Bananagrams
The classic race with six wild monkey tiles
WildTiles
Drawing a monkey tile unjams a grid by standing in for the exact letter you need.
$16.99
Rated 4.8 out of 5 by 1,605 players
Six tiles in this set show a monkey instead of a letter, and each one takes the place of any character you are missing. We zip them into our leaf-printed banana pouch alongside the full set of letter tiles.
Hands move fast across the table as everyone races to connect their letters at the same time. Placing a monkey tile keeps your grid growing until a fresh Peel forces the room to rebuild.
| Players | 1–8 |
| Ages | 7 and up |
| A game runs | About 20 minutes |
| In the box | 144 letter tiles plus 6 wild monkey tiles, in a banana pouch |
| You also need | A table, same as the classic. |
| The feel | Everyone plays at once |
How a game unfolds
The race itself is unchanged from Bananagrams; the six wild tiles are the whole difference.
Split once
Turn all the tiles face down in the middle. That pile is the bunch. Each player draws their opening hand and flips it on the call.
Build all at once
Every player builds their own crossword grid at the same time. There are no turns to wait for.
Peel repeats
Empty your hand and say so. Everyone draws one more, and the bunch shrinks by one per player.
Bananas ends it
When the bunch runs below the number of players, the next grid to go clean wins the check and the game.
The wild tiles
Six monkey-marked tiles play as any letter, one at a time. And where the seasonal sets leave the wild rule to a table agreement, this set prints it: a wild may be re-assigned to a different letter when you rearrange your grid.
What makes it its own game
- Cream tiles with black letters form words across the bare table without a board.
- Players can re-assign a monkey tile to a different letter whenever they rebuild a section.
- Calling Dump swaps one unwanted letter back into the bunch for three new ones.
- When the bunch holds fewer tiles than players, the first clear grid can call Bananas.
Worth knowing before you open the box
The seasonal sets carry eight wilds to this pouch's six, but this is the one that settles the re-assignment argument for you, in print.
Who it suits
Families choosing between our sets will appreciate that this edition settles the wild rule in print rather than leaving it to house agreements. Fast-paced races suit confident spellers who enjoy quick adjustments under pressure. A player who prefers taking patient turns might find this simultaneous scramble stressful.
Before your first game
Read the printed re-assignment rule aloud to the table before anyone calls Split. That quick step prevents mid-race arguments about whether a monkey can change letters during a rebuild. Keep the bunch mixed face down in the center of the table so draws stay honest.
Elsewhere on the shelf
Still reading? That is usually a yes.
The classic race plus six monkey tiles that stand in for whatever letter you are missing.
$16.99