Survive a Million Monkeys drops you onto an island and buries you under wave after wave of charging monkeys. You hold them off with whatever firepower you can afford, bank the currency they drop, and push your wave count as high as possible before the horde finally overwhelms you. Every run is built around endurance, not winning, and a typical run ends in defeat once the numbers become impossible to manage.
Quick answer: Kill monkeys to earn Cash for in-run weapon and health upgrades, then spend the Gems a run awards you back in the hub to unlock stronger Weapons and Classes for your next attempt.
The two currencies that drive every run
Two separate currencies keep the loop moving, and they work in very different ways. Cash is temporary and only exists for the duration of a single run. Every monkey you defeat adds Cash, and you spend it mid-match through on-screen buttons or keyboard shortcuts.
Inside a run, Cash does four things. It raises your Weapon by one tier, improves your health pool by a tier, places barricades to slow the horde, and throws grenades. Barricades and grenades cost a fixed amount and cannot be upgraded on their own.
Gems are your permanent progress. When a run ends, you earn Gems based on how many monkeys and waves you cleared. Back in the hub area, Gems buy new Weapons and Classes that carry over into future runs, so the longer you last, the faster you build a stronger starting setup.
Controls for movement, combat, and upgrades
Everything you need during a match sits on the keyboard and mouse. The upgrade and item keys matter as much as aiming, since you will be spending Cash while fighting.
| Action | Input |
|---|---|
| Movement | W, A, S, D |
| Jump | Spacebar |
| Aim | Mouse |
| Shoot | Left Mouse Button |
| Upgrade Weapon | V |
| Upgrade health | C |
| Toss grenade | G |
| Place barricade | X |
| Ultimate move | Q |
Weapon tiers and what to unlock first
Weapons are split into four tiers, and pressing V during a run spends Cash to climb one tier at a time. If you keep clearing waves, you can usually reach the top tier around wave 20, though it depends on the monkey types you face and how much Cash they drop.
| Tier | Weapon type | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Handguns | Starting firepower |
| Tier 2 | Shotguns and medium-range guns | Close-range clears |
| Tier 3 | Assault rifles | Steady mid-range damage |
| Tier 4 | Heavy weaponry | Crowd control for big waves |
In the hub, Gems unlock better options within all four tiers, and every unlock outperforms the default for that tier. Because you only spend a short stretch of each run on the handgun tier, put your Gems toward high-tier Weapons first. The sooner you can reach Tier 4 firepower, the easier it is to hold back the later waves.
Classes and their starting bonuses
Classes are playable archetypes that hand you bonuses from the moment a match begins. Those bonuses include passive effects, specialized equipment, and a unique Ultimate move, and the right Class noticeably lowers how hard survival feels. Like Weapons, each one is unlocked in the hub using Gems.
- Survivor
- Medic
- Engineer
- Juggernaut
- Bomber
- Outlaw
How the Ultimate move charges
Your Ultimate is the one action that does not cost Cash. Instead, it charges from kills. For every 100 monkeys you defeat, pressing Q unleashes your Class-specific Ultimate, which can deal heavy damage, grant a stat boost, or improve your gear.
Hold your Ultimate for the moments that threaten to end a run rather than firing it off early, since it is built to pull you through the hardest stretches of the later waves.
Monkey types you will face
Monkeys come in several forms, and each drops a different amount of Cash when defeated. Early waves throw standard monkeys at you, alongside a larger, more brutish variant, a red exploding monkey, a white monkey, and others. The longer you last, the more types appear, and the newer ones tend to be tougher than the ones before them.
By the time you reach wave 20, camping a single spot stops working. Switch to a run-and-gun approach so you are never pinned down as the mixed crowds grow.
Survival tactics for new players
Long runs come down to controlling space more than raw damage. Monkeys only become deadly when they reach you from several directions at once, so the goal of every move is to avoid getting surrounded.
- Keep moving through open areas so the horde stays grouped behind you.
- Confirm you have an escape route before engaging; never fight from a dead end or narrow corner.
- Let monkeys cluster, then hit the pack with area damage and grenades.
- Take out fast monkeys first, since they race ahead and cut off your path.
- Spend Cash on upgrades before each difficulty spike instead of hoarding it.
Playing alongside others can make the challenge easier. A match supports up to four players and continues until every one of them is defeated; rewards are determined separately by each player’s contribution. This teamwork is especially valuable in Hardcore mode, where enemies are much tougher than in standard mode.
Redeem codes for free Gems
The game is free to play, and you can unlock everything with Gems without spending real money. Codes are the quickest head start. Two are currently active: MONKEYS and SURVIVE, each worth 1,000 Gems for a combined 2,000.
Keep an eye on the lobby’s free gift box too, since it hands out a batch of Gems and an SMG to get you started. Between that reward and your first few runs, you will have enough Gems to unlock a higher-tier Weapon before the monkeys start arriving in serious numbers.
