Dungeon Monster RPG - Terrible name, not that bad of a game

Dungeon Monsters RPG is a card battler with a bit of a difference. It's first person, riffing on the dungeon crawlers of old that saw you stumbling face-first through subterranean hell holes.

This time you've got a team of upgradeable monsters at your disposal though. They're based on different elements, and you use them to fight your battles for you.

There's treasure and secrets to find as well, and a tight move limit that can sometimes leave you stranded in the dark when your torch runs out.

It's also massively free to play, it's got a bunch of energy systems, and yet somehow I still found myself enjoying my time with it.

I know, it really doesn't. The game has some pretty sharp hooks though, and there's a feeling of exploration that you don't get with a lot of other card battlers.

You move around with a tap. Swiping to change direction. Every step you take costs you one portion of your torch power. Once it runs out it's game over, unless you've got one of the potions that relights it.

Usually this isn't a problem, and you can work out paths that mean you're not going to die in the gloom. And you've got a lot of currency in the bank to start off with, so spending some for a spark-up isn't the end of the world.

The combat is fast and simple, and has an elemental system. All of the blobby creatures at your command have an element attached to them, as do the foes you're trying to smash into bits.

There's a wheel of elemental strengths and weaknesses in the top right corner of the screen, so it's easy to figure out which of the beasts you're facing should be attacked when.

Your monsters also have super moves, which charge up as you play. You can use these out of the sequence of the fight to give yourself an advantage. Some of them deal damage, some of them heal your team, and figuring out a decent balance is half of the fun.

Most of the rewards you get come in the form of more monsters. Usually they're weaker than the ones you've already got, so you smoosh them together using the game's upgrade mechanics to make your team even stronger.

It means there's always a sense of progression. Stomp through a dungeon, grab some monsters, then add them to your team or squelch them down to their constitute parts and inject them into your current roster. I presume that's how it works.

It's not. It's not as old-school as it might pretend, and once you peel back some of the glister you'll find that, mechanically, Dungeon Monsters RPG is pretty standard. And don't get me started on that generic name.

But, there's still fun to be had here. It's not revolutionary by any means, but it is entertaining, and sometimes that's all you want from your underground adventures.

It's not going to sway you from your current position on card battlers or free to play games, but there's some nice monster smashing to be done here all the same.