Monster Train Developers' New Game Could Be The First Big Live Service Roguelike
How do you follow up a hit game like Monster Train? Shiny Shoe’s roguelike deck builder was a massive success and one of the earliest must-play games to join Game Pass back in 2020. Now, the studio is in an unenviable position to make a new game that’s even bigger and better. That game is Inkbound, an online, ARPG roguelike launching in early access next year. And while it shares some obvious DNA with Monster Train, Shiny Shoe has big, live service ambitions for Inkbound.
Last week, Shiny Shoe invited me to watch a live gameplay demo hosted by creative director Andrew Krausnick. The pre-alpha gameplay demonstrated the basic loop. You begin each run in a gathering hub called the Atheneum where players will party up, gather quests, and customize their characters. From there, parties enter a portal called the Inkwell to start their run, called Stories. Exploring the world of Inkbound is all about making choices. While the abilities, upgrades, and items you choose shape your character, your navigational choices shape the world. The familiar branching path layout that many roguelike games use - including Monster Train - is represented in Inkbound as a physical world that grows as you explore it, or a story being written by your actions.
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Combat is another interesting twist on a familiar mechanic. When you get close enough to an enemy, you’ll enter a combat phase that traps you within a small area until the fight is over. Your entire team can move freely in that area to position and use any abilities they want, provided they have enough mana. Once everyone has taken their turn, either sequentially or simultaneously,
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