Monster Slayers puts a nice little twist on the RPG genre by adding a deck building mechanic. It’s a 2D rogue lite where you get to keep the permanent upgrades. So, equipment and skills are passed on but cards are not. Monster Slayers is a great game that you can just pick up and put down easily. It makes it the perfect filler game. I started playing it when World of Warcraft started downloading and had a blast while waiting. I look forward to playing it when I only have a few minutes of down time.
Unlike other deck building games it doesn’t become cumbersome or complicated. It’s pretty straight forward and as the game goes on you can tailor your cards to your play style. You have plenty of chances throughout the levels to add new cards, upgrade cards, or even remove cards. Now it may seem like removing cards is a negative thing but some upgrades come at a cost. That cost can be the addition of useless cards added to your deck that just clog it up. When you find someone or something that can delete cards sometimes you might be actually happy to lose some. When you upgrade the cards aspects of course change but so does its cost. If you upgrade so a card it might have started as a 1 Action Point card but after making it bigger and badder, it now costs 3 AP. This is why you have to read the entire description to weigh the positives and negatives.
There is gear that you can find, mostly from vendors, that allows you to do or take more damage. Then each class has their own weapon types that have to be equipped. This is actually frustrating because it is never explained. So, in the early stages of the game I kept dying rather quickly but that was because I wasn’t equipping anything. It shows you your inventory but doesn’t really show you what is equipped. Well there is a little row of boxes off to the right that is what you can equip. After figuring that out Monster Slayers got a lot better and more interesting. Now when I pick up gear I can actually tell the difference and some of the weapons actually debuff enemies.
Each time you start you will create a new character and choose his or her class. They are the standard classes: rogue, barbarian, cleric, etc. but like I said above you can customize them to your style. That extends further than just your deck type but also in image. You can change the name, hair, color, and sex. Don’t get too attached to the character, you will most certainly die. But getting to name and change your character adds a bit of fun. Especially when you name them something funny like, Thunderbutt or something similar. Plus, as you move from level to level you get to add a companion. Each one has a special ability and a fun name. They are invaluable, some will heal and others will do damage both can save you in a pinch. Pick them wisely, each has a cool down time and the differing abilities need to compliment you. If you are a barbarian, you probably want to go with a mage because he can do a lot of damage immediately while you are there to get hit in the face.
The map is a little different you select an encounter, which can be anything from a battle to a treasure chest. So you get to choose where you go. So early on you want to stick with battles that are at your level. An adjoining encounter to the entrance might have a level one on one side and to the other a level five. To me this is great because you are never walking into a situation blind. Also on the map, there are healers, merchants, chests, etc. Each encounter is fun and different, there is no set pattern and the uncertainty of your deck makes it a little more intense. Heart of the cards can only carry you so far sometimes.
I loved playing Monster Slayers, maybe it’s because I really enjoy Magic the Gathering and balancing my own deck. There is just something about it that keeps drawing me back. Whenever I have a little bit of time to play I am headed for Monster Slayers and I think that you should too. Check out this quirky little card based RPG today and I promise you won’t regret it. It’s packed with enemies, cool gear, and of course a whole lot of death.