Zen Monkeys (2020)

The Monkey King Sun Wukong has decreed that his disciples, the monkeys of Flower and Fruit Mountain, must create a kingdom worthy of his status as Great Sage, Equal of Heaven. To do so each monkey must tame the mountain by following the Six Principles of Zen; forging paths, directing streams, and arranging features such as fruit trees, lanterns and statues that will most please King Monkey. In addition, Sun Wukong demands that all monkeys must help to build him a shrine on top of the mountain. Not all of the mountain monkeys agree with Sun Wukong however and some patrol the forest, ready to catch unwary monkeys. In Zen Monkeys players each have a monkey Disciple, creating their part of Sun Wukong's kingdom on the mountain. Each round player monkeys search the Wilds for placeable 'feature' resources or collect landscape tiles to shape their forest into a puzzle-like network of paths and streams. Searching along paths in the Wilds has a noise penalty that triggers the approach of the grey guardian monkeys who will chase and eject any monkeys found collecting. Sneaky monkeys will be able to collect and place these resources in their landscapes to best please King Monkey, following the set of objectives he has set them for the game. Collectable resources are scarce so the monkeys will have to landscape their part of the forest carefully and be ready to grab point-scoring features before their rivals can. After two full moon phases, the game ends and King Monkey appears to judge the most impressive landscapes of his new kingdom. Points are scored on the sets of features placed in each area, the adherence to the 6 zen principles and for the specific tasks assigned by King Monkey. —description from the publisher