Sun Wukong the Monkey King has decreed to his monkey tribe that to become his disciples, the monkeys of Huaguo (the Mountain of Fruit and Flowers) must turn the wild jungle into a kingdom worthy of Celestial Heaven.
To do so they must tame the mountain following the six principles of zen. Creating streams, ponds and paths through the jungle while collecting and arranging features such as fruit trees, bridges, statues and lanterns. Only the best laid zen garden will impress Sun Wukong.
The Monkey King also wants a shrine built on top of the mountain and it is up to his disciples to collect the necessary resources to do so.
All is not so simple however. There are not enough disciple monkeys to do everything Monkey King asks and further, some wild monkeys not allied with Sun Wukong, Guardians that are whispered to actually be demons! patrol the mountain wilds, alert and ready to catch noisy disciples.
Can you navigate the wilds, follow the teachings of Sun Wukong and create the most beautiful landscape around the mountain?
Play Zen Monkeys to find out!
Tile laying – worker placement – resource gathering – set collection
2-4 players
~90 mins
Age group: 8+
Each player commands 3 monkey disciples (workers) that over 18 rounds are either Foragers (collecting landscape tiles, features and resources from the main board) or Builders (stay on a Player’s Domain board to create their zen garden using tiles and point scoring features).
To win, players must balance the demands of Monkey King to build his shrine and provide offerings of fruit, while collecting resources and designing their own zen garden.
There is never enough time to do everything so players must plan, adapt to circumstances, avoid the guardians and monitor the other player’s Domains or else the favour of Monkey King will slip away to their rivals.
Winning the game therefore requires careful balance of disciple actions, focusing on strategies to gain the most Enlightenment Points, by following Sun Wukong’s teachings and by following the six principles of Zen.
The current Rulebook (not final) is available for download here [Zen Monkeys Rulebook] (or by clicking the image below).
