Monster Train is a strategy featuring elements of a deck-building game developed by the independent studio Shiny Shoe in May 2020. The Player finds himself in charge of the army of demons, fighting with relentless forces of heaven. Monster Train offers both, single-player and multiplayer gameplay - it's worth mentioning that it has a very high level of replayability, providing entertainment for quite a long time. The game features nice, cartoonish 2D graphics, with a variety of hand-drawn, characters.
Story Background
The world has changed. It finally has come to this - The Hell has frozen over. It would seem that the forces of Heaven are finally victorious. But NO! The titular Monster Train is the last hope for the crippled army of Hell. The train rides across the world, being the last stronghold of Hell, and you are put in charge of it. You must do everything that's possible to bring Hell back to its former power.
Gameplay mechanics
Monster Train mixes elements familiar to strategy games, with mechanics typical for a deck builder. The action is presented from the Top-down perspective. During the gameplay, players will travel across the world in the titular vehicle. It's worth mentioning, that on our adventure we can choose our destination, depending on personal preferences. During encounters with the 'evil' forces of Heaven, the players' main weapon is a deck of cards. With progress, we can add new, more powerful cards to our deck - more cards provide more tactical possibilities. There are over 220 unique cards in the game. Monster Train features five main monsters clans. Each of them offers a significantly different playstyle, and can be upgraded - there are 10 available levels for every Monsters Clan. In addition to that, our army is assisted by a powerful Champion with upgradable, special abilities. The game features a singleplayer experience, as well as an 8-players multiplayer mode called Hell Rush, where players can fight with each other.
Reception
The game received extremely positive feedback from critics and the gaming community. According to many players, Monster Train is one of the best strategy card games released in the last few years. On Metacritic, the game holds a very high score of 85/100 points. In addition to that, it is worth mentioning that over 96% of all Steam users' reviews are positive. Multiple positive opinions concerning the game created by Shiny Shoe prove, that it is a solid production, definitely worth recommendation.
Key features
- An extremely well-designed mix of video game genres.
- Command the Army of Hell and fight with the forces of Heaven.
- Over 220 unique, hand-drawn cards.
- A very high level of replayability, with many different possibilities.
- Both, singleplayer, and multiplayer experience.
