The Monster Within

The Monster Within is a deck-building card game set in a city overrun by monsters, where you play as a monster and fight sinister creatures while trying not to become one yourself. The game’s story takes shape through the cards you play, in a style inspired by 1950s horror comics.

Build your deck

Each round, you build a deck from Day, Night and Monster cards. Buy cards to damage opponents, protect yourself or acquire stronger cards for later. The game includes almost 400 cards, and you unlock cards and characters as you play, opening up more strategies and playstyles.

You can use investigation and tactics, take advantage of the city’s seedy underbelly, embrace your growing evil instincts or combine these approaches. As you lose health, you become more monstrous and the cards available to buy change. Keep your health high to remain in the Day, or let it fall to gain powerful Monster cards, while avoiding a complete loss of control.

Choose a monster

Choose from ten monsters, each with its own cards and strategy. Examples include the Vampire, who feeds on foes’ blood; the Wraith, who embraces the night; the Plant, who makes opponents green with envy; and the Blob, which crushes them with sheer bulk.

Each monster can pair with two others to create a mashup monster. Examples include the Vampire and Wraith becoming the Lich, and the Cultist and Warlock becoming the Mummy.

Afflictions and challenge

At the start of each round, choose an Affliction such as Fangs, Scaly Skin or Mysterious Secretions to power up your character and explore different strategies. The game includes almost 50 Afflictions.

The Blood system lets you increase the game’s difficulty as you play. Higher difficulty speeds up how quickly you unlock more content.