"Slay theSpire's formula, rebuilt as a train engine"
About
Monster Train is a deck-building roguelike where you assemble a team of monsters to defend your train against waves of invading enemies across three vertical lanes. Each run, you construct a deck from randomly offered cards and spells, then deploy creatures strategically to block incoming threats on the different levels of your train car. Between battles you'll recruit new monsters, upgrade your deck, and prepare for increasingly difficult encounters as you ascend toward the final boss.
Verdict
Monster Train takes the roguelike deckbuilder and stacks it vertically, handing you a two-clan card pool and a three-floor tower to defend that rewards combo-building most other games in the genre never reach. It runs out of road around the 40 hour mark, when the lack of route variety and the swing of the draw start to show, but the climb to that point is one of the best in the genre.
You'll like it if …
- +you chase deep combo space and pulling apart how systems interact
- +you like positioning puzzles layered on top of card math
- +you happily replay the same structure to optimise different builds
You'll dislike it if …
- −you want a setting and story you come to care about
- −you need fresh route variety to keep runs feeling distinct over the long haul
Breakdown
- +Vertical battlefield turns positioning into a puzzle layered on top of card math
- +Two-clan deck construction creates combo space that outpaces genre peers
- −Late runs can hinge on whether the right units and upgrades show up
- +Five clans with two champions each and a card pool wide enough to support wildly different builds
- +Covenant difficulty ladder ratchets challenge as you improve
- +Strong value at 25 to 40 hours of playtime for the price
- −Fun thins out around 40 hours when runs start leaning on the draw
- −Only two paths between fights makes runs feel structurally samey
- −Barely a story present
- −Train-to-hell setting is set dressing rather than a place you come to care about
- +Slick and readable UI
- +Solid, propulsive soundtrack that earns its keep
- −Enemy designs lean generic
- −Visuals won't be why anyone remembers it
- −DLC lurches the balance hard enough that newcomers should leave it off until they know the base game
score
