Last updated on January 4th, 2026 at 04:27 am
Monster Train – Card Game Review
Monster Train is a Card/Strategy game from Gambitious BV, first launched in 25th October 2022.
It’s rated 12+ and currently has 1,714+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Monster Train Stand Out
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 Roguelite Deck Building, with three vertical playing fields to defend.
Features:
- Unlock over 250 cards
- Discover 5 Monster Clans, each with their own distinct gameplay
- Each clan has 10 levels to unlock, bringing new cards to your deck
- Upgrade your powerful Champions multiple times
- Challenge your friends to beat your score
- Includes the released updates Wild Mutations and Friends & Foes!
Ultimate Replayability
No playthrough is ever the same, it’s a fresh challenge every time. You’ll really never play the same deck twice! Perfect entertainment for your mobile device!
Explore powerful locations
To take back hell, you’ll need to power up. Choose your route carefully, different locations yield 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. Build your deck and perfect your strategy to defeat your enemies!
Daily & Custom challenges
Take on a new challenge every day with a hugely modified run due to gameplay mutators or play with your own selection of buffs and nerfs to tailor to your playstyle!
Compete globally and against friends, and climb the leaderboards with a skill-focused scoring system.
The Last Divinity DLC
Epic new content expansion for Monster Train bringing new challenges, more replayability, and a new clan!
- A new clan, the Wurmkin Note: the Wurmkin clan unlocks upon completing Covenant level 1.
- Pact Shards; the new currency bringing benefits at a cost
- New endboss: The Last Divinity
Available for purchase in-game!
This Card game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Monster Train is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 16th March 2023
Recent improvements include:
- The game will now check for conflicts between local and cloud-stored save data. If a conflict is found, players will be prompted to select which save data they would like to keep using.
- Fixed some minor localization issues.
Download & Availability
Monster Train is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Get Monster Train on App Store
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
Legit our fav deck builder. Insanely fun and just feels great to play.
Absolutely wonderful synergies between clan decks, and we loved how the unlocked heroes change up the meta.
If you are a fan of card games this one is for you. Enough said. Really good game.
Cant wait for the sequel to come to mobile. Endlessly addictive.
We first played this game on XBox Game Pass and loved it. Then got it on our phone to play on the go. Its versatile play style across different classes has lots of fun to try out. The learning curve is good, start easy and gradually increase difficulty. You can also choose the right difficulty to test new builds and practice. Overall, a solid $8 game. Recommend.
If you like slay the spire this is similar but definitely more approachable. Plus you can finish a run in 30 min or less which is nice. We think its worth it.
This is by far one of our top 5 card games. Since we played slay the spire first we have not found many card games as appealing but this is definitely really good and we hope to see the 2nd game in the App Store too as we have the game and monster train 2 both on steam making this game playable on all devices that we own.
A great deck builder; highly recommend if you enjoy slay the spire, Monster Train might beat it out for us personally by juuuust a smidge :).
If you like Slay the Spire or any roguelike deck builders, this is an excellent buy. Plays great on iPhone, iPad, and Silicon Macs.
It took a little time for us to grasp the functions in the game, but once we did, we really started to enjoy it! For us, we need there to be a variety of different outcomes depending on our choices for a game like this to be fun. We love how this game can give you a different experience each time. We were worried that we would buy it and then not like it. Im so glad we got it! We play A LOT of games and we never write reviews unless a game is special.
Epic port epic game, if you like rogue likes monster train is in our op a must play. It has lot of depth and if you get the dlc it has even more, though we do think its also a bit easier with the dlc because you can make monsters who are essentially roided up bath salt gobbling machines, so maybe dont get it until you play a bit so you can get the full difficulty experience. Its not a huge difference but its something we noticed when going from our pc which has the dlc to our phone which doesnt.
We opened Monster Train this morning to check how well it ran on our phone, and when we looked up, an hour had gone by. This game is a blast, and it plays surprisingly well on a phone (although we wish the attack and health totals were larger.) If you got past Ascension 1 on Slay the Spire, play this next.
We play A LOT of games and this is, in our evaluation, one of (if not) the best game[s] ever made. Our personal favorite way to play is by adding the unique pre-made challenges to a run. Today we finished a multi year journey of beating every clan combination on max difficulty and every pre-made challenge with double check marks (DLC final boss) on max difficulty. We are feeling quite proud and highly anticipating the sequel game hopefully coming out soon.
We love this game. Ive bought it on steam and iOS and dont mind unlocking everything all over because it is so fun. The unlocks are rewarding and it unlocks further options for synergy and different play styles. Love it so much.
- Monster Train 1+2 2. Hades 3. Balatro 4. Slay the Spire Now go play these games.
Monster train had us immediately hooked when we came across it on gamepass. It has become one of our favorite games of all time.
Just finished Covenant 23. The game is truly card game crack for us.
This game is amazing. We also own it on the switch and PS4. Great game. Console game ported to IPhone. This means no constant add on or purchase needed. Buy the game once and they you never have to spend another dime. Hours of fun.
We first started playing this game on Xbox games pass. We quickly became hooked! Such a great game, so we had to pick up the mobile version for some quick runs during the day. Highly recommend. Though be aware, the Apple arcade version does not allow access to community & daily Challenges nor to Multiplayer.
Easily a top 5 rougelike deck-builder. Got it installed on every console/device we have. Could probably play it forever. Cannot wait for the sequel.
God we love this game. Its incredibly engaging and addictive, with lots of strategy. The balance is a touch off in places (power creep is a thing), but other than that we have zero complaints. Ive probably sunk more than 300 hours into this game across our phone and Playstation. The three-lane mechanic adds a lot of strategic gameplay that other games in the genre dont offer. We cannot recommend Monster Train enough for anyone who loves a solid deckbuilder.
Love this game – we put it right up there with slay the spire in terms of quality and depth. Really awesome/new take on roguelike and each champ and companion champ offers a new journey with endless amounts of builds. We have been playing this for years – and got back into it again with the announcement of monster train 2. Prettttty excited.
Seriously so addicting! We play every chance we get. Each run is so unique, if you cant get past a level, just keep playing, there is always a way. Internet is not needed, so we can play on the plane. Im so picky about games, finally a game that is relaxing, yet makes us think just enough. 5 stars.
Its well designed, had a relatively simple yet in-depth card system, and is so very very addicting.
Honestly, we think its even better. The individual runs are a bit shorter, making it easier to complete one in a single sitting, theres a better sense of progression with the experience system and the unlocks, being able to choose two classes to use per run (and between two different builds per class) helps with customizability, and overall, we think this is a good refinement of the roguelike deck builder genre that Slay the Spire helped to popularize.
We have 200+ hours of this game on PC, but we wanted to be able to take it with us so we bought it for our iPad today. Playing it, feels just like the PC version, no complaints, incredible game! Highly recommend. (Also monster train 2 was announced a few hours before this review, HYPE).
Ive put hundreds of hours into this game and every run still finds new ways to be fun and interesting. Cant recommend it enough. If youre a completionist youll delight when you realize how many things you need to complete.
Runs are quick enough but vastly different enough that it can be addictive in all the good ways. Plus no ads and no in app purchases aside from the (imo worthwhile) DLC that adds an entire extra faction for even more replayability.
We have been waiting for this game to come to mobile for so long now! Amazing sound track, amazing gameplay, infinite replay ability. Slay the spire but even better! Dont let the cartoonish art style deter you, this game is legendary.
This is hands down our favorite deck builder of all time. We have played everything from Slay the spire, Wildfrost, Darkest Dungeon and everything in between. There are a lot of other good games, but this is the gold standard for us. The reigning champion over all the others. The different combinations of clans and unit types make so many possible combinations and opens it up for endless replay fun. Why havent they made a 2nd one yet is beyond us.
Lots of discovery as you unlock of new cards and champions. Lots of relatability. Fun mechanics to discover. Great artwork and music production. Only one flaw. This app will not stay in memory. If you switch to another app or power off the screen, chances are you well have to reload the app. This is particularly annoying if youre in the middle of a battle. This happens from time to time with iOS games. The developer should be able to fix it.
Great mechanics, good lore, good art. Ive now bought this game on Steam and the app store.
We have always enjoyed MT on console but now that we heard that its on mobile we cant stop playing it.
One of our favorite rogue likes ive gotten this game multiple times and its dlc on Xbox computer and now our phone would highly recommend it if youd like deck builder rogue liked its one of the best.
This is a core game on every device we own. The daily challenges and community boards allow for a new play experience every day. Your play through swill go quick! Surprisingly in depth with card combos and the little world building does leave you wishing for more.
Do you hate microtransactions? Do you love a passion project by devs that build a addictively replayable game? This is the game for you. Play it for a hundred hours or more, and buy the DLC. Its well worth the cost of admission.
We wasn't sure if it was going to be good so we were surprised by how good it is! Id say its as good as slay the spire.
We own this on our PC and bought it on our phone for the convenience. We didnt think it would be the only way we play now! This is easily one of the best roguelikes out there, so much variety in the gameplay and every run is different even with the same clan choices! Keeps you thinking and engaged.
Great graphics, great gameplay, innovative concepts. Love it! Well worth the price.
We played this first on Xbox and then grabbed it when we saw it was on the phone. We do recommend the last divinity DLC because it lets you modify your cards in new ways. The only real complaints we have are that we occasionally fat-finger the wrong card into play and it spoils the battle (youll win or lose based on the order of your units and cards played) and we think Wurmkin shows up too much when we randomize our tribes. Above is our review from however long ago. We received a second prompt to review it just now and followed the prompt.
Absolutely worth the cost. Definitely better for an ipad. A fantastic, deep, addictive game.
We love this game. We have put hundreds of hours into it on steam, but getting to play it on our phone is even better. The fact that you get the full experience one click away is great. We enjoy playing on the bus on our way to work, or when we have downtime during cooking or eating. This game is perfect for IOS, just make sure you have a charger nearby, playing for too long heats up our phone and makes us lose battery quickly.
So complex and strategic. It took us forever to reach the second covenant but totally worth it, a huge sense of accomplishment.
The only question is whether its one of the best or just the best of the roguelike deckbuilders. The only thing that keeps it from being better than Slay the Spire is that it is different enough with the positioning mechanics to make it hard to directly compare.
Great deck builder with lots of variety in playstyle. A LOT of replayability and fun expert challenges! (Also who doesnt love googly eyes as an option?!).
Actually so worth it. Our favorite roguelike game and for the most part it ports perfectly to mobile. Honestly such an amazing game.
Great turn based strategy game that borrows a lot from slay the spire but also introduces a lot of interesting game mechanics. About 99% of mobile games are pay to win loot box trash, but not this one. We luv this game.
We love this little rogue lite card game. Ive played it over and over. Best part is, we bought it and this thing isnt pay to play. Its just super fun.
We already have this on Xbox but it was totally worth buying again to play on our iPhone. Works perfectly.
We cant get enough of this game! We might need to go to rehab.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 2.3.1
- Size: 532.94 MB
- iOS: 14.0 or later
- Languages: EN, FR, DE, PT, RU, ZH
- Content Advisory: Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References, Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humor, Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence
- Developer: Gambitious BV
Last updated: 16th March 2023 | Genre: Card, Strategy | Developer: Gambitious BV