Quick Review: Do Not Feed The Monkeys

The game did warn me, but I didn’t believe it; this crap really is addictive.

First screen of my very first playthrough. I think I actually
solved one of these on my first try?

Made by Fictiorama Studios and Badland Games, published by Alawar and released on October 23rd, 2018, Do Not Feed The Monkeys is an odd time management/puzzle combo. Your unnamed protagonist just joined a mysterious group called the Primate Observation Club, through which they gain access to feeds of unprotected cameras and webcams. Your job, as a new “monkey observer”, is only to watch. Spy, jot down notes, look the “monkeys” up online, bow down to your voyeuristic tendencies. Sometimes, the Club might send you questions to answer, with monetary compensation if you answer correctly. Fishy...

Every little yellow mark at the bottom is a case you haven't
yet "solved" or completed. On this screen alone, there's 2
that are currently ongoing.

However, you are encouraged not to interact with the “subjects”. You can find their location, their actual name, their phone number or e-mail address... You could contact them through phone or instant messaging, make a positive change in their lives, steer them towards betterment or make their lives worse if you want. Right some wrongs. Save people. But! You’re not supposed to. But you’re going to do it anyway, aren’t you.

Your amateur sleuthing is no joke - you grab a lot of
info just from what people in the feeds are talking about.

You also must buy "cages" to stay in the Club. You start with four. To go to a Level 2 membership, you need nine. Each new one costs 50$. Then, you need 16 to get to Level 3. Oh, and you MUST be able to upgrade to the next level every five days, or you lose your membership. It gets kinda crazy, but at least it stops at 25 on Day 16. Many feeds cannot be interacted with whatsoever; no need to worry about them. When it comes to those you can interact with, once you’re done with them (meaning you’ve basically finished their storyline – several have multiple endings), you can pretty much forget them. If you’re lucky, there’s money for you at the end as well, so if you want to keep going with the program, you will need to feed the monkeys.

Sleep enough, work odd jobs. Oh, and be careful not to
eat too much crap. Considering everything the dev team has
planned for, I'll bet you can die of bad health in this game.

From there, the game becomes a time management challenge as you have limited time to do everything. Oh, and amidst all this, your character still needs to keep healthy, eat and sleep enough, pay rent, AND deal with other annoyances of life. You can pick up jobs for extra money every now and then. Yeah, it’s a lot to consider. And because I’m a goddamn goody two-shoes, I tried to go for the best ending possible. Heck, just getting to Day 16 was tough until I learned how to handle each cage. The only remaining challenge was to make enough money to get there.

The Shewolf of Wall Street, soon reading fairy tales to
kids in a library near you!

On the plus side, everything is done with the mouse. Important keywords seen in cages or heard during conversations (which are written on the screen when you watch a cage) are highlighted in yellow; click them to write them down, then it’s up to you to connect the dots and help or cause trouble. Some cages are mundane. Some are funny. Some are satirical or full-on black comedy. Others are straight-up horrifying. The cages are randomized on each playthrough, so you never know what you’ll get and in which order. Based on what I saw on a wiki, there are still cages that I haven’t seen. I’d rather let you discover these scenarios yourself... ...well, aside from the ones I reveal in the screenshots for this review, anyway... because some of these are so outrageous they must be seen to be believed.

Well, if the locomotive was dangerous... ....wait, dissolving the
Supreme Court? The fuck? (Thank God this is satire...)

Well you don't get to see that every day!
....Instead, you get to see that every night.

There are so many secrets, so many endings, if you want to see everything (or, at least, hunt for achievements), you’re guaranteed to spend a lot of time on this one. Behind its simple gameplay, this game hides some devious puzzles and tricks, forcing you to be clever and wise with your time to solve everything... if that’s your goal. Alternately, if you want to cause massive chaos, you can do it too... Its secrets are a major reason to come back and play it again – even after going through it once for this review, I felt compelled to go back and do even better. Maybe I’ll do an evil run someday. I’ve already racked up a dozen hours on it and it’s one of my favorite discoveries of the year so far. Strong recommendation.

Do Not Feed The Monkeys is available on Steam for 15.99$ USD. A sequel set in the far future of 2099 also exists, released in 2023.