Monikers-er Review – Jeff Bezos, Emu Wars, and the Ultimate Party Game

Disclaimer: Monikers-er was provided for free by CMYK, although the writing and opinions of this article are my own.

Monikers: Monikers-er is the latest expansion for the hilariously clever-yet-dumb party game we all love. For seasoned fans like me, it’s the hopeful final piece to cram into the More Monikers big box. But if you’re new to Monikers, this expansion is the best starting point yet – delivering all the wit and chaos that make it a modern classic.

How to Play

Playing Monikers is simple: split into two teams and get ready for three fast-paced rounds using a deck of cards you’ve picked together. These cards could feature anything from Sailor Moon to a tumbleweed – or even a newscaster battling a hurricane.

Each turn, one teammate has a minute to get their team to guess as many cards as they can, one by one.

What makes Monikers such a blast is how the rules for giving clues change with each round:

• Round 1 (Taboo-style): Say anything you want—just not the name on the card.
• Round 2 (Codenames-style): You can only use one word. Choose wisely.
• Round 3 (Charades): Time to act it out! Your team guesses based on your (hopefully not too embarrassing) flailing.

Sounds stressful? It’s not! Since you use the same cards across all rounds, your team builds familiarity with the deck. By the Charades round, even a tiny gesture can spark a lightbulb moment. Instead of nerve-wracking, the final round becomes a hilariously shared experience – way more fun (and far less cringeworthy) than traditional Charades.

Let’s talk about Monikers-er

The first thing you’ll notice about Monikers-er is the production. It’s on a whole new level. The box gleams with foil accents, the rulebook is packed with playful images, and the cards now clearly mark which expansion they’re from and whether they’re safe for your 6-year-old. These little touches combine to make Monikers-er feel like a truly premium product.

The cards themselves are as fantastic as ever. After five expansions, you’d expect nothing less. While some cards from the original set feel a bit dated, this new batch breathes fresh life into the game with references to recent cultural phenomena like QAnon Shaman and Bored Apes.

With 330 cards in this expansion, I’m not going to list them all, but here are some highlights:

• Ape Wrestling: Someone squaring off with a gorilla in the ultimate test of bravery… or foolishness.
• Blep: A term for when an animal’s tongue pokes out slightly, unintentional and unbearably cute.
• The Emu War: A real historical fiasco where the Australian military fought – and lost – to a bunch of flightless birds.
• Reiner Knizia: A nod to the legendary board game designer behind classics like Ra and Tigris & Euphrates.
• Coffin Flop: Corncob TV’s top show, featuring hours and hours of real footage of real people with their spread blue butts flying out of boxes.
• An NPC: A gaming staple. Those background characters who hand out quests or sell you potions while you wreak havoc.
• Jeff Bezos eating the Mona Lisa: A surreal illustration of Bezos devouring Da Vinci’s masterpiece, styled like Goya’s ‘Saturn Devouring His Son’.

Along with their other releases (Lacuna and Daybreak) CMYK has absolutely stepped up their game, and if you needed any more proof Monikers-er is it. If you’re a long-time fan with 1,000+ cards already, you don’t need this expansion, but you won’t regret picking it up.

For new players, though, as I mentioned earlier, this is the ideal jumping-in point. Monikers-er delivers everything you’d want in a party game: hilarious cards, clever mechanics, and endless fun.