Monkey Trap has an obvious affinity with Walter Zamkauskas' Amazons, but the board is 8x8, it has half the number of pieces and less 'dropping' options, because in Amazons the number of combinations of a move and a 'shot' largely exceeds the number of combinations of a move and 'drop' in Monkey Trap.
It is designed to be a fast fun game for the younger ones.

Here is the board with the pieces in the initial position. White begins. Turns alternate. On his move a player must move one of his monkeys, queenwise. A monkey may not move onto or over a square that is occupied by another piece or a coconut ... a coconut ... and must leave a coconut on the square it starts from or any intermediate square. First player to get stuck loses. Symmetrical black moves can be broken by white by for instance starting with 1.a1g7 2.g7g3 or a similar sequence.

Play Monkey Trap interactively or against AI


How I invented ... Monkey Trap

Monkey Trap © MindSports