We enjoyed Hearthstone but it lost it shine and we needed a good twist on the genre. We got the chance to play Monster Train and adored it. Read on our thoughts below.
Monster Train
Monster Train is a Card building game set on a train to hell. As the player, you must defend the final burning pyre against ever evolving enemies in several levels before taking the pyre back to hell.
It promises to make sure no play through is the same with over 220 cards, 5 monster clans with different ways to play them and several varied pickups in between levels.
At the begin of each run to get the burning pyre home you pick two classes to run with. Main Class will pick your champion and the second class picks your support – finding that balance is key to success.
Monster Clans include:
- Awoken – Focus is on defensive walls with spikes and sweep motions to attack all enemies
- Hellhorned – Hefty Demons and quick demons at your control. Focus on Multistrike to attack multiple times and Rage to increase attacks.
- Stygian Guard – Ocean Guards – Frostbite enemies and Incant extra events on magic spells.
- Umbra – They eat smaller friendly creatures to gain their power. Build your beefy guys to eat then little guys to beef them up more! and more!!!
- Melting Remnant – Extra abilities to summon more units and adjust stats on death.
Gameplay
There are 4 floors in each level on the journey to hell. Each level starts with you drawing cards and the enemy setting up the level. Floor 1 to 3 is where you fight and floor 4 is where the the final burning pyre lives on the journey.
Your deck contains the regular deck building game tropes of monsters and magic. Put your monsters down and use the magic attacks to win.
Limits are in play with bigger magic and monsters costing more so make sure to balance your deck.
Turn by Turn the battle plays out with you working out what plays best for the battles.
In Between Battles
Another segment of game play is in between the battles as you must guide the train to reach the next level. Generally 2 lines are available to pick to new stuff and build that important deck to beat the game.
Line success – go left to improve a monster and get a new Hellborn card or go right for a Magic Improvement and a new Umbra card.
On the journey each line will offer different bonuses to refine your deck but you cannot do everything – making every decision important on the journey ahead.
Overall
7 hours in and loving it. It offers good pick up and play but mastering each clan and finding out the best combination to complete the train journey is fricking hard. Love the ability to level up in between runs to hell.
At the price point of £19.49, it is a solid 5/5 game. Definitely worth the price.
For More Info
Monster Train – Official Site – Steam –
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