Monkeyshines

About

Monkeyshines is a 1981 arcade game where you play a human trying to tag monkeys on a shifting grid of bars. Use a joystick to move left/right, press the action button to jump between levels or tag monkeys. Tagging requires catching a monkey and pressing the button quickly, delay and it escapes. Team play lets two players work together, giving each other boosts to reach higher bars. The game ramps up difficulty as you score points, making monkeys faster and harder to avoid. What stands out is its quirky variations. "Tailspin" rotates the bars mid-game, forcing you to adapt. "Shuteye" hides the bars entirely, turning it into a navigation puzzle. The bizarre "Monkey Chess" remix turns the grid into a 3-player board game, letting a third player alter the layout on the fly. Despite its age, the game leans into chaotic creativity, blending platforming, strategy, and absurdity. It’s a relic that still feels like a wild experiment.