Monster Builder: Craft, Defend is an Android game that puts players in charge of a team of scientists looking to save the Earth from Alien monsters invading through portals that keep appearing all over the globe. The Player and their team of scientists can combat this threat by using their own monsters, spliced together from different DNA as well as modern technology. For players, they will find in Monster Builder: Craft, Defend a game that has hundreds of different DNA combinations and over a thousand different monster combinations. It’s the sort of game that will appeal to fans of Monster Legends as well as those that enjoy collecting items. In Monster Builder there are all kinds of skills and strategies to explore, as well as the ability to compete and work alongside other players online.
Just as with other Android games out there, players will need to download Monster Builder: Craft, Defend from the Play Store. After that, they’ll be able to get started after a short loading screen.
New players will be given an introduction to the overall gameplay and what’s required of them with an interactive tutorial, which was a big help for me learning how to play the game.
This tutorial guides players through the overall process of taking part in a Monster battle in Monster Builder, which mostly involves choosing and then deploying monsters that you have available into the field.
This then leads to a face-off between the monsters that you’ve chosen as well as the monsters that are already out there in the field. One thing I noticed when going through the tutorial is that some of the English in the dialog is a little unnatural and clunky.
Once the tutorial is finished, players will be able to jet off all over the globe to take on their fights and such, and this leads to some interesting fights in some interesting places, and the World Map does help to give players a sense of importance over what it is they’re doing.
For new players, the tutorial itself can feel quite long, but once they get into the act of collecting DNA and using that to create their own monsters, the real fun starts.
There are hundreds of different piece of DNA to collect that results in over a thousand different monsters and combinations to adjust your strategy and such.
More than just collecting everything you can, Monster Builder also allows people to experiment with the different DNA profiles to create some really powerful monsters.
When players first start off, they won’t have the most impressive monsters at their disposal, but as things go on, they get more exciting, and this way the game does get people off to a gentle and gradual start.
Monster Builder features a robust levelling system as well, one that gives users more in terms of rewards once they’ve played a few levels and then have levelled up.
As players level up and become more experienced in not only their knowledge of the game but also the amount and types of monsters at their disposal, things become more and more exciting, with some pretty heated battles to play through.
No game like Monster Builder would be complete without some extra customization, and to that end users can customize the appearance of their lab workers and assistants.
Monster Builder is a game that’s practically jam-packed with all sorts of extras and fun things to do, but it does take some time to get into. Unfortunately, the tutorial feels really long and there’s even more hand-holding after that as the lab assistant keeps on asking you to do things that you either don’t want to or just don’t see the point of yet. Once players have gotten past this stage though, the game opens up into something that gives them a chance to show off their strategy and such by building different monsters and by carefully choosing which monsters they match together and then deploy in battle. As players get further into things and head to the PVP arenas, battle gets more difficult and different strategies emerge.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – Monster Builder runs nice and smoothly and I didn’t have any issues with performance.
- Theme (4/5) – Despite some clunky English here and there the overall look and feel of the game is pretty good, and the Monsters look good, too.
- Features (4/5) – While it might be a sort of strange mix of combat and collecting, Monster Builder manages to carve out a niche for itself, but one that might become a little samey over time.
- Overall (4/5) – With hundreds of different monsters to build and collect, exciting battles and a lot more, Monster Builder is a solid game, and one that offers players more than you might first think.
Pros
- Monster Builder has a lot on offer for players than enjoy collecting and customizing things.
- Will appeal to fans of Pokemon and other similar games, especially to players that enjoy collecting everything.
- Allows players to connect and lend monsters and such to other players, creating a global player base.
- Isn’t too violent, making this a game that could well appeal to players of all ages.
Cons
- Takes a long time to get involved with the game as the tutorial seems to drag on a bit.
- Combat and overall gameplay could be a lot better.
Monster Builder is the sort of game that will certainly have its fans, but whether or not the gameplay and combat have enough going on to keep these players hooked remains to be seen. It’s a great game for collectors but players need to go through a lot of tutorial and guides, after that however the game really does open up and become more challenging as well as rewarding, too. Regardless, Monster Builder has oodles of different Monsters on offer, a hell of a lot of customization options to explore and a lot more besides. Well worth checking out, Monster Builder is a free download.