Monster Pub

Monster Pub is about that feeling when you make new friends where in one sudden rush you know a lot of stuff about someone new that you thought was interesting. It's about learning the weird varieties of card games in a friend's room when all you really had to entertain yourself was a deck of cards. And it's about allowing being a good person. This game is keen, clever, and very cute. If you like narrative games, beautiful pixel art, quick card games and a complete disregard for the appropriate function of the postal service, you should play Monster Pub. Absolutely worth the price.

(Disclaimer for Ethics: I purchased and played the game through itch.io. The developer is a friend of mine.) What a brilliant, fun little game. Honestly. It doesn't set out to be some grand dramatic emotional bomb like every other narrative indie game - it's a fun little time, chatting with some visually well-designed monsters, playing simple card games. It's got a genuinely charming atmosphere and sense of humor, the art style is unique and colorful, and a number of the little bite-sized interactions you have with the characters are genuinely some of the better small-scale pieces of dialogue writing I've seen in games. Another nice feature is the card games making the game more playable for folks like me who get bored by games that are purely dialogue. This game isn't for everyone - especially those who need levels of mechanic depth or grand emotional narratives to be engaged - but it's damn good at what it does.

This game is absolutely delightful. The art is wonderful, the music matches the setting perfectly, and the whole game is a very rewarding experience that asks you to invest yourself in and get to know a cast of very enjoyable characters. The card game mechanics are very simple but actually a lot of fun, and the emphasis on relationship-building over strictly winning each game shows that the developers really understand what they're trying to make and know how to convey their world through the game mechanics themselves. Just one thing to beware of: it is very short, even considering all three playable chapters. However, $10 to support the creation of a product like this is hardly too much to ask, and there's a free demo version on the developer's Itch.io page if you'd like to try it and see what it's all about without investing any money.

This game just had me melting with big friendship feels. It's charming chapters get you meeting and greeting with some very true-to-life personalities in monster form. The music and pixel art are delightful, so is the attention to detail - especially on the decks of cards that are crafted to each monster's interests. The fact that Sandwiches and Samson can be played in real life with an actual set of cards is pretty lovely. I did have a little trouble with the hit boxes every now and again, but ultimately the game is nicely polished and super wholesome! I'd certainly recommend to anyone who enjoys cute, short, positive, or narrative games - make some friends in Monster Pub!

(In the interest of full disclosure, I know one of the people who made the game, so make of that what you will) Very cute game! It's one of those where you can come home from a long day and just sit and play for a few hours to wind down. The characters are charming and getting to play cards with all of them is a delight. The music is swell too! My only gripe is that sometimes the WASD controls get a little wonky and when you try to talk to people. you have to sniff around a second and keep pressing E until they start talking. All in all a very charming game!

See, the mechanics behind the logic here are probably that when we are children, we are told that humans are generally good, and monsters are bad. In great oversimplification and Willie Trombone’s* lingo, in time we learn that humans are not so great after all. So, if the initial condition falls apart, then consequently, the monsters must be nice, right? And the protagonist is a monster as well, so from this game’s viewpoint the perspective is already crooked since, are the monsters monsters to another monster? [h3]And do monsters scare their children by telling them that there’s a human underneath the bed? [/h3] But I’ve been getting philosophically, grammatically and semantically questionable thus far, so let me tell you about the game itself. What was its title again? <checks the Steam page> Ah. The Monster Pub. So yeah, it takes place in a pub. And has monsters in it. And you make friends with them and play Solitaire. The card game, not that guy from Dark Souls. And that is more or less it. Okay, there is another card game besides the solitaire to be played here. The players place the cards on the table in turns, when a certain condition is met – for example the…