Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road
" Innovative action-strategy roguelite with tower defense and base building but steep difficulty spikes "
Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road Review
Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road is a hybrid roguelite tower defense game with a unique premise of escorting a moving castle while managing resources and fending off waves of enemies. Players control a hero who fights, mines, and builds towers to defend the city. The game features multiple maps, cities, and unlockable towers, with meta progression that allows incremental stat boosts and new abilities over time.
While the core gameplay loop is praised for its innovation, accessibility, and satisfying mechanics, many players express frustration with the game's balancing and progression systems. Difficulty spikes sharply beyond the normal mode, making higher difficulties feel punishing and grind-heavy. Meta progression is often described as slow, linear, and unrewarding, with limited player agency in build customization due to lack of banish or selection mechanics. The game also suffers from repetitive runs, limited synergies, and some unclear challenge requirements.
Overall, the game has strong foundations and a fresh concept but requires significant balancing and quality-of-life improvements to fully realize its potential.
Highlights
Players particularly enjoy the innovative core gameplay loop combining tower defense, roguelite, and base-building elements.
The accessible controls and smooth combat mechanics receive positive notes, making the game easy to pick up.
Visuals and audio design are described as stylized, crisp, and atmospheric, with a fitting soundtrack.
Unlocking new towers and cities adds variety and strategic depth, encouraging experimentation.
The game is considered a good value for its price, especially for fans of the genre looking for a fresh experience.
Criticisms
A common criticism is the steep and inconsistent difficulty scaling, with hard modes feeling punishing and sometimes impossible without extensive grinding.
Meta progression is seen as grindy, slow, and monotonous, mainly offering small percentage boosts without meaningful player choice.
The lack of a banish or selection system leads to frustrating RNG, diluting builds and limiting synergy.
Many players find the runs repetitive and lacking meaningful variation, with minimal synergy between towers and upgrades.
Some reviews mention technical issues like crashes, unclear UI elements, and annoying music that detracts from immersion.
Pros
- • Innovative blend of tower defense, roguelite, and base building mechanics.
- • Accessible controls with smooth and satisfying combat gameplay.
- • Stylized graphics and atmospheric audio design enhance immersion.
- • Variety of unlockable towers and cities encourage strategic experimentation.
- • Good value for price, especially for fans of the genre.
- • Engaging core gameplay loop that rewards player agency and creativity.
- • Low system requirements enable smooth performance on many devices.
Cons
- • Difficulty spikes sharply, making higher modes frustratingly hard without grinding.
- • Meta progression is slow, linear, and lacks impactful upgrades or variety.
- • No banish or item selection system results in frustrating RNG and build bloat.
- • Limited synergy between towers and upgrades reduces strategic depth.
- • Runs become repetitive with minimal variation in gameplay experience.
- • Some UI elements and challenge requirements are unclear or poorly explained.
- • Music is repetitive and can be distracting or annoying to some players.
Rating Criteria
Beware, Monsters are Coming! In this Tower-Survivor rogue-lite, you protect an ever-moving city from unrelenting hordes. Gather resources, fortify defences, and survive for as long as you can. Will you reach the Ark?
