen worse... it will be an ok deal for 30 USD
@miskox said:
" @zux said:
"From photos it looks like the box could be half as thick. Based on boardgaming preferences this will instantly earn "box full of air" badge. "
Remember when CDs (music and games) were on the shelves? And then DVDs came. CDs and DVDs have the same physical size. So bigger box was required for DVDs so manufacturers and sellers could increase the price. Same goes here I guess - bigger box means higher prices."
If you're old enough you will remember when they gave CDs big boxes when they were fairly new.
Is that monkey piece new? I don't recall seeing that one before.
Asmodee are demonstrating the game at Tabletop Scotland this weekend, I got a chance to play a demonstration game.
https://tabletopscotland.co.uk/
It's very good, I enjoyed playing it a lot. It's got a nice set of scoring mechanics, the way you upgrade the acquisition of new pieces is neat, and there's optional sub-rules for challenges. I intend to buy a copy, and probably at least one for my younger relatives. The board games from the last round were good, I've maybe a dozen of those. Both Lego fans and board gamers have quite distinct value judgements, but maybe this'll be lucky enough to satisfy both.
The patterns on the board remind me of those old Orient Expedition sets and their board-game, pretty cool!
@GSR_MataNui said:
"The patterns on the board remind me of those old Orient Expedition sets and their board-game, pretty cool!"
I never got around to actually playing those, although I did get a fair number of OE sets. The games did look pretty cool.
I'm always happy to see and play with board games made with Lego. Lots of possibilities and imaginations, much more playable compared to many of those display / license set where it's just sitting there and collecting dusts (unless if it's dismantled and made into something else).