Monsters Are Coming: Rock & Road is a new title from Ludogram, described as a tower-survivor-rogue-lite, and during a preview session this week at Raw Fury it absolutely grabbed me by the short and curlies and would not let go. Essentially a take on the same dopamine-hit-inducing formula that made Vampire Survivors such an addicting menace, this one has some tricks up its sleeve to set it aside from that classic and strike out on its own.
You control the Peon, armed with the means to hack and chip away at scenery and attack autonomously, with the task of protecting an ever-moving city structure as the screen scrolls ominously downwards, with each run involving reaching a mysterious gate and a boss encounter at the end. Your character, as well as attacking enemies, also has to gather precious resources like wood and gemstones, and gold coins which allow you to level up and fortify your city.
Each time you level up you can add new structures to the grid-like layout of your city, including weapons, obviously, but also things like farms that develop resources, or special buildings that buff adjacent squares. Some of the weapons can be stacked in order to upgrade them. There are rare items that turn up occasionally and if you get the right combo of buildings, weapons and fortifications then your city becomes a godlike death dealing machine of mass destruction.
Midway through the core loop you get to spend coins in a shop, with upgrades again randomised, and with all of the levelling up, just like in Vampire Survivors you can pay for a re-roll to see if you randomly get something tasty if you don’t like what is on offer originally. Of course, this could also end up with you encountering inferior options, but the risk/reward gamble keeps things exciting and compulsive.
The random nature and wide variety of the upgrades aside, there are also lots of different biomes and city types that slowly unlock with progression. These come with different things to do and varying hordes of diverse enemies to mow down. Some cities have different ways of upgrading, such as one which eschews XP for killing enemies but awards 4 times the amount of XP for farming environmental bounty with your Peon.
You get the ability to generate minions as well using a certain city fortification, and they perform different functions on your run, including attacking and defending or farming XP. Your Peon can die – however you are respawned after a few second, however the city itself is not expendable and if it is destroyed then that is the end of your current run. Between runs you can also use the resources you have gathered to permanently upgrade both your cities and your plucky Peon.
I was utterly absorbed by Monsters Are Coming and had to be pretty much asked to put down the Steam Deck and leave the room under duress. With a kick ass rock soundtrack, stunning visuals and a gameplay loop that is nearly impossible to quit, this one is going to be a permanent fixture on my handheld when it gets released. Breathing fresh life into a tried and tested formula with some cool concepts, Ludogram are onto a winner here, and I cannot wait to try out the many different cities and truly uncover everything it has to offer. Stunning!
Monsters Are Coming is coming to PC via Steam. Impressions based on a trip to Raw Fury HQ, travel and accommodation were paid for by the publisher.
