In every other yr, I would have spent hours of our end-of-year debates singing the praises of Monster Practice 2, however sadly, it has been an astounding yr for roguelikes as an entire. Each my first and second favourite video games of the yr, Hades 2 and Blue Prince, respectively, are in all probability additionally my first and second favourite roguelikes of all time. When I’ve to whittle down a listing of hills to die on throughout our discussions, Monster Practice 2 is simply barely beneath the brink. That stated, it is nonetheless a incredible recreation, and I want extra folks (particularly recreation critics) had frolicked with it this yr.
Because the yr involves a detailed, we’re highlighting some private favourite video games from our group that we really feel you should not miss. In the event you’re nonetheless in search of the precise recreation to hold you into 2026, and you’ve got already hit up our Prime 10 Finest, we’re hoping one in every of these suggestions will hit the mark.
Like the primary recreation, Monster Practice 2 is a cool fusion of tower protection, deckbuilding, and turn-based fight. Your principal playing cards are items, that are positioned on one in every of three ranges of the prepare automotive you are tasked with defending. Every spherical, allied and enemy items take turns attacking one another, and if the enemies survive the battle, they advance to the subsequent stage. The target is to maintain them from the highest of the automotive, the place they will harm your Pyre Coronary heart and finish your run. Decks even have spells, which will help, hinder, or hurt items on the sector, gear, which alters items, and room playing cards, which modify ranges of the prepare automotive in main methods.
The factor that also stands out to me about Monster Practice 2 is the sheer quantity of variables. On the smallest scale, decks are shuffled, so every hand is recent. Routes are randomized, so every cease in a run is barely totally different than the final. However most importantly, every run makes use of one in every of as much as ten factions, every of which can be utilized as a main or secondary faction. In the event you do not depend the alternate champions for every faction (which alter the sport considerably), there are 180 beginning mixtures alone. When you unlock all of the factions, you may play this recreation for a really very long time with out repeating any combos.
In fact, a recreation with choices isn’t routinely good, however a superb recreation with this many choices, one I really feel I may play for months and months, is one thing particular. Not each roguelike feels that means, and many lose me after a profitable run or two, however Monster Practice 2 is so huge that I’ve fallen in love, and there are nonetheless simply dozens of beginning combos I have never even tried, a lot much less mastered.
On prime of that, the sport options one in every of my favourite roguelike aspect modes I’ve ever seen: dimensional challenges. It is a choice of cleverly crafted eventualities to play by, the place the builders have organized enjoyable mixtures of factions and modifiers to make for distinctive runs you are unlikely (or unable) to come across by customary play. “Weapons Make the Warrior” reduces all playing cards’ improve slots to 1, however makes gear playing cards twice as highly effective and price much less to play. “Twofer” doubles all cash earned, standing results inflicted, and makes it so every time you add a card to your deck, you get a duplicate of it. In the event you’re overwhelmed or pissed off by the sport’s random nature, it is a fantastic palette cleanser I hope extra video games within the style proceed to make use of.
Is Monster Practice 2 the perfect roguelike of the yr? No, however that does not imply it must be excluded from the dialog, and it actually doesn’t suggest it is a dangerous recreation. It is one in every of my highest critiques of 2025, and regardless of my love of Hades 2 and Blue Prince, I hold coming again to Monster Practice 2 as effectively. In the event you’re taken with selecting it up, it is on sale for the Steam winter sale till January 5 (and it runs fairly effectively on Steam Deck).
