Monster Train News

Monster Train 2 has officially left the station! It’s up to you to stop the corrupted forces of Heaven. This time, you’re taking the fight to THEM! Battle the angels on your own terms by building the ultimate army of banished angels, ethereal fae-like creatures from the great beyond, and…mushrooms? All is possible in Monster Train 2’s world!

Download Monster Train 2 today and enjoy:

1. Five brand new clans
   
2. Keep the fun going forever with Endless Mode!
   
3. Master unique abilities
   
4. Enjoy hours of play with near-endless variability
   
5. Unlock all new card types
   

And much, much more!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2742830/Monster_Train_2/

To celebrate Monster Train 2’s launch, we’ve created a special Supporter Pack! Along with the full game, you can also get the Digital Compendium: an art book, digital wallpapers, printable items, photos from inside our studio, and more.

That’s just one part of the bundle. You can also get the complete Monster Train 2 Soundtrack, composed by the talented Jordan Chin! If his name sounds familiar, that’s because he has been the mastermind for every Shiny Shoe game soundtrack, starting with Monster Train, Inkbound, and now, Monster Train 2!

If you do get the soundtrack, comment with your favorite song! I would love to hear which one you like best!

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/53532/Monster_Train_2_Supporter_Pack/

Now, I won’t go on for much longer because I know you want to get started on playing Monster Train 2. Before you go, however, I would like to thank you so much for supporting the Shiny Shoe team and for playing Monster Train 2. Without you and your love for Monster Train, we would never have been able to make this game.

I hope you have as much fun playing Monster Train 2 as it was to work on it and thank you again!

Hi folks, this is your conductor speaking. We’d like to once again thank you for riding Monster Train Railways. As we near our final destination, we’d like to quickly run down our launch day checklist. We’re going to remind you of all the new content, modes, and even share some new info on pricing and other goodies. So keep those seatbelts fastened, put your tray tables in the upright and locked position, and please ignore the fact that I’ve switched this train metaphor into that of an airplane. Ready? Let’s go.



[h3]New Clans, New Cards, New World[/h3]

Monster Train 2 takes the format that you know, love, and have sunk thousands of hours into and transforms it into something brand new. Defend your Pyre Heart with the strength of five all new clans (Banished, Pyreborne, Lazarus League, Luna Coven, & Underlegion), game-changing Room and Equipment cards, Celestial Alcoves, Active Abilities, and countless new ways to upgrade your run as you ride the rails through Heaven.



[h3]Modes, Modes, and more Modes[/h3]

Once you’ve gotten a hang of Monster Train 2’s new cast and cards, it’s time to see what else is out there. That’s where Monster Train 2’s myriad new modes come in. See how far you can make it with a brand new Endless mode, conquer your friends list and climb the global leaderboards with the ever-changing Daily Challenge mode, or if you’re feeling truly bold, tackle the daunting Dimensional Challenges hand-crafted from the minds of our most sadistic developers. We considered the original Monster Train to be “endlessly replayable” - with all of these new ways to play, we think Monster Train 2 is leaning closer to “eternally replayable”.



[h3]Ticket to Ride[/h3]

So I know what you’re thinking. “Wow! Between the new gameplay possibilities to master, modes to explore, and the state of *gestures around* everything else happening in the world, it only makes sense that Monster Train 2 would be more expensive! A copy of Monster Train 2 must cost a million, nay, a bajillion dollars!”

No way. We’re happy to share that Monster Train 2 launches on May 21 for $24.99. The same price as the original Monster Train when it launched exactly five years ago to the day. And for you OG Monster Train owners out there (if you’re reading this that’s almost certainly you) things get even better. During launch we’ll be running a Monster Train + Monster Train 2 bundle offering a sweet discount to those picking up both games at once. But since you already own the game you’ll simply be getting the discount no questions asked. Why? Hell, why not?

If you’re a Monster Train fanatic wanting to go the extra mile, we will also have the Monster Train 2 Supporter Pack Bundle available starting day one. This bundle includes the base game along with the entire Monster Train 2 Original Soundtrack and an exclusive Digital Compendium. Jam out to MT2’s tough-as-nails musical score while getting a glimpse at previously unseen renditions of MT2’s ghoulishly gorgeous world and characters featuring page after page of art, wallpapers, and more.



[h3]Go to Heaven[/h3]

Quite frankly, we can’t wait for you to see what Monster Train 2 has in store. Whether you’re using MT2 to hop on to the Monster Train for the first time, or you’re one of our daily commuters: Thank you for being here. Next stop: launch.

- Shiny Shoe & Big Fan Games

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2742830/Monster_Train_2/

[h3]Overview[/h3]

Going into Monster Train 2, we had better connections and had made friends with folks at other studios who had played our games. This gave us an opportunity to reach out to some folks who we were fans of Monster Train to ask if they’d be up to let us work with them as part of Monster Train 2. Fortunately a few of our favorites said yes and so we set to work making these crossovers happen.

We knew the right place in Monster Train 2 to put them was where surprises happen on every run: the ‘event system’ (aka., the Concealed Caverns in Monster Train 1 and Celestial Alcove in Monster Train 2).

We also have some useful tools in this system to make sure our crossovers don’t show up too much, we get to define their frequency against each other, and also we can set it up so they don’t show up in the earliest runs a player does in their career, making sure the player is fully immersed in Monster Train before they start to experience some of these wilder or weirder events.

[h3]Richard Garfield Collaboration[/h3]

Here at Shiny Shoe we are big fans of Richard’s work on Magic the Gathering and other board and card games. Plus he was a Monster Train 1 fan! So we knew when we were making the sequel we had to reach out and see if he’d be up to design a little something for us.

The result was the Wonderous Boxes event! He came to us with an idea where the goal was to make every choice explode into even more options and we loved it. With a little iteration going over theme and implementation it turned into the event you see before you today.

[h3]Balatro[/h3]

The legendary jokers and the Cavendish/Gros Michel are iconic and fun, and since they were passives, fit in neatly as artifacts. The hard part came in balancing their wild powers in the context of Monster Train.

For example, in Balatro, Canio gives a 1X mult when a face card is destroyed. Since we don’t have ‘face cards’ or ‘mults’, we had to break down the core idea of the Canio which is essentially: “Get a bonus on card removal”. Then we translate that idea into the mechanics of Monster Train. As a result, in our game, Canio gives gold whenever you purge a card.

[h3]Inscryption[/h3]

If you're visiting us at PAX East this weekend, you may have noticed a familiar face on the side of the Big Fan booth.

Inscryption also had random events on their map like ours, and we talked about adapting a few options (like the Villagers). Then we looked towards sigils that work similarly to our upgrades, and realized those would be the most natural fit.

Of course, since it’s Inscryption, we needed to add a secret to the event (but we won’t reveal that here). It took our playtesters the course of a week or so to solve it, but with more of you out there maybe it will go faster with a little coordination.

[h3]Cult of the Lamb[/h3]

We knew we wanted to use the Red Crown and let any character ‘become the lamb’. In their game, the Red Crown gives the lamb immortality and transforms into weapons that the lamb uses. So, in our game, the Red Crown gives you Endless and equips the character with a random weapon.

Of course, the Red Crown also comes with your own loyal cultist followers. We knew we wanted to make these followers start off weak, as a tradeoff for taking the Red Crown. But although the followers have very low stats, with 1 attack and 1 health, they also have Multistrike 2, which can make them extremely strong if you decide to strengthen your cult.

[h3]Inkbound[/h3]

A collaboration with our own game! The idea of characters from Inkbound diving into an inkwell and landing in the world of Monster Train has been a small joke we’d tossed around occasionally. In fact, there are already some small nods to Monster Train in Inkbound. So when it got around to Monster Train 2, since we were already doing crossovers, having one with Inkbound was a no-brainer.

We picked a handful of vestiges from Inkbound and updated their mechanics to fit in Monster Train, which was surprisingly straightforward. Nib & Bin are also in the event, who have seemingly entered Monster Train through the inkwell portal. We thought it would be neat to imply that the worlds of Monster Train and Inkbound are connected. Because they technically are, they’re made by the same people!

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Monster Train 2's collaborations come from our love of fellow deck builders, indie games, and the unique gameplay possibilities they bring to our players. While you almost certainly won't encounter these random events on every playthrough, we hope their presence comes as a fun surprise to spice up your run.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Multiply your run wins with the help of the Jokers of Balatro! Swing by a Celestial Alcove for a chance encounter with Jimbo, who is more than happy to lend you their powers! Jokers are artifacts, giving unique effects that can change the entire flow of your run. Buff your Pyre Heart with Triboulet, who gives a permanent health boost for each rare card in your deck, or Chicot who ensures you’re paid for each card you purge. There are many jokers hopping on the Monster Train from the world of Balatro, how you use their powers is up to you!

Hedge your bets and stack your pile of winnings higher than the heavens! Play with fate and fortune when Monster Train 2 hits PC, Xbox Series X|S, Playstation 5, and Nintendo Switch on May 21st!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2742830

Hi, everyone!!

Thank you so much to everyone who has played the Monster Train 2 demo and submitted feedback on the game. Leading up to Monster Train 2’s launch on May 21st, 2025, we’ve integrated many of your suggestions into the game. Since there have been so many changes to the game, we wanted to update the demo so it fits the current version of the game more closely. Plus, players who are interested get a little sneak peek before Monster Train 2's launch.

So, without further ado, here are just a few changes we’ve made to the demo:

• Updated balance: buffs and nerfs on a variety of cards, artifacts, and enemies.
  
• Fixed several edge case gameplay bugs.
  
• Dualism redesigned to only affect buffs and debuffs.
  
• Strike now only applies when attacking or using an ability.
  
• Max unit cap per room increased from 6 to 7.
  
• Improved visuals in a variety of areas.
  
• Added support for sorting your Deck.
  
• Improved controller/keyboard navigation support in a variety of ways.
  
• Fixed reported Undo Turn bugs.
  
• Added clarification that you must choose a path on the map first before you can collect rewards. This is how it worked in MT1 but changes to the map visuals in MT2 made it less clear in some situations. We think this UI change improves clarity.
  
• Increased contrast and reduced visual business of some areas on the map of Heaven.
  
• Added a confirmation step before merging equipment so you can review the outcome before spending the gold.
  
• Added an indicator next to the End Turn button if you have any unused unit abilities as a reminder that you might want to use them. Also clicking this button moves the camera to a room with an unused ability.
  
• Added intro FMV that bridges the story from MT1 to MT2.
  
• The first story character dialogue now happens after the first run.
  
• New and updated music.
  
• Updated the Run Summary screen to fit many more cards without pagination.
  

These are just a few of the changes we’ve made to both the demo and the game in general. All these improvements are possible because you, the amazing players of Monster Train 2’s demo, submitted feedback and let us know how we could improve it.

For this new demo, please continue to give us feedback! I hope that these improvements make the demo all the more fun and thank you for supporting the Shiny Shoe team.