How to Play the Too Many Monkeys Game

Hey there! Wanna learn how to play the Too Many Monkeys game? Well, you’re in luck because I’m about to spill all the beans. Trust me, it’s gonna be a wild ride!

First things first, let me break down the game for you. The Too Many Monkeys game is all about getting rid of those pesky monkeys and being the first player to collect four cards of the same number. Sounds cool, huh? But, don’t let yourself get overwhelmed just yet. I’ve got your back!

Here’s what you need to do: each player is dealt six cards face down, while the rest of the cards form a draw pile. Your job is to find those matching cards and put them in your trophy pile. And when I say find, I mean it! No peeking, buddy!

Ready? Good! Let the game begin! The youngest player goes first. They have a choice to either draw a card from the draw pile or steal a card from an opponent. Oh ho ho! The plot thickens!

Now comes the tricky part. If you draw a card, you must get rid of one of your existing cards and put it face up in the center of the table. It’s like a monkey swap meet, folks! The suspense is killing me!

Oh, and by the way, if a player ever has four cards of the same number in their trophy pile, they win the game and become the Monkey Master! Talk about a bragging rights booster!

But, wait! There’s a catch. Remember those pesky monkeys I told you about? Well, they can be quite mischievous. If you draw a monkey card, you’re in for a surprise! You have to put it face up in front of you and then draw one more card. It’s like a monkey avalanche, my friend!

At this point, you might be scratching your head and wondering how you’re supposed to win with those pesky monkeys lurking around. Don’t worry, I’ve got a trick up my sleeve. If you steal a monkey card from an opponent, guess what? You get to give it right back to them! Revenge is sweet, isn’t it?

That’s pretty much it, friend! The game continues until someone collects four cards of the same number in their trophy pile. And when that happens, victory is yours! So, grab a deck of Too Many Monkeys cards, recruit some friends, and get ready for a wild, monkey-filled adventure!

• There are 55 cards
• This includes 36 number cards (6 of each number from 1 to 6)
• There are 4 wild monkeys
• Also, 4 Hello My Name is Skip cards
• Additionally, there are 3 elephant cards
• And 3 giraffe cards
• Plus, 3 raccoon cards
• There are also 2 Do Not Disturb cards
• Lastly, there is a Rulebook included

I Want a Good Night Sleep, But…

I just want to get a good night’s sleep, but my friends have taken over my room for a noisy slumber party. Can you help me get back to bed by flipping and swapping cards in numerical order? We’ll play multiple rounds.

When you’re the first person to have all of your cards face up in the right order, you’ll get dealt one less card. The game goes on until one player is left with just one face up card. That player is the winner!

Let’s Get Started

First, let’s shuffle the deck and give each player a row of six cards. Remember, don’t look at your cards! If there isn’t enough space for one row, you can make two rows of three cards instead.

Got it? Good. Now, let’s dive into the game. First, we need to set up. Stack all the remaining cards face down in the middle to form the draw pile. As the game progresses, we’ll also have a discard pile next to the draw pile, where we’ll place cards face up.

Let the Fun Begin!

Too Many Monkeys is a game played in rounds. The first round starts with the player who can make the best monkey noise. If you’re playing north of the Equator, the game continues in a clockwise direction.

Each turn starts with drawing a card. You can either:

• Draw the top card from the draw pile, facing down.
• Draw the top card from the discard pile, but it has to be a numbered monkey card that is not already in front of you. Remember, you can’t draw special cards from the discard pile.

When you draw a card with a numbered monkey on it, do this: if that monkey isn’t already in front of you, swap it with the face-down card in the position that matches the number on the card you just drew. Let me give you an example. If you draw a card with a 3 monkey on it, you grab the third card from the left and replace it with the 3 monkey you just drew, making it face up.

So, let’s take a look at the card you just swapped. If it’s a numbered monkey card that you don’t already have face up, we’ll repeat the process. Keep flipping and swapping cards until one of the following things happens:

You draw or flip over a numbered monkey card that is already face up in front of you. When this happens, end your turn by placing the duplicate card face up on the discard pile. Then, it’s the next player’s turn.

You draw or flip over a numbered monkey card that has a higher value than the number of cards you have in front of you. If this happens, end your turn by placing the card face up on the discard pile. Then, it’s the next player’s turn.

If you draw or flip over a special card, something different happens. We’ll talk about those in a bit.

Remember, these rules also apply to the card you draw at the beginning of your turn.

Special Cards

Wild Monkey

Did you know that a wild monkey is like a special card in a deck? It’s like a numbered monkey card, but with a twist – it can be exchanged for any of your face-down cards!

So, if you happen to draw or flip over a wild monkey card, you get to choose one of your face-down cards and replace it with the wild monkey card. It’s like having a sneaky trick up your sleeve!

And here’s a bonus: If later in the game, you happen to draw a numbered monkey card that matches the position of a wild monkey card you already have, well, you’re in luck! You can swap the numbered monkey card for the wild card and keep the game going. Just play the wild monkey card in place of another face-down card, and you’re good to go!

Giraffe

Hey there, giraffe! Sorry, but this slumber party is exclusively for monkeys. (You’re just too big to squeeze through the door!)

If you happen to draw or come across a giraffe card, your turn will end right away. Simply place it on the discard pile.

Elephant

Hey, did you catch what we told the giraffe? Monkeys rule this game! If you happen to draw or flip over an elephant card, your turn is over right then and there.

Just drop it on the discard pile.

Wait, there’s more! Meet the Raccoon

If you pull or turn over a raccoon card, you can look through the pile of discarded monkey cards to find a numbered one that you need! Put the raccoon card on top of the discarded pile and check the rest of the cards that are face up.

If you find a numbered card that you need, take it from the discarded pile and replace it with the corresponding face-down card. You can keep playing if you can use the card you turned over.

If you can’t find a numbered card that you need, it’s the end of your turn and it’s the next player’s turn.

Remember: You can only choose numbered cards from the discarded pile!

Hey there! My name is Skip, and I’ve got something pretty neat to share with you. It’s a special card that can turn the tables during your game. Let me explain how it works.

This card is a real game-changer. When you draw or flip it over, you get to choose any face-up card from another player’s row and flip it back face down. Pretty sneaky, huh?

Once you’ve made your sly move, place the Do Not Disturb card face up on the discard pile, and it’s time to pass the turn to the player on your left. Here’s a helpful tip: if you’re looking to cause some chaos, choose the player with the most face-up cards. That’ll really shake things up!

Well, that’s just a little taste of what I can do. Get ready to strategize, be unpredictable, and have a blast with this powerful card in your hand. Let the games begin!

Hey there! I’m Skip, the newest addition to the slumber party. Don’t forget my name now! If you happen to draw or flip over this card, guess what? You’ll get to skip your opponent’s next turn. How cool is that?

What you need to do is place this card right in front of any player and proudly say, “Hello, my name is Skip!” That card will be sitting there, just waiting around until it’s that player’s turn. Once their turn rolls around, the card goes face up onto the discard pile.

Oh, one important thing to remember: you can’t give a player more than one skip card at a time. Fair is fair, right?

Crushing the Opening

When all your cards are exposed, with monkey cards arranged sequentially from 1 to 6 (wilds included), victory in the round is yours!

Note: Just so you know, if we somehow run out of cards in the draw pile, all we have to do is shuffle the discard pile and start fresh. Easy peasy!

Starting a New Round

Alright, let’s kick off a new round by shuffling all the cards and dealing new rows to everyone. Here’s the catch though: the winner of the last round will now receive one less card than they had before. As for everyone else, they’ll be dealt the same number of cards as in the previous round.

Let’s say you won the first round and had 5 cards. In the second round, you’ll be dealt 5 cards again, but this time you only need to collect cards numbered 1 to 5 in order. The other players, on the other hand, still have to collect cards numbered 1 to 6.

And the game continues with each player losing one card from their hand every round. Exciting, huh?

End of the Game

Let’s keep playing until someone has only one card left and they draw a card with a sleepy Primo on it. When that happens, that person has won the game because they got Primo back to bed! If you want a shorter game, give everyone fewer cards (maybe 4 or 5) in the beginning.