Part 4 (Dec 2025) · #1 of 3 in that tierWatch the moment (1:44:09)
Monster Train 2
- Developed by
- Shiny Shoe
- Published by
- Big Fan Games
$24.99
Monster Train returns with all new clans, new enemy factions, new challenges, new modes and more! Defend your Pyre in the classic three-tiered, vertical gameplay that made the original roguelike deckbuilder a hit.
Consensus
S82.4/100
Steam players95.3% positiveOverwhelmingly Positive10,211 reviews
Metacritic ↗87/100Users: 7.8/10
VG Insights estimate ↗≈535K copies · ≈$10.1M gross
What creators say
Ranked Jul 2026 · #3 of 5 in that tierWatch the moment (0:24:50)
Ranked Jan 2026 · #8 of 48 in that tierListen to the episode
Scored 7.33/10 · tier derived from the score
What players say
A sequel to Shiny Shoe's roguelike deckbuilder in which you defend a Pyre atop a three-floor vertical train by pairing two of the clans, drafting units and spells, and snowballing them against Titan-led enemy waves.
Monster Train 2 is received as one of the best roguelike deckbuilders, praised by both critics and players as the original refined and expanded. It holds 87 on Metacritic (31 critic reviews), 'Overwhelmingly Positive' on Steam (about 95% of roughly 10,200 reviews) and a 7.8 Metacritic user score that is noticeably lower than the Steam figure. Critics and fans tend to describe it as a 'safe' but confident sequel that obsoletes the first game, with huge content depth and replayability. The main pushback is about boom-or-bust RNG, enemies and bosses that hard-counter specific builds, a cluttered and oversized UI, and weak story writing. It released May 21, 2025 (full release, not early access), and has kept receiving updates, including a paid expansion (Destiny of the Railforged) in February 2026.
Players love
- Huge replay value: 10 clans with a main-plus-ally pairing, plus covenant ranks, challenges, daily runs and Soul Savior mode; reviewers report hundreds of hours without boredom.
- Snowballing combat feels explosive and satisfying; assembling a broken build and steamrolling bosses is the recurring highlight.
- New systems (equipment, room cards, Pyre Hearts, the deployment phase) add build depth; IGN and Metacritic critics singled out equipment cards.
- Clan reworks and new clans are widely liked; original clans were rebuilt and are unlockable without extra cost, and the mushroom-themed Underlegion is a fan favourite.
- Strong soundtrack that keeps getting called out by both critics and players.
- Visual clarity aids such as the damage preview and improved quality-of-life over the first game.
- Good value and respectful monetisation: $24.99 base game, a free demo, and players note first-game content was not locked behind DLC.
- Accessible enough for newcomers to deckbuilders while still deep; some players who bounced off Slay the Spire say this one clicked.
Common complaints
- Heavy RNG and boom-or-bust runs: several reviewers say fights are either trivial or unwinnable, with few tight, close matches.
- Enemy and boss design can hard-counter a build (incant enemies, floor silence, sweep, cleave, magic shield, resurrection), punishing experimental builds.
- Post-launch bosses were criticised by some long-time players as overtuned and too dominant.
- UI is busy and oversized: players say it feels designed for mobile, is hard to read on PC, and everything flashes and shakes.
- Story, dialogue and cutscenes are widely regarded as weak (described as laughably or charmingly bad depending on the reviewer).
- Some feel it is expansion-sized rather than a true second game, and that the first game has better bosses, writing or polish.
- Status effects and card interactions pile up to the point where units carry too many effects to track.
- Some long-time players argue it lacks the difficulty and challenge options of Monster Train 1 and is too easy at the top if you know the tricks.
Can feel tedious
- Long unlock grind: levelling every clan to 10 and unlocking all cards and relics reportedly takes around 100 hours before the full game opens up.
- Having to repeat the same answer to recurring enemy mechanics (silence, sweep, incant) reduces build variety.
- Covenant (difficulty) climbing can feel like a loop of chasing a scaling multistriker or other high-roll engine.
What's unique
- Three-floor vertical train with a Pyre: you position units on floors while enemies advance floor by floor, unlike Slay the Spire's single lane.
- Main clan plus allied clan pairing across 10 clans creates very many combinations, each with alternate starting champions.
- Deployment phase lets you place units across floors, making decks more spell-heavy and adding positioning decisions.
- Room cards, equipment and selectable Pyre Hearts layer extra scaling systems on top of the deck.
- Destiny of the Railforged adds the Railforged clan with a Forge mechanic plus a Soul Savior mode with upgradeable soul enhancements.
- Daily challenges with leaderboards and handcrafted Dimensional Challenges, plus a free unlimited demo.
Players want
- Reduce hard-counter encounters or let players see or influence upcoming enemy types so experimental builds are not blindsided.
- Add a UI or graphics simplification option and a less cluttered, more PC-friendly layout (whole train visible without scrolling).
- Restore first-game features some miss: a bigger boss pool, the Divine Temple shard system, and a mid-fight restart option.
- Rebalance or add toggles for overtuned post-launch bosses and weak clans (Awoken, Luna, Stygian and Gilda are mentioned as struggling).
- Improve the story and writing, or make cutscenes skippable or removable.
- Expand challenge and difficulty options and strengthen endless mode, which a Metacritic user called poorly designed.
Summarised from Steam reviews and community discussion.
Steam tags
StrategyCard GameRogue-likeTurn-Based StrategyTurn-Based TacticsDemonsFantasyTrainsSingleplayerPvP
Similar games
More runs with shared subgenres and Steam tags.
Tier list Part 4 (2025)
Monster Train 2 is the sequel to a deck-building roguelike with an auto-battler flavor, where you place units across three floors and fight waves up a train, Slay the Spire style. He considers the original one of his favorite deck builders ever and judges the sequel better, calling it possibly his favorite deck builder of all time. It keeps the core formula but adds quality-of-life changes, new card types and a big hidden reveal that multiplies build diversity. He gives it an easy S tier and puts it at the top of S.
Liked
Disliked