Banana Balance (2011)

The name Banana Balance pretty much tells you everything you need to know about this game: It involves bananas and balancing.

Okay, you probably need to know a bit more than that in order to play, so here it goes: Before the game starts, you assemble the banana tree, add four spiky leaves to the top of the wobbly tree, then place a banana at the tip of each leaf. On a turn, a player rolls the special LEGO die, then:

• On a brown, hangs the monkey on a leaf with a banana, then claims all the bananas from that leaf, taking care not to knock over the tree.
• On a green, adds a new leaf to the tree.
• On a yellow, adds a banana from the stock to any leaf.
• On a green/yellow, does both of the actions above.

Any time you can't do a yellow or green action, you take a monkey action instead. If no bananas are on the tree, you can steal a banana from an opponent. Knock the monkey out of the tree, and you have to return a banana; knock over the tree or unbalance it so it topples, and you have to return all your bananas, ending the game and giving the win to whoever is the best banana baron. Variants include new ways to move the monkey and a suggestion to take monkey actions with your eyes closed.