Machines vs Monsters is coming to Steam
Machines vs Monsters is a roguelite tower defense, and today it gets its first trailer.
What you do
You land on a planet, build along the road the monsters walk, and keep your Command Center alive for 50 waves. Clear the planet, then push on into endless mode and see how long the defense holds.
You will lose runs. That's part of it. Every run pays out stardust, win or lose, and stardust unlocks new towers, cards and starting bonuses for the next attempt.
What's in it
- 13 towers, five levels each. Start with railguns, plasma torches and spark coils, and work up to orbital uplinks and drone foundries. Every tower gets a named special at level four.
- A map that grows. Between waves you choose where the map expands: more road, ore rocks to mine, and derelict drill rigs, masts and repair bays to put back to work.
- A supply drop after every wave. Three cards, pick one: towers, buildings and upgrades in four rarities.
- Monsters and bosses per planet. Planet one sends 34 monsters from three families of dinosaurs, plus five boss waves. The next planet brings a whole new family.
- Hero spaceships. Six ships, each with its own special attack, flying above the fight and levelling up to 100 across your runs.
- The sky. 21 constellations and 198 stars to spend your stardust on.
- Co-op. Defend one board together, online with up to three friends.
- Four extra modes: Gauntlet, Curse Draft, Fixed Ground and Rule Board.
- Game speed from 1× to 10×, 15 interface languages, and a self-composed soundtrack that shifts with the fight.
The story fits in one line: you work for Batavia, a mining company that calls the local wildlife "native assets". Your crews call them monsters.
What happens next
- December 2026: a free demo on Steam.
- February 22 to March 1, 2027: Steam Next Fest.
- March 2027: Early Access.
The roadmap shows what is in the game today and what is still to come.
Who makes it
I'm Bart, and Machines vs Monsters is the first game from Studio Bartek, a one-person studio in the Netherlands. This diary is where I'll show what changes in the game, every Thursday. You can follow it here with the RSS feed, on the Steam page, or on Discord.
Thanks for watching.