Overview

Cheeky Monkey is a push-your-luck set-collection game where players draw animal tokens from a bag, trying to collect the most of each type. On your turn, keep drawing tokens – but if you draw a duplicate of one you have already drawn this turn, you lose everything drawn so far. Monkeys are special wild cards that let you steal from opponents. The player with the most points from tokens and bonus tiles wins.

Components

• 52 animal tokens (8 different animals in varying quantities)
• 8 bonus tiles (one per animal, showing the quantity of that animal in the game)
• 1 monkey bag
• Rules

Animal Token Distribution

Animal	Quantity	Bonus Value
Elephant	3	10
Seal	4	9
Hippo	5	8
Giraffe	6	7
Panda	7	6
Kangaroo	8	5
Lion	9	4
Monkey	10	3

Setup

1. Place all 52 animal tokens in the bag and mix them.
2. Lay the 8 bonus tiles face-up where all players can see them.
3. Select a starting player. Play proceeds clockwise.

Turn Structure

On your turn, draw tokens from the bag one at a time and place them face-up in front of you (NOT on your stack).

After each draw, check for matches and decide whether to continue or stop.

Actions

Drawing Tokens

Draw one token from the bag and place it face-up in front of you.

Check for steal: If the top token on any opponent’s stack matches the token you just drew, immediately claim that token from their stack and add it to the tokens in front of you.

Continue or Stop:

• Continue: Draw another token. If it matches any token already in front of you this turn, your turn ends immediately – ALL tokens drawn this turn go back into the bag. Your stack is unaffected.
• Stop: Place all tokens in front of you onto your personal stack in any order you choose. Only the top token should be visible.

Animal Herds

If all tokens in front of you happen to be the same animal, place them at the bottom of your stack. Your turn ends immediately.

Cheeky Monkeys (Special)

When you draw a Monkey token, you may either:

• Claim matching Monkey tokens from opponents’ stack tops (like a normal match), OR
• Swap the Monkey token for any single token visible on top of an opponent’s stack. Take that token and place it in front of you; give the Monkey to the opponent (who places it on top of their stack).

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The game ends when the bag is empty and all tokens have been stacked.

Scoring:

1. For each animal type, the player who has the most tokens of that type claims the corresponding bonus tile. If tied, no one gets the bonus tile.
2. Each player’s score = total number of tokens collected + sum of bonus tile values.

The player with the highest score wins. If tied, the player with the highest single bonus tile wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• You can only steal from the TOP of opponents’ stacks, not buried tokens.
• The order you stack your tokens matters – choose carefully which animal to leave on top.
• Tokens stolen from opponents during your turn count as drawn tokens; drawing a match to them later still busts you.
• If you bust (draw a duplicate), all tokens in front of you this turn return to the bag, including stolen ones.
• Monkeys let you choose one of two abilities, not both.

Player Reference

Turn: Draw token > Check for steals from stack tops > Continue or Stop

Bust: Draw a duplicate of a token already in front of you = all this turn’s tokens return to bag.

Stop: Stack all tokens in front of you in chosen order.

Monkey special: Steal like normal OR swap monkey for any opponent’s top token.

Scoring: Token count + bonus tiles (most of each animal type; 3-10 points).