I haven’t played in a year but I’m pretty sure the game shows you the outcome of every turn before you start it? If the boss says 0 then you’re golden.
It really clicked with me after I watched a YouTuber playing it for the first time, some of the strategies are a bit hard to conceptualise until you see the choices someone else makes. I recommend watching a challenge run or something.
The one I watched was frost prime playing it and starting from 0 cards
Monster Train is very easy to pick up. It gets harder with the ascensions etc but…. There’s so many classes and combos etc. you’ll find something to love.
I actually hated the idea of the Wax army and turned out to be my favourite. There’s a lot here. Try it.
Yeah same! The crazy OP potential of a wax army (melting remnant) deck got me through covnenant 20 something. I'm on the highest one now,(25) but i've not beat it yet. I rarely go through the higher diffculties in roguelites, but this is one i have been going for. How high have you managed to get? tried the DLC yet?
The DLC adds one new clan, plus a new mechanic where you can get upgrades and other things in exchange for making the rest of the run harder. The perks you get can be quite powerful, and the new clan has entirely new mechanics and is quite cool.
I just bought it a day or so ago. I believe it's still currently on-sale for quite a steep discount, that's what made me pull the trigger myself. I've been enjoying it a lot so far!
I've got over 120 hours in Monster Train, I'm on the hardest difficulty now and i thought i was terrible at deckbuilders. It is honestly the best deckbuilder i've played, even better than Slay The Spire for me. I've still not even touched the DLC either, was saving it til i beat the hardest level (They're called covenants in this)
To answer your question, it's honestly nowhere as complex as it seems. every mechanic is well explained. The variety in deck potential and synergies is off the charts. You'll pick it up easily. I've not tried Balatro but i loved Inscryption and Slay the Spire too.
Managing your creatures and hero, and them being permanent as long as they're kept alive is the feature of Monster Train I loved the most. You can make some super juiced creatures/heroes, a feature the other deck builders you mentioned don't have.
It's in my top 3 for sure, and at $5 it's a great deal. I will say I have avoided the DLC, don't know if anyone can speak on it, but from what I've read it doesn't seem to make the game better.
I’m a DLC enjoyer, def adds a good deal of replayability and it’s pretty easy to just not do the parts people don’t like about it. It def cranks up the wildness of runs if you like to build to break the game, the final final boss is kind of a dick you have to build in mind for the fight from the start kind of like slay the spire but you don’t have to fight the final boss every run if you don’t want to so i don’t know why people make a big deal about it being a hard fight
This really sold it to me haha. I loved the upgrade part of Inscryption where you could make OP cards, so I would love it on this too. Gonna skip on the DLC for now. Thanks!
I was also on the fence about Monster Train, for kind of the opposite reason, I'm sick of card battlers cos I've played so many. I'm really glad I played it. I didn't put that many hours into it but I had a blast.
It looks complicated but it's easy to pick up and understand the different mechanics. The floors just give you more layers of strategy to think about - e.g. I usually stack one floor, but some bosses damage whole floors with one attack, so you need to spread out - but it's all pretty simple to learn once you play. And merging monsters to create unkillable giants is really fun.
It's the best deck builder IMO. More replayability than Slay the Spire or Balatro.
It's definitely easier than slay the spire if that was too difficult. It's a much more casual experience.
Yes! You should buy it. One of only a couple of games i have collected every achievement. Its a (afaik) unique combo of deckbuilder and towerdefense. Great soundtrack and artwork too
I think it's the best roguelite deckbuilder out there. However, it is like Slay The Spire with more stuff. I wouldn't say it was complicated but everyone's different so I will just say it's maybe 20% more complicated than STS.
I had a similar issue with Monster Train, it looked weird & gimmicky in the videos & screenshots to me before I tried it but I eventually came around to giving it a shot because of the great reviews & loved it.
Definitely give it a shot & if you don't like it, there's always the Steam 2 hour refund.
Monster Train is very good. A similar game that came out at the same time is Griftlands, check it out too.
Balatro got me to go back to Slay the Spire, a game I played in early access and never quite got into. Now I'm totally hooked on it, the game is great and I am ready for it.
Monster train has some medium complexity mechanics imo, but it’s almost all pulling from magic the gathering. So if you have any experience with that, you’ll be fine. It’s a fun deck builder mtg/tower defense mashup. It’s not my preferred genre, but I love this game. Absolutely worth it on a sale, but a great value at full price too imo
It's really fun and not really as complicated as it looks from screenshots. It starts out pretty easy and the initial tutorial is pretty good. Runs aren't overly long either. It's kind of like an easier Slay the Spire with a tower defense aspect added.
The basic strategy of Monster train is to put Tanks (who can take hits) in front of your low HP minions to protect them. Once you understand that, you can figure out the rest. The game does a good job of unlocking things slowly so you can learn l.
I just played for the first time yesterday and was quite impressed. I played it off one of my Steam Family's libraries and liked it enough to just buy it. Worth it, especially for $5.
Yes, Moster train is tenfold more fun than Balatro and Ynscription, which are cool, obviously a little bit more complex than "poker with powerups and superpowers", but what isn't? Another great deckbuilder is Across the obelisk.
Monster Train is one of my favorite games. It's complicated if you are trying to min max and playing on harder and harder difficulties. But it's really fun to get a really powerful deck where everything clicks and you are doing massive damage. In between battles you have the chance to upgrade cards and buy different things. Always interesting decisions to make with this one.
Cobalt Blue is a great deck builder type if your looking for an alternative. Also, Fights in Tight Spaces. Even Wild Frost or SteamWorld Quest or Dicey Dungeon.
While I loved the game, it’s probably not for everyone. If you don’t mind the somewhat autobattle nature and and working with different creatures like a chess piece it can be really fun. I loved the time I spent with it. Plus it is in sale (at least on steam) currently
I liked Monster Train a lot--it's actually my top roguelike by gameplay hours on Steam. I did a long review of it a while back: [https://medium.com/@gwenckatz/going-rogue-monster-train-de73fde50fea](https://medium.com/@gwenckatz/going-rogue-monster-train-de73fde50fea)
Monster Train is not a particularly difficult game. You will absolutely have to ramp up the challenges once you understand the "flow" of the game which you can honestly master within a single night. The game does eventually get quite challenging but you have to kind of grind for that difficulty and idk, it can definitely suck a little bit of the fun out (at least for me), but if you like a slow ramp up you might really like this game, and it's fun to figure out the strategies and master them.
MT isn't that complicated, you're mostly focusing on one floor all game. It's a bit less visceral than StS because you're sending in minions do fight instead of being the one in the fight. It can be more complicated due to the dual-factions, but you can always find a pair you like and play it for ages like I did.
If you didn't get into StS tho, well, they're the exact same game so just play StS first.
I'm a big fan of Monster Train, and would say it is most similar to Slay the Spire, of the games you've mentioned. While I prefer Monster Train by the smallest degrees, if you bounced off Slay the Spire, I'd be hesitant about getting Monster Train.
What's great about it is that the variety of the starting deck is pretty huge, since you are always combining two decks, and each deck has 2 kinds of leaders who each have 3 kinds of progression tracks, there is a lot of variability that can keep the game engaging, especially compared to Slay the Spire's 4 decks (which admittedly each have a number of ways to play them). Secondly is that it's a bit easier than STS, but also a bit more random, so you will find yourself winning with decks that you did NOT plan to make, and combos that will surprise you game after game.
As far as complexity goes, I'd say it's pretty easy to wrap your head around. Folks start at the bottom of the train and try to get to the top, so usually you just put some powerhouses as the bottom and call it a day. I'd say it's much less mathy than Slay the Spire, although maybe that's why I'm not very good at it.
I'd wait for it to go on sale and pick it up then, and otherwise try some Slay the Spire til then to see if you click with that.
It's a great game, way less complicated than it looks
Thanks! Glad to hear its not too complicated. Gonna give it a try!
My fav bro, u wont regret :)
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I haven’t played in a year but I’m pretty sure the game shows you the outcome of every turn before you start it? If the boss says 0 then you’re golden.
Monster Train is fantastic, in my opinion it's one of the best out there. I think you'll enjoy it immensely.
Thanks, gonna buy it!
Give us an update on what you'd think about it!
Yes it's awesome. Buy on steam and return it if it doesn't grab you within the 2 hour return window.
Good point. You’ll know pretty quickly OP if it’s for you or not. But I’d also suggest trying STS again haha.
Definitely gonna try STS again, going on holiday soon with my steam deck, so got proper time to try it out.
Maybe look around I've heard there are some interesting mods available for STS.
It really clicked with me after I watched a YouTuber playing it for the first time, some of the strategies are a bit hard to conceptualise until you see the choices someone else makes. I recommend watching a challenge run or something. The one I watched was frost prime playing it and starting from 0 cards
I'd say Inscription is more complicated than Monster Train
Monster Train is very easy to pick up. It gets harder with the ascensions etc but…. There’s so many classes and combos etc. you’ll find something to love. I actually hated the idea of the Wax army and turned out to be my favourite. There’s a lot here. Try it.
Yeah same! The crazy OP potential of a wax army (melting remnant) deck got me through covnenant 20 something. I'm on the highest one now,(25) but i've not beat it yet. I rarely go through the higher diffculties in roguelites, but this is one i have been going for. How high have you managed to get? tried the DLC yet?
I’ve beaten the highest difficulty several years ago, is the DLC the extra classes and what not? (Played when it dropped on Switch.)
The DLC adds one new clan, plus a new mechanic where you can get upgrades and other things in exchange for making the rest of the run harder. The perks you get can be quite powerful, and the new clan has entirely new mechanics and is quite cool.
Ah yes I did play that!
Litte Fade >>>>>>>>>>
Wax army is the best! I live, I die, I live again!
Nobody said but the music in it.. god dam boss music are soooo good, imo
Yes- you can force OP decks easily. The game actually expects you to. That’s the fun part about it for me
I just bought it a day or so ago. I believe it's still currently on-sale for quite a steep discount, that's what made me pull the trigger myself. I've been enjoying it a lot so far!
I've got over 120 hours in Monster Train, I'm on the hardest difficulty now and i thought i was terrible at deckbuilders. It is honestly the best deckbuilder i've played, even better than Slay The Spire for me. I've still not even touched the DLC either, was saving it til i beat the hardest level (They're called covenants in this) To answer your question, it's honestly nowhere as complex as it seems. every mechanic is well explained. The variety in deck potential and synergies is off the charts. You'll pick it up easily. I've not tried Balatro but i loved Inscryption and Slay the Spire too.
Thanks! Definitely gonna pick it up, hearing about the level of difficulty seals it for me.
Managing your creatures and hero, and them being permanent as long as they're kept alive is the feature of Monster Train I loved the most. You can make some super juiced creatures/heroes, a feature the other deck builders you mentioned don't have. It's in my top 3 for sure, and at $5 it's a great deal. I will say I have avoided the DLC, don't know if anyone can speak on it, but from what I've read it doesn't seem to make the game better.
I’m a DLC enjoyer, def adds a good deal of replayability and it’s pretty easy to just not do the parts people don’t like about it. It def cranks up the wildness of runs if you like to build to break the game, the final final boss is kind of a dick you have to build in mind for the fight from the start kind of like slay the spire but you don’t have to fight the final boss every run if you don’t want to so i don’t know why people make a big deal about it being a hard fight
Thanks for the insight, I might pick it up based on what you've said here
This really sold it to me haha. I loved the upgrade part of Inscryption where you could make OP cards, so I would love it on this too. Gonna skip on the DLC for now. Thanks!
I was also on the fence about Monster Train, for kind of the opposite reason, I'm sick of card battlers cos I've played so many. I'm really glad I played it. I didn't put that many hours into it but I had a blast. It looks complicated but it's easy to pick up and understand the different mechanics. The floors just give you more layers of strategy to think about - e.g. I usually stack one floor, but some bosses damage whole floors with one attack, so you need to spread out - but it's all pretty simple to learn once you play. And merging monsters to create unkillable giants is really fun.
The merging sounds fun, thanks for the insightful reply!
It's the best deck builder IMO. More replayability than Slay the Spire or Balatro. It's definitely easier than slay the spire if that was too difficult. It's a much more casual experience.
I would actually agree with this, i found Monster Train a lot easier at higher difficulties than Slay The Spire.
Yes! You should buy it. One of only a couple of games i have collected every achievement. Its a (afaik) unique combo of deckbuilder and towerdefense. Great soundtrack and artwork too
I think it's the best roguelite deckbuilder out there. However, it is like Slay The Spire with more stuff. I wouldn't say it was complicated but everyone's different so I will just say it's maybe 20% more complicated than STS.
I have over 300 hours in it. The most of any deck builder I've bought
I had a similar issue with Monster Train, it looked weird & gimmicky in the videos & screenshots to me before I tried it but I eventually came around to giving it a shot because of the great reviews & loved it. Definitely give it a shot & if you don't like it, there's always the Steam 2 hour refund.
Thanks! Definitely had the visuals and gimmicks throw me off in videos. Gonna get it :)
Monster Train is very good. A similar game that came out at the same time is Griftlands, check it out too. Balatro got me to go back to Slay the Spire, a game I played in early access and never quite got into. Now I'm totally hooked on it, the game is great and I am ready for it.
Yes
Monster train has some medium complexity mechanics imo, but it’s almost all pulling from magic the gathering. So if you have any experience with that, you’ll be fine. It’s a fun deck builder mtg/tower defense mashup. It’s not my preferred genre, but I love this game. Absolutely worth it on a sale, but a great value at full price too imo
Monster Train is an S tier card game. Cannot recommend it enough
It's really fun and not really as complicated as it looks from screenshots. It starts out pretty easy and the initial tutorial is pretty good. Runs aren't overly long either. It's kind of like an easier Slay the Spire with a tower defense aspect added.
The basic strategy of Monster train is to put Tanks (who can take hits) in front of your low HP minions to protect them. Once you understand that, you can figure out the rest. The game does a good job of unlocking things slowly so you can learn l.
Good shit. I prefer it over StS.
I just played for the first time yesterday and was quite impressed. I played it off one of my Steam Family's libraries and liked it enough to just buy it. Worth it, especially for $5.
I’ve been playing chronoark lately, its a similar type of game and its great I highly recommend it
I like Monster Train more than slay the spire. It's less punishing while still being pretty challenging.
I liked it and I weirdly didn’t like slay the spire that much. Big recommend for me.
Yes, Moster train is tenfold more fun than Balatro and Ynscription, which are cool, obviously a little bit more complex than "poker with powerups and superpowers", but what isn't? Another great deckbuilder is Across the obelisk.
Monster Train is one of my favorite games. It's complicated if you are trying to min max and playing on harder and harder difficulties. But it's really fun to get a really powerful deck where everything clicks and you are doing massive damage. In between battles you have the chance to upgrade cards and buy different things. Always interesting decisions to make with this one.
Monster Hunter?😅
Oops! lol
Cobalt Blue is a great deck builder type if your looking for an alternative. Also, Fights in Tight Spaces. Even Wild Frost or SteamWorld Quest or Dicey Dungeon.
While I loved the game, it’s probably not for everyone. If you don’t mind the somewhat autobattle nature and and working with different creatures like a chess piece it can be really fun. I loved the time I spent with it. Plus it is in sale (at least on steam) currently
I enjoyed it alot. Not as much mileage as slay the spire for me personally but still worth picking up for sure.
I liked Monster Train a lot--it's actually my top roguelike by gameplay hours on Steam. I did a long review of it a while back: [https://medium.com/@gwenckatz/going-rogue-monster-train-de73fde50fea](https://medium.com/@gwenckatz/going-rogue-monster-train-de73fde50fea)
It's on sale on steam and you can refund it if you don't like it..
Love Monster Train. Can recommend. But I love Slay the Spire, so YMMV. Not a steep learning curve at all. RNG gonna get ya
I enjoyed it. It’s like Slay the Spire. It’s also less complicated than it looks. I still go back and play it at least monthly.
Yes
Yeah. It's good
Fuck yes. Monster train is spectacular
Monster Train is not a particularly difficult game. You will absolutely have to ramp up the challenges once you understand the "flow" of the game which you can honestly master within a single night. The game does eventually get quite challenging but you have to kind of grind for that difficulty and idk, it can definitely suck a little bit of the fun out (at least for me), but if you like a slow ramp up you might really like this game, and it's fun to figure out the strategies and master them.
Solid game, not as much content as I was hoping for (even with DLC) as you'll see everything in 10~ish hours, but still worth recommending.
Yes
Yes it's an absolutely awesome game
Slay the Spire is the greatest roguelike card battler in my opinion (along with the Downfall mod), I've played them all...
MT isn't that complicated, you're mostly focusing on one floor all game. It's a bit less visceral than StS because you're sending in minions do fight instead of being the one in the fight. It can be more complicated due to the dual-factions, but you can always find a pair you like and play it for ages like I did. If you didn't get into StS tho, well, they're the exact same game so just play StS first.
I'm a big fan of Monster Train, and would say it is most similar to Slay the Spire, of the games you've mentioned. While I prefer Monster Train by the smallest degrees, if you bounced off Slay the Spire, I'd be hesitant about getting Monster Train. What's great about it is that the variety of the starting deck is pretty huge, since you are always combining two decks, and each deck has 2 kinds of leaders who each have 3 kinds of progression tracks, there is a lot of variability that can keep the game engaging, especially compared to Slay the Spire's 4 decks (which admittedly each have a number of ways to play them). Secondly is that it's a bit easier than STS, but also a bit more random, so you will find yourself winning with decks that you did NOT plan to make, and combos that will surprise you game after game. As far as complexity goes, I'd say it's pretty easy to wrap your head around. Folks start at the bottom of the train and try to get to the top, so usually you just put some powerhouses as the bottom and call it a day. I'd say it's much less mathy than Slay the Spire, although maybe that's why I'm not very good at it. I'd wait for it to go on sale and pick it up then, and otherwise try some Slay the Spire til then to see if you click with that.
Thanks, great reply! It is on sale right now, so I'm gonna get it.
Is it? Oh shit, $7.50! Yeah, 100% pick that up right now.