RoadCraft (PlayStation, Xbox, PC, £34.99)
Verdict: Hard work pays off
Monster Train 2 (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, £20.99)
Verdict: All decked out
Vroom vroom. Clank clank clank. Excavate excavate excavate. Can you think of any game that captures the nostalgic joy of playing with toy trucks as well as RoadCraft does? I certainly can’t.
That’s not to say that RoadCraft is designed for kids. In reality, it’s a mature game focused on travel challenges and strategic planning. You’ll find yourself navigating rough terrain and dense foliage in your off-road vehicle to support reconstruction efforts in disaster-stricken areas.
If you’ve tried Mudrunner or Snowrunner, the predecessors of RoadCraft, you will recognize the fundamental gameplay mechanics. It’s the same challenging experience I mentioned earlier. Your vehicle moves painstakingly slowly over rocky slopes and through muddy trenches. Without caution, it can overturn or become trapped on obstacles within the environment.
But, in the spirit of last year’s Expeditions, RoadCraft has supplemented this difficult driving with, well… a lot more. There are bulldozers to operate, cranes to wrangle, numerous other brumming, chugging, digging machines to call to your service.
You have to struggle through mud and undergrowth in your 4×4 to help lead reconstruction projects in disaster-hit areas
If you’ve ever played Mudrunner or Snowrunner, both previous entries in the series to which RoadCraft belongs, you’ll be familiar with the core gameplay here
Your vehicle makes extremely slow progress up rocky embankments and down rain-sodden ditches. It will tip, if you’re not careful, or get stuck on the scenery
There are bulldozers to operate, cranes to wrangle, numerous other brumming, chugging, digging machines to call to your service
Clearly, a lot of care has been put into every noise and vibration; it all feels just so.
The real joy of RoadCcraft, though, is its landscapes — or, rather, its landscaping. There are eight expansive areas in the game, each shook up by a natural disaster, and it’s up to you to return order. You have to lay new roads, construct bridges, reconnect the gas supply, that sort of thing.
It means more hard slog, of course, but an even greater sense of satisfaction at the end. And that, really, is the point of RoadCraft.
Sure, there’s sometimes a little too much going on. Sure, there are a few bugs to contend with. But, overall, its serious work is matched by serious fun. Welcome to the playset of your dreams.
The real joy of RoadCcraft, though, is its landscapes — or, rather, its landscaping
There are eight expansive areas in the game, each shook up by a natural disaster, and it’s up to you to return order. You have to lay new roads, construct bridges, reconnect the gas supply, that sort of thing
All aboard! Once again, the Monster Train is leaving the station, though this time it’s on its return journey. Whereas you travelled deep into Hell in the first game, this sequel has you going in the opposite direction — from Hell into Heaven, which has been taken over by a bunch of monsters from beyond time and space.
But what actually is Monster Train 2, the game? Technically, it’s a ‘roguelike deck-builder’. The deck-builder part means that you’re progressing through the game by playing hands of cards. The roguelike part means that, like the old-timey game Rogue, you have to start again every time you die — and hope to get further with your newfound knowledge and skills.
Really, though, all you need to know about Monster Train 2 is that — like last year’s big roguelike deck-builder, Balatro — it’s life-shatteringly compulsive.
The urge to play just one more turn is so irresistible that you can’t help but surrender dozens of hours to this game.
All that was true of the original Monster Train, from which this sequel doesn’t deviate too much. You’re still defending the four levels of your train (and the all-important Pyre Heart on the top level) from demonic raids.
Technically, it’s a ‘roguelike deck-builder’. The deck-builder part means that you’re progressing through the game by playing hands of cards
Really, though, all you need to know about Monster Train 2 is that — like last year’s big roguelike deck-builder, Balatro — it’s life-shatteringly compulsive
Monster Train 2 isn’t all the same. There are new Equipment cards to deck out your warriors; there are new Room cards by which you can change the properties of your train’s levels; and you can even upgrade your Pyre Heart now
You’re still splitting your own forces — your own cards — between each level.
You’re still trying to figure out the best positions and combinations for maximum damage.
But Monster Train 2 isn’t all the same. There are new Equipment cards to deck out your warriors; there are new Room cards by which you can change the properties of your train’s levels; and you can even upgrade your Pyre Heart now.
All of these additions make Monster Train 2 a more complex, more rewarding experience.
In fact, for my money, this is the best roguelike deck-builder there is. Better than Balatro, better than Slay The Spire — better, crucially, than the first Monster Train.
It just doesn’t have the same surprise factor. But then what return journey ever did?
