Once upon a time, Hungry Monkey searched for his lost breakfast bean in the jungle. He asked the other animals for help, from Swift Sparrow to King Tiger, but they all ignored his pleas. Until Tiny Ant climbed into Tiger's ear and ordered him to help. King Tiger was scared by the voice in his ear. He commanded all animals to look for the bean, and no one dared to refuse. Eventually, Swift Sparrow found the bean, and Hungry Monkey was finally happy.
Hungry Monkey is a card game where the goal is to get rid of your hand cards and collect beans. You have animal cards both in hand and in a face-down row. You must be the first to play all your cards, first from your hand and then from your card row.
You have to play cards with the same or a higher number. You can trigger an effect with a powerful animal.
If you want to play multiple games you keep track of the scoring with Bean cards. The player with the most beans at the end of the last game wins.
—description from the publisher
- clever memory-based tension in a two-to-six player game
- family-friendly with appealing art
- fun dynamic when played with others
- some players feel the face-down component requires memory load that can be challenging
- slightly more strategic than pure party games
- kid-friendly animal lineup with memory and set-building
- animal-themed cards; front-facing hand and back-facing four face-down cards
- competitive table presence with memory elements
- Spicy and Sweet
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- deck_constriction_and_recovery — discarding and triggering events exposes or hides cards, affecting future plays
- hand_vs_face_down_cards — players balance playing from hand with preserving face-down options
- memory_and_hidden_information — four face-down cards per player must be managed with knowledge revealed during play
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the learning curve here is bigger than you might expect for a wallet game, but it's rewarding
- the artwork is stunning and the components fit in a wallet-sized package
- Unlock! Kids has no app on purpose and is great for family play
- this is a very family-weight game, very puzzly and relaxing
- AP inducing but still a lot of fun when the group clicks