How To Play: Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes has you and your friends teaming up, swapping roles, and racing the clock to save humanity. You'll juggle crisis events, share resources, and play cards smart. How To Play planet of the apes is easy, but winning takes teamwork, laughs, and a little bit of luck.

Overview
Ready to swing through some chaos and bananas? My friends and I wrestled our way through Planet of the Apes, and boy, it’s wild! If you’re wondering how to play Planet of the Apes, you’re in the right place. This guide covers a quick outline of the game rules, plus the best strategies we found for actually winning—not just flinging cards everywhere and hoping for the best.
What’s in the box
- 1 Game Board
- 5 Hero Figurines
- 162 Cards
- 1 Threat Tracker
- 4 Willpower Trackers
- 6 Dice
- 40 Crisis Tokens
- 22 Story Tokens
- 10 Location Tiles
- 1 Rulebook
How To Play Planet of the Apes: Rules Summary
Setup
- First, lay out the game board in the center of your table. Make some room for chaos.
- Next, choose your ape faction and grab the matching player board and tokens.
- Shuffle the event and encounter decks. Place them within reach, but not too close to the snacks.
- Deal starting resources to each player, like food, weapons, and maybe a spare banana or two.
- Finally, place the crisis tracker and set the starting morale. Prepare for a wild ride.
Gameplay
- On your turn, first draw an event card and read it aloud. Even if you can’t pronounce the villain’s name, give it a go.
- Then, take actions. You can move, search, attack, or resolve challenges. Work together, or just pretend you are.
- Manage your resources. It’s not fun when you run out of food and everyone gets grumpy.
- Next player goes. Rinse, repeat, and try not to mess up your friend’s strategy—on purpose anyway.
Winning
- To win, complete all story missions before the crisis tracker or morale reaches zero. Easy, right? Ha, just wait.
- If you manage to finish the final mission card, celebrate. If you fail, prepare to act like you didn’t care about winning anyway.
Special Rules & Conditions
- If an event makes you split up, don’t panic. Just follow the card instructions and hope for the best.
- When the crisis tracker hits certain spots, you face extra challenges. Laugh nervously and face them as a team.
- If a player’s character gets knocked out, they can still help. Sort of. Just follow the special rules for knocked out apes.
- Some missions will change the normal rules. Read carefully. This is not the time to skip ahead.
Now you know how to play Planet of the Apes! As a bonus tip: always keep your bananas close and your enemies closer. If you want to master the game, keep searching for the best strategies and try not to start a real ape uprising at your kitchen table. For more tips on How To Play planet of the apes, stick around!
Best Planet of the Apes Strategies
Unleash the Power of Teamwork and Role Coordination
Talking It Out
If you want to master How To Play planet of the apes, talk with your buddies a lot. Tell them your plans and ask for theirs. It helped my group dodge some real disasters.
Knowing Your Ape
Each player gets a unique ape with special skills. Use
- Assign each ape a main task, like fighting or calming things down.
- Remember what your ape does best and remind your team.
- Stick to your role, but jump in to help if things get wild.
Passing the Torch
Switch tasks if one ape is in trouble. My friend once traded roles and saved us all!
Keep Your Cool: Mastering Crisis Management in Planet of the Apes
Spot Trouble Early
When chaos brews, my group and I always scan the board. Staying alert means we can respond before things go bananas. Here’s what we do:
- Check for rising threat cards each round.
- Keep an eye on low morale or resources.
- Warn teammates about growing dangers.
Shifting Priorities Fast
Every round feels like juggling flaming coconuts. So, when new problems appear, act quick. Here’s how I lead my crew:
- Drop side tasks if a crisis pops up.
- Redirect everyone to the most urgent threat.
- Keep calm and make bold calls.
Smart Use of Special Abilities
Finally, remember to use each ape’s powers! I never save them for a rainy day when the end is near. Try these tactics:
- Time special actions for breaking point moments.
- Combine powers for bigger impact.
- Remind friends not to hoard their abilities.
Knowing how to play planet of the apes means planning ahead, shifting focus, and using your team’s strengths before the humans seize control!
Be the King of Apes: Mastering Resource and Card Efficiency
Count Every Banana: Managing Your Resources
Trust me, I learned the hard way that hoarding resources in Planet of the Apes is not a winning move. You actually want to use them wisely! Here’s how:
- Always spend resources on the biggest threats first.
- Plan ahead so you don’t run out right before a boss card appears. That happened to me. It was chaos.
- Share with your teammates, unless you like losing together.
Play Those Cards Like a Pro
How To Play planet of the apes well? Don’t just slap down cards; pick the right one every turn. Consider these tricks:
- Save attack cards for moments when trouble is stacking up.
- Discard weak cards to keep your deck strong.
- Combo cards—nothing feels better than a perfect one-two punch!
Adapt and React
Your plan will not survive past round two. So, use extra resources when the table’s looking rough, and don’t get too attached to a single strategy!
Go Forth and Rule the Apes!
Well, there you have it—my top tips after many bananas and a couple of bruised egos. I hope you now know How To Play planet of the apes and win, or at least survive without your friends flinging dice at you in anger. Remember: work together, use your cards smartly, and talk a lot (more than my Aunt Linda at Thanksgiving). Good luck out there, future ape leaders. May your strategy be strong and your peanut butter rations never run out!
Want to know what we think of Planet of the Apes? Read our detailed review of Planet of the Apes here