I know, I know—another article about a game like Stardew Valley. But hear me out, because this one’s different. I just spent a couple of hours with Sile’s Monsterest demo on Steam, and by the end of it, my heart rate was up, I had momentarily stopped breathing without realizing it, and a massive smile was slapped on my face, as I was in utter disbelief at what I had just witnessed. I won’t get into why here, simply because I want you to experience it for yourself if you have the time, but consider this my letter of recommendation, sent to you, in hopes that you might head to Steam right now and download the Monsterest demo so you can see for yourself.
Let me be clear up front that this game is only like Stardew Valley in a few, very obvious ways—which, to me, actually helps it in the long run. Monsterest is a life sim without a farming loop, though its presentation is undeniably Stardew Valley-like, and even many of its sound effects sound like they were ripped straight from ConcernedApe’s library and only slightly altered. The traditional day-night cycle of farm life sims like Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon is still intact, and you can even grow your relationships with the game’s NPCs through things like conversation and gift-giving. However, the way it executes many of its ideas is, what I would consider, an evolution of what Stardew Valley both revived and popularized, and it helps it stand out enough that it isn’t just another Stardew-like in the sea of them that you can now find on Steam. And the cherry on top of it all is that Monsterest somehow found a way to make one of the best indie games of the last decade, Undertale, feel like it has returned in a completely different form.
Monsterest Is More Than It Seems
Check out Monsterest’s Demo on Steam
I’ve said something of this nature before, but at this point, comparing a game like Monsterest to Stardew Valley can hurt it if the comparison isn’t balanced well, because when someone reads or overhears that a game is like Stardew Valley, the pixel art, soft colors, and farm life gameplay loop that has defined the genre for decades likely immediately come to mind. At the same time, if you’re a fan of Stardew Valley and you want more of what it has to offer, the comparison at least got you in the door, didn’t it? Plus, I’m not being completely unfair with that comparison either because, like I said, there is a lot in Monsterest that is similar to Stardew Valley.
Before I get into those similarities, though, let me dig into Monsterest‘s incredibly unique premise. You begin in what appears to be an abandoned building, only for a giant, silhouetted monster to come stomping in while nightmarish music sets the tone. Once that monster comes within a few feet of you, however, things get a bit more lighthearted, and you’re informed that you, a human, are finally “awake” and that you are in “monster territory” and don’t belong there. The catch is that you have no idea how you got there or how to escape, and the monsters don’t seem too keen on helping you get out. Instead, Moony, an ambitious freelancing talking rat, wants you to run an inn with him. From there, he teaches you how, effectively introducing Monsterest‘s simple but satisfying core gameplay loop.
Monsterest Key Features
- MONSTER INN MANAGEMENT – Prepare rooms, meals, and accommodations for new monster guests.
- BUILDING AND DECORATING – Build walls, customize rooms, and dye furniture to fit your style.
- MONSTER COMPANIONS – Befriend guests who can eventually join you on everyday activities.
- FISHING, HUNTING AND GATHERING – Fish, hunt, chop wood, and collect resources around the world.
- COOKING AND CRAFTING – Prepare meals and unlock furniture recipes as your inn grows.
- RELATIONSHIP BUILDING – Grow closer to monsters through conversation, gifts, and shared activities.
- EXPLORATION AND SECRETS – Search beyond the inn for treasure, mysteries, and other surprises.
- DAY-NIGHT LIFE SIM LOOP – Manage the inn, explore, and build relationships throughout each day.
The inn is fully customizable, down to the walls and doors, which you can craft as long as you have the necessary materials. It’s extremely easy to rearrange everything too, just in case you want to expand a room or throw in some decorations. The purpose behind that, of course, is to increase guest satisfaction and ensure the aesthetics of the place are to your liking. And there are plenty of different items to craft, even in Monsterest‘s demo, that can whet your appetite for what the full game can offer, like a buffet for guests where you can store food you harvest out in the wild or cook in your kitchen, as well as a table on which you can keep amenities stocked to increase guest satisfaction even further.
And speaking of guest satisfaction, the guests themselves are, in fact, a key part of the whole experience and where the game starts feeling a bit more like Stardew Valley—though, again, still different in the best ways. At first glance, it might seem like Monsterest is all about making sure a guest’s stay at your inn is satisfactory, but it’s much deeper than that. Instead, while keeping the inn clean and furnished and taking care of each guest’s unique needs is absolutely necessary, you’re also encouraged to spend time with them and actually befriend them. It’s not as simple as talking to them and giving them gifts every day, though, and that’s where Monsterest starts to separate itself from Stardew Valley, or any other traditional farm life sim, for that matter.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Easy (120s)Medium (90s)Hard (60s)
Most of Monsterest‘s more distinctive guests have unique hobbies that double as a way for you to gather materials and invest in your crafting endeavors. For example, one of my first guests happened to be a big fan of chopping down trees, so he invited me to go outside with him and do just that. Every time we felled a tree, his satisfaction increased, and I gradually befriended him. Before long, he was so fond of me and pleased with his stay at the inn that he gave me a gift. Then, a couple of days after that, after he had already departed, he even sent me a letter in the mail saying he wanted to come back, and I had the option of inviting him back. As each layer of this was introduced during my time with Monsterest‘s demo, I found myself feeling increasingly delighted with how many steps it was taking to evolve Stardew Valley‘s all-too-familiar friendship mechanics.
But their hobbies go beyond chopping down trees, of course, with activities like fishing and hunting thrown in there as well. While fishing with a monster who enjoys it, it even makes Monsterest‘s fishing mini-game easier, as that’s actually at least part of the whole point behind doing these activities with friends anyway. Chopping down trees with a monster friend ensures it takes less time, hunting creatures with a monster friend can make them easier to subdue, and so on. It’s a brilliant way to blend two gameplay loops that are normally kept separate, and it makes the whole experience feel like each individual part is working together.
Monsterest Is Hiding Something Beneath Its Cozy Surface
All of that is already enough to make Monsterest an excellent choice for anyone who enjoys the life sim and relationship-building mechanics of games like Stardew Valley, but I would be remiss not to bring up what makes this particular game so unique, and that is where my initial Undertale comparison comes into play. On the surface, Monsterest looks like it’s going to be some lighthearted life sim where everything is perfect. However, the further you progress, the more you realize there’s something incredibly weird going on here. Already, it felt like something wasn’t right when you woke up in this strange world filled with monsters, you were told you weren’t supposed to be there, and you were intentionally distracted from the “exit.”
Monsterest somehow found a way to make one of the best indie games of the last decade, Undertale, feel like it has returned in a completely different form.
But things get even weirder, almost unsettling, as you start making your way toward that exit. You start to realize this truly is a world you don’t belong in, much like how Undertale makes you feel, especially when you want to go to town, simply because you’re prompted to. You’re eventually greeted by a monster in a giant shipping container above the gate that supposedly leads into town, but you can only see his eye, and unlike many of the other monsters in the game, this one is… a bit unfriendly. He’s clearly untrusting of you almost immediately, and the only way he’ll let you through the gate is if you cook him a meal. I managed to reach that point in just a couple of hours during the Monsterest demo, and what happened after that is something I never expected.
That’s for you to find out, though. What I will say is that Monsterest spends most of its demo quietly convincing you that you understand what kind of game it is, only to reveal there may be much more happening beneath the surface than its cozy life sim structure initially suggests. By the time I was told the demo had concluded, the Stardew Valley comparison felt almost secondary to me. Monsterest had established an identity of its own, and more importantly, it left me desperate to know where it goes from here.
Monsterest‘s release date is currently listed as “to be announced” on Steam and is available to wishlist.
