Monster Train

Monster Train is a great roguelike deck builder game. Honestly besides Slay the Spire, probably the best one out there. It is challenging, addictive, and more importantly fun to play. It gives me the same feeling as Slay the Spire. Unlocking everything and winning with every character on covenant 25 was a great journey. I am glad I tried this game out and will definitely buy Monster Train 2 very soon!

SCORE: ★★★★ +Fun, three-layered twist on the roguelite card battler formula +Interesting and varied decks that can be mixed for dynamic combos +Tons of quality of life features like 8x speed modifiers and damage previews -Balance feels shaky on the various decks as difficulty rises I was a fairly recent Slay the Spire convert, but it awakened a pretty insatiable desire in me for roguelite card battlers, especially those with clever twists. Lucky me, then, when I had a week-long trip, a Steam Deck, and a desire for something replayable, and Monster Train popped up on my wishlist on sale. I might be new to the subgenre, but quality's easy to recognize, especially when it's so striking and novel as this. The player's thrown into the game without much knowledge: Heaven has destroyed most of Hell, and the surviving demons have commandeered a train known as The Boneshaker that runs between the realms to protect the last Pyre that sustains their life force. While it's not explicitly stated whether or not demons are as malicious or evil as they are in other settings, it doesn't take much to side with the faction who's not attempting to do a genocide. What this means in terms of actual gameplay is that the eponymous Monster Train (named thus I assume because the demons have also allied with fae and other mythical creatures) chugs through a series of levels in which the player gets a chance to upgrade their deck through purchases and events before ending in a battle against the angels and their human servants. The big twist is that the player's Pyre - effectively their life bar - is stationed on the fourth level of the train, and the enemies advance through the first through levels (usually but not always from the bottom up) trying to reach it. Saving for the miniboss or boss at the end of each combat stage, enemies will only linger on each floor for one turn, meaning that they need to either be taken down quickly or worn down before they finish their climb. The player only starts with a single clan to play as - the fiery Hellhorned - but it doesn't take long to unlock another, and from there, it's a steady drip of new cards and clans to play that keeps things fresh. My favorite feature is that once the second clan is unlocked and onward, each run has the player choose a primary and a secondary clan, allowing them to blend playstyles. While I experimented with everyone, I wound up mostly favoring the Awoken, a nature-themed clan of plant monsters who had cheap, potent healing spells and tanky units, but lacked damage. As a result, I'd pair them with the Hellhorned and use their beefy frontliners to protect my fragile damage dealers as I enraged them and gave them purely offensive stats. Combat itself plays out pretty much automatically once the player starts the turn, so unit placement and planning are crucial to a successful run. While the permanent boons are great, roguelites live and die by the variety they can inject into each run; after all, it's a genre built on repetition, and making starting over after a loss frustrating - or, perhaps worse, boring - is the worst sin one can make. Thankfully, Monster Train doesn't disappoint. Even on the initial difficulty, units can be upgraded with more health and damage or powerful effects like Quick (allowing them to attack first; most of the game is balanced around the enemies getting the first shot) or Multistrike (which multiplies their damage by adding another strike to their attack). Spells get plenty of love too, becoming cheaper or more powerful or even getting upgraded to always start in the player's hand. While it didn't take me long to find my favorite path to take with each card, there was more than enough variety to keep me experimenting with synergies the whole way through. If I have any real complaint, it's that Monster Train's expansion - The Last Divinity - introduces a new zone and boss that feels pretty uneven in challenge. While each run, especially when Escalating the difficulty, tghrows curveballs in the base game, only Last Divinity feels like it severely punishes certain deck types -- for example, its final battle features room-sweeping attacks that can't be blocked by a tank, thus neutralizing much of the strategy of the Umbra Clan's 'Morsel' deck, where they devour weak minions each turn to grow stronger. I could also say that despite the rather abundant lore, there's effectively no real story, but considering this is a roguelite, I don't see it as a real negative, just worth noting. In every way that counts, though, Monster Train absolutely rocks. With distinct visuals and interesting unit designs it's fun to watch, the strategic layer boasts tons of tactical depth, and convenience features like a damage preview and speed modifier emphasize polish and smoothness. It stands proudly on its own even in the rapidly growing deckbuilding roguelite subgenre, and my time with it has left me incredibly excited to tackle its more recent sequel.

Good game. I was looking for something to play till Slay the Spire 2 comes out. It's quite fun and I enjoyed it but not as much as Slay the Spire. It doesn't feel too difficult for a card game. 8.5/10