As a big fan of monsters, and remembering an old game where you could build and fight monsters, I bought this game sight unseen. A slight mistake, as I think I am a bit outside of the age demographic for this game now.
You start in the laboratory, and have a fledgling monster to work with that looks a bit like Shrek. From there you can add a variety of different types of spines, spikes, tattoos, ears, etc. Kind of like a Mr. Potato Head, but more interactive.
From there, you send your monster out into the quite large world to explore, gather ingredients, eat gruffins (the bad guys) and of course, fight other monsters.
Gruffins look like rabbits, and they replenish your health if you lose a battle, and also confer some immunity to a type of elemental damage. So eat a red gruffin to get protection from fire attacks, blue for protection from water attacks, etc.
Gathering ingredients is done by smashing all sorts of things apart and collecting what's left. Then you can put them together in the lab to create potions to enhance your monster during combat.
Finally there is the combat. It is a turn based type system, so you can choose what attack you want to use (Punch, pound, or block) and then it compares to the type of attack the opponent uses.
While an okay game, I was expecting a little more action from the combat and exploring. This is why I said it is a great game depending on your age. The monsters are very well animated, and if you enjoy building and accessorizing your beast (kind of like in the Sims) it has a lot of options. There is even an area where you can take the monsters picture and he will do various poses.
Also, the animations for the creatures during the fights are amusing, with both sides doing dance moves, "talk to the hand", and quite a few other things including "mooning" the other monster when they defeat it.
So, if you are looking for a tactical simulation or fast paced RTS game, you won't be happy. If you are looking for something a bit cuter that would appeal to someone a bit younger, then you will probably be quite happy with this game. I don't think it will be a game that makes it into the teen years, but younger than that, and it would be good.
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