If you have been following my YouTube channel recently, you will have noticed that I have been trying out the daily challenges on a new deck-builder – Monster Train – from Shiny Shoe. I was not sure whether I would enjoy it, afterall I joined Hearthstone late enough that I was already bewildered by all the card options, but signing up for the newsletter included a free beta key.
I am already wishlisting this new game though and I am going to tell you why you should too.
The first thing that anyone said to me when I streamed a bit on my Twitch channel was that it was another Slay the Spire. The thing is, having then gone and watched the Steam advert from Mega Crit, I would say that Monster Train to Slay the Spire, is like comparing Overcrowd: A Commute ’em Up to STATIONflow.
The eight battle beta that we have all been playing is focused on the choo choo to hell and the storyline is basically that you are fighting your way to hell with a pyre to restart the fires of downstairs and thaw the frozen barren wasteland of evil. If you have ever watched Lucifer on Amazon Prime Video (or season 4 on Netflix, the thieving devils) then the attempts to get Luci to hell could compare.
All aboard the Triple Decker Train
The battles take place on a train, ironically is might even be a monster train, and you have to defend yourself against the delightful angels of heaven who are there to put out your pyre.
Levelling up your clans, gaining more powerful cards and upgrading your deck means that over the course of three floors you take on a range of champions who power up their minions with a range of explosives, armor and damage modifiers.
No two games are ever the same though. Each time you hit play the deck of cards is shuffled and with over 200 cards available you will always get something different. Various artifacts you can collect on the way, various battle modifiers, all adding to the mix. Even upgrades to your champion are from a randomly selected collection.
At the moment I have had the chance to play two of the five clans planned for the Monster Train launch. You unlock clans as you progress successfully through the game and level up the experience of your damage specialists of the Hellhorned and the spell and sentience of the Awoken.
The Good, the Bad, the Destructive
I like the way that Monster Train is different. Rather than just being some kind of spellmaster strategist in games like Trials of Fire you have the need to also build up your own team of monster minions with special abilities that you can then build up specially for that one game.
Grabbing a damage absorbing behemoth will help your high damage champion to attack from behind the lines, unless you want to use an Awoken unit who can sweep along the lines! Make your choices carefully though, otherwise you will back yourself into the corner where not even the train stewards can help you!
The thing is though, apart from some quite minor bugs, Monster Train has the look of being very, very polished. The battles flow nicely, the way that the randomness of the upgrade options between battles makes sense, and you can get the idea that your early mistake is alway going to give you the uphill battle.
Take a look at one of my winning daily challenges. I even managed to impress myself with the final battle.
Wishlist Monster Train Now!
It is due for release in Q2 of the year and you can find a range of my Monster Train games recorded in a YouTube playlist. While the promotional key was not in return for a review, it needed one, because I really enjoyed my ride on the choo choo to hell…. It just needed a buffet.