Game: Little Inner Monsters
Genre: Card Game
System: Steam (Windows & macOS)
Developer|Publisher: Mens Sana Interactive
Controller Support: None
Price: US $2.99 | UK £2.39 | EU € 2,39
Release Date: June 20th, 2022
Review code provided with many thanks to Mens Sana Interactive.
Little Inner Monsters is a simple card game that requires a lot of strategy. It may look cute and simple, but getting through this War-like game will require quick thinking.
The Gameplay of Little Inner Monsters
This card game has all the basic rules of War with a few things added. Just like in War, each player chooses and plays a card, and then the highest of those cards wins. However, in Little Inner Monsters, each card has a range of stats to choose from.
A starting player is chosen with a quick game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. This starting player gets to choose which location the game of War is played in; each location gives a boost to one or two of the stats on the cards. After choosing a location, choose a feeling. Each feeling has a corresponding feeling stat on each card.
- The yellow Joy feeling means that the cards will use their Joy (yellow) stat.
- The pink Anger feeling means that the cards will use their Anger (pink) stat.
- The blue Will feeling means that the cards will use their Will (blue) stat.
- The brown Disgust feeling means that the cards will use their Disgust (brown) stat.
- The green Altruism feeling means that the cards will use their Altruism (green) stat.
- The orange Fear feeling means that the cards will use their Fear (orange) stat.
If you are the starting player, choose the feeling that has the highest stats across your three cards. If the challenger is first, they will pick the mood that fits their cards best instead. Next, players choose one of their three cards to play War against the other player’s first. The highest number of the chosen feeling wins. Each round is best of three. After that, the opposite player will become starting player and will get to choose the location and the feeling. The game continues until one player is out of cards.
There is also a Panic button in the lower left-hand part of the screen; this allows players to randomly apply some sort of new rule to the board, whether it be new cards, new feelings, or a new location. This helps to make this game a little less luck-based and a little more winnable.
There is both a PvE and PvP mode; you can either play against the computer or play online against other real people. I just played just against the computer, though I did try to hop online and play some rounds; no one was ever playing while I was also online and looking for a game. I’m sure there are some differences when playing online, but I’m not sure what those might be.
One thing I loved about the online mode is that it gave me a little marshmallow-roasting mini-game to play while I waited for someone else to join the lobby.
This Game is Unbelievably Cute
The artwork of Little Inner Monsters is unbelievably adorable. I loved all the colorful little creatures and the each of the stylized backgrounds. All the wonderful details in the game were incredibly polished from the music to the screen movements. I didn’t like the fonts that the developer chose, but that seems like a very small thing in comparison to everything I liked about the look of the game.
It has wonderful, calming, pastel-like colors and soft cartoonish edges that make everything look soft, cuddly, and pleasing to the eye, even when it is a monster or a graveyard that you are looking at.
Cute, but Not for Babies
In spite of the look of this cute little game, it is not a children’s game. The difficulty on the lowest setting with the computer (which is called Bored) takes no prisoners. It’s a challenge to conquer your AI foe while you learn the rules. The higher levels, which need to be unlocked, get exponentially harder. Players therefore must rely on the skill of knowing when to place cards, using the Panic button, and a lot of luck to get a win.
For what this game is, it’s a real winner. If you like War-like card games and cute graphics, this one is for you. However, it is very much just a regular card game like you could play at the kitchen table. I think the real gold here is the ability to play online with friends. I know for a fact that my parents would love this sort of game that we could play together over the distance and chat in Discord while playing.
I liked this little game a lot. And for $2.99 USD, you can buy it for yourself and all of your friends without breaking the bank.
Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot.
