I realized playing Monster Train that rogue-like deckbuilding games are my favorite type of interactive entertainment. The feeling of customizing a collection of cards to accentuate the synergies between them feels extremely rewarding. The genre also activates a latent nostalgia within me for the collectible trading card games I played growing up.

And, while Monster Train didn't woo me as completely as fellow genre standouts Griftlands and Slay the Spire, its polish and ability to put a tantalizing twist on classic linear combat makes it well worth exploring.

Monster Train's story is perfect for what it needs to be. It's there enough to draw the player into the fantasy of the world and establish that world's vibe, but it doesn't extend into core gameplay. Lore abounds but never gets in the way. For what it's worth, the concept itself is also very creative. The stewards of Heaven have successfully invaded Hell, freezing it over and - well, just ruining the party. The remaining inhabitants of Hell, known as the Hellborne, are tasked with transporting the last remaining piece of the Pyre - the sacred (or... anti-sacred?) fire that keeps Hell ablaze - to a new home where it can once again flourish so that Hell can rise again. It flips typical hero-villain tropes on their head. You play as the monsters.

Monster Train's game loop follows the basic conventions of its genre. You make decisions along a map with a branching tree in terms of what booster cards, upgrades, and encounters you're able to access between battles. Those decisions influence the type of deck you're able to build, allowing you to pick between different types of cards, add and remove them from your deck, and upgrade them to your heart's content by spending in-game currency. To progress through the map, you must confront a series of increasingly challenging enemy hordes and bosses before winning a run.

And it is in those confrontations that Monster Train demonstrates its novelty. Unlike a typical card-battler, where you play your hand to battle bosses and/or groups of lesser opponents on a single plane, the titular train in this game plays host to four levels and combat takes place on each as enemies enter and ascend.

Monster cards can be played on the first three levels. The fourth level houses the Pyre, the cargo that your loveable abominations are risking their lives to defend. In this sense, Monster Train blends its deckbuilder roots with a brand of tower defense that sees an increasingly powerful onslaught of foes attempt to withstand player-controlled defenders. Each defender has a size value attached to it, and each floor can only hold monsters whose size values add up to five at most (unless this restriction is loosened by an artifact later in a run). Thus, the player must be strategic about their placement of monsters and how each of their troops synergizes with others that are deployed on their floor.

Some monsters will be particularly useful for doling out massive amounts of damage in one turn. Others will be focused on stacking particular conditions to get stronger as the game goes on. Others still might be particularly adept at dishing out debuffs or feeding off the power of the spell cards you play. There is so much complexity to Monster Train. The deeper you dive, the more there is to explore, as with most great deckbuilders. However, Monster Train's tiered combat system imbues the game with yet another level of strategic depth that will force you to carefully consider each and every one of your decisions in real time, leading to a satisfyingly customized experience with each play through.

Speaking of customization, another cool mechanic that Monster Train brings to the table is the ability to choose both a primary clan and an allied clan for each run. In practice, this means you're able to access cards from two completely different sets of monsters and moves that, once again, opens up a whole new level of complexity and potential synergy. Using Slay the Spire as an example, this would be like playing a run as The Silent while having access to cards from The Defect's moveset. Suffice to say, things can get very interesting very fast.

I also want to credit the developers - Shiny Shoe - here. By adding this primary clan/allied clan mechanic to their game, they introduce gobs of extra work to balance between all possible permutations. But they've succeeded in pushing the envelope. Monster Train's innovations, through and through, seem to be all about adding depth to a tried and true formula. And, for the most part, they succeed. The game's difficulty is also completely scalable, with skill settings and extra challenges galore, making it fun and playable for beginners and veterans alike.

The largest element that detracted from my experience playing Monster Train was how its added complexity sometimes obscures or disincentivizes precise damage calculation, thus leading to imprecise decisions that sometimes cost me my runs. What I mean by this is that having to painstakingly assess every single card played and calculate how that might - turns ahead - impact the outcome of a battle sometimes made my head spin. Specifically, the way the game's major bosses free-float from floor to floor wreaked havoc on my ability to prioritize objectives and forecast the outcome of a battle based on my actions. This ability to accurately predict my odds of victory based on the cards I know I have in my deck is one of my favorite parts of getting deep into games like Slay the Spire, and I didn't feel a similar confidence in Monster Train's battle system.

Additionally, while most everything having to do with the game's clans - differentiation, design, art style, etc. - is stellar, the rate at which you unlock the last couple clans felt a bit slow to me. You have access to the first three pretty much right away, yet you're unable to play as the final two before summoning 350 monsters to unlock the fourth clan and killing 1,300 enemies to unlock the fifth and final clan in the base game. It took me six hours to accomplish the former and just over ten to achieve the latter.

In spite of my gripes, Monster Train is a treat. Enduringly bright. Like the Pyre of Hell itself. 8/10.

Where it shines:

• Concept
• Novelty of combat
• Depth

Where it fades:

• Obtuse damage calculation
• Free-floating bosses
• Slightly slow progression system