Strategy · May 21, 2020

Monster Train (2020)

trophy53 achievementsextension2 DLClocal_offer-70% current discountgroup1M–10M ownerstrending_up595 peak concurrentrecommend19.6k recommendations
Hell has frozen over. Only you can protect the final burning pyre from the forces of heaven and restore the inferno. Monster Train brings a new strategic layer to roguelike deck building, with three vertical play fields to defend. Visit powerful locations To take back hell, you’ll need to power up. Choose your route carefully, different locations give different benefits; upgrade your champion, recruit powerful units, upgrade cards, gain passive bonuses or duplicate any card in your deck. Strategize to fit your playstyle With five clans to choose from, each has its own unique and surprising gameplay. Pick your primary and supporting clan to gain access to all cards from both. During your run you will be able to improve cards by mixing and matching upgrades to open up new roads to victory. You can even duplicate your favourite card at special map nodes before facing off against the final boss. No playthrough is ever the same You’ll never play the same deck twice! Over 220 cards, build up your deck from 10 different starterdecks 5 monster clans with each very different gameplay Each clan has 10 levels to unlock, bringing new cards to your deck Upgrade your clan specific champion multiple times Mod support through Steam Workshop Upgrade any card twice More than 21 unique random events 25 covenant (difficulty) levels Multiplayer HELL RUSH In the Hell Rush multiplayer mode, eight players compete in a frantic real time contest. Each player has the same resources and opponents to create a level playing field. With the clock ticking it’s a test of who can make the best decisions under pressure. Only a true speed demon can remain undefeated. DAILY CHALLENGE Take on a new challenge every day with a hugely modified run due to gameplay mutators. Compete globally and against friends, and climb the leaderboards with a skill-focused scoring system. CUSTOM CHALLENGE Design your own unique challenge and share it with friends. Each custom challenge has its own leaderboard so you can send your friends straight to hell. Content updates FRIENDS & FOES UPDATE The exiled champions have returned to the fold to battle the forces of heaven. This second major update for Monster Train adds new champions, new bosses, new cards, and new artifacts, which combine together to add a significant amount of new strategic options and replayability. We’ve also added a number of frequently requested player features like a personal run records page in the Logbook, an enemy wave counter in battle, and a preview of the ring 3 and ring 6 bosses at the start of a run. WILD MUTATIONS UPDATE This content updates the train tracks with 35 new mutators, new difficulty settings for experienced players and new simple ways to challenge friends and community. HERZAL'S WORKSHOP UPDATE Mod support!

Position in Strategy

MetricThis titleGenre position
Review volume21.9k Steam reviewsTop 24% in Strategy
Positive rating96% positiveGenre average: 84% — this title sits in top 13%
Metacritic86/100Genre average 79 — top 21% of Strategy titles
Concurrent peak595 playersTop 26% in Strategy by live player count
Engagement hours24 h averageTop 38% for session depth among Strategy

Community Tag Signals

Tag weights reflect how many Steam users voted each descriptor — larger pills = stronger consensus.

  • Card Battler · 264
  • Rogue-lite · 235
  • Card Game · 229
  • Turn-Based Tactics · 219
  • Deckbuilding · 217
  • Rogue-like · 209
  • Turn-Based Strategy · 181
  • PvP · 177
  • Strategy · 176
  • Difficult · 175
  • Roguelike Deckbuilder · 169
  • Turn-Based Combat · 151
  • RPG · 147
  • Choices Matter · 129
  • Procedural Generation · 126

Reception Metrics

Steam community

96%Overwhelmingly Positive · 21.9k reviews

21.0k positive · 875 negative

Metacritic

86/100 critic aggregate

Open Metacritic page

Metacritic user score

8.2/10

Curator recommendations

19.6k

Peak concurrent players

595

Peer Strategy titles

Comparable titles in the same genre and review-volume band — ranked by Steam positive percentage.

Features & Capabilities

Multiplayer

  • Multi-player
  • PvP
  • Online PvP

Community

  • Steam Achievements
  • Steam Trading Cards
  • Steam Cloud
  • Remote Play on Phone
  • Remote Play on Tablet

Input & Comfort

  • Full controller support

Other

  • Single-player
  • Family Sharing

Strategy releases from 2020

10 Strategy titles launched in 2020 — top 6 by review volume.

Press Quotes

“Monster Train might be the best deckbuilder since Slay The Spire” Rock Paper Shotgun “2020's Best Deckbuilder! | Monster Train” Northernlion “Monster Train is a pleasant, mind-blowingly addictive exercise that’s well worth your time, especially if you’re a fan of roguelikes, card games, and deck-building fare” 9/10 – Game Informer

Localization Coverage

Interface / Subtitles (6)

  • English volume_up
  • French
  • German
  • Portuguese - Brazil
  • Russian
  • Simplified Chinese volume_up

Full audio (2)

  • English
  • Simplified Chinese

Engagement Profile

All-time avg

24h

moderate (15–40 hours)

Median

12h

Typical completion time

2-week avg

3h

Current engagement

Achievements

53

Steam unlocks available

Release & Availability

Release dateMay 21, 2020
DeveloperShiny Shoe
PublisherGood Shepherd Entertainment
Base price$7.49 -70%
DLC / Add-ons2 released
PlatformsWindows
Estimated owners1M–10M
External linksOfficial site · Metacritic page · Support

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Editions & Packages

  • Buy Monster Train