I have been talking about Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road since gamescom 2025, even putting it on our Best of Gamescom list, and now, going hands-on with the full title, I am proud to report that I was right! The game is a blend of a few different genres, making for a fast and fresh experience, and it really plays on that “just one more run” feeling.
Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road blends the gameplay of Vampire Survivors with an interesting tower defence mechanic that makes for interesting and addictive runs. This rogue-lite perfectly encapsulates snappy runs that make the game so hard to put down. Developer Ludogram knew what they were doing when they mashed these genres together, and it has made for one of my favourite titles of the year.
I can’t say there is much of an actual storyline in Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road that I am aware of, but the premise is pretty simple. You have to get your Town Hall safely to the Ark, a safe space to house your buildings. The trick is making your way down the straight runway while collecting resources, clearing the path, upgrading your character and Town Hall, all while hordes of creepy crawlers come at you from all angles.
“Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road blends the gameplay of Vampire Survivors with an interesting tower defence mechanic that makes for interesting and addictive runs.”
On Steam, it is referred to as The Arch, but in-game, it is called The Ark. The Ark is a safe space, free from said creepy crawlers, and you have to get 10 different Town Halls to their allotted space there. There is a cute little map with a space for each one. If you get two of the same to the Ark, one will replace the other, leaving room for replayability but still keeping the overall plan the same. There are three safe spaces along your route, where you have a chance to gain new materials in a short survival minigame, purchase new buildings or healing and generally just take a break.
“Protect your Town Hall” seems like a pretty simple instruction, but there is a lot to focus on during each run. Your combat skills—and your Town Hall’s—are automatic, much like Vampire Survivors, going off at regular intervals. You can gain up to four weapons per run, and earn upgrades like distance, speed and damage throughout the run. Some items not only damage enemies, but also take our resources—I am a personal fan of the saws—others can slow enemies, or just deal brute damage.
You will also earn buildings to place on your Town Hall. This is where you can get the most customization in Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road. The Town Hall sits on a grid, and you can add buildings anywhere on that grid, so long as there is space. If you place something away from the main building, it will create a little walkway. However, you often have to clear paths for your Town Hall to travel, so if you make the building too large, it is easy to get stuck. Buildings include weapons that shoot fire or freezing, explosions, some summon minions to fight for you, and several are boosts to the different kinds of damage or minions.
Perhaps the most interesting part of Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road is that the character you play doesn’t really matter. The Town Hall is the main character here. You play just another minion, and if you die, you place a delightful gravestone on your Town Hall—respect must be paid! This takes up a spot on that grid, which is supposed to be a deterrent, but I have not come anywhere close to filling a grid, so it feels a bit unbalanced as a punishment. The main point, though, is that you are expendable and you must protect the Town Hall at all costs, even if it means your life. Dark stuff.
Paired with that dark stuff is a truly adorable art style, so it’s a fun combination. Even though the enemies are essentially shadows of various creatures (frogs, spiders, monsters, etc.) with red eyes, the entire world in Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road still feels incredibly detailed. There are four different roads to explore: Road of Elder Wood, Road of Ice, Road of Sand and Road of Ashes. Each road has a unique aesthetic; in one, you’ll find cacti, in another, ice, and in another, pine trees, etc. The only thing I wish had changed more is the monsters in each; it feels like a missed opportunity for some extra oomph!
As I mentioned earlier, your Town Hall is the real star, and there are 10 in total to unlock, all with different criteria for unlocking them. The Town Halls include Belfry, Mirror City, City of Ashes, Propaganda, Worker City, Royal Mausoleum, Medieval Fair, Great Dragon, Atrium, and Caravan. Apart from their style, each has a different goal that needs to be met to unlock it, and each has its own bonuses. Unlock requirements include destroying 1,000 trees or rocks in one game, reaching the Ark with fewer than 15 buildings, and other similar goals; each one is different.
You start with Belfry, which offers more health to your Town Hall, whereas the Mirror City places a matching building on the left and right, taking up extra space on the grid, but giving you extra buildings. The City of Ashes has the materials you gather give you XP, but the monsters you kill no longer do, etc. I think Belfry is my favourite so far, and that extra health boost is worth it.
“The entire world in Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road still feels incredibly detailed.”
Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road looks deceivingly easy, and that is why I aim for that extra health boost. By the time you reach your second stop, your Town Hall is likely to have taken some damage. Trying to balance fighting monsters, cutting free items that help in the fight, taking down rocks to heal your Town Hall, and harvesting trees to up your damage output and gather gold to buy more firepower is a lot to juggle.
I am looking forward to seeing the general public take on Monsters Are Coming! Rock & Road, because I think there will be some seriously OP Town Hall builds that people put together. I find myself continuously trying new things, and after seeing some requirements and achievements, I know I have a lot more time left to put into the game. For completionists, there are a ton of weapons and buildings to unlock, as well as four difficulties and even upgrades you can purchase outside of a level to boost the overall game. If the game introduces co-op in a future update, it will truly be unstoppable.
Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road has given me hours of enjoyment, and I keep going back. Looking up the price of the game, it is under $10 and has given me so many hours of fun that I would gladly pay three times the cost. Go play Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road, you won’t regret it, and the soundtrack is kick-ass—even my 10-year-old agrees!
