Be honest; if you suddenly gained the resources to grow and clone massive ancient monsters, there'd probably be less altruism and science, and more rampaging through the streets screaming "How do you like me now?!" In LittleGiantWorld's simulation time management game Monster Corp, however, you have to act like a grown up and be responsible with your newly-grown beasts... which, naturally, means trying to make a profit. It's your job to run an accident waiting to happenUHIMEAN facility where people can come and view these creatures, while simultaneously managing hunts to get new DNA types to make more beasties. You have certain goals to meet each month, both cash and visitor related, and you'll also be in charge of hiring hunters and sending them out into the world to track down rumours of monsters, hoping to bring back monster juice and other supplies. This is fairly important, since to create a monster you'll not only need its DNA, but specific items (such as eggs) before you can actually grow one; you can check each monster's requirements on the monster information screen through the clipboard icon.
Of course, there's a bit more to it than that. You can only hunt at the start of each month, and the rest of your time is spent managing the facility. Each monster needs to be cleaned, fed and cared for according to its specific needs, you'll need staff to help with the upkeep and keep visitors safe, there's a market to buy or sell monsters and new DNA and more. You'll even find secondary items you can equip on your showcase beasts to give them a boost, and also be able to purchase advertising to help drive more visitors to your expo hall. Just use the tabs on each screen to navigate between selections and pay attention to your secretary/scientist/token blonde girl's advice, since she'll guide you through the basics. The building, test tube, and clipboard icons during regular gameplay cycle you through the different locations and menus; the expo hall is where you can place your monsters for display and where visitors will pay to be (use the [WASD] or click and drag to move around), the laboratory is where you create new creatures, and the manage screen lets you do everything from set ticket prices to view your statistics and inventory. If things are moving too slowly for you, try clicking the round green 1x, 2x, and 3x buttons on the top right to speed up game time. Just keep an eye on your monthly goals; fail to meet them, and you'll have to replay the stage until you do.
Monster Corp has a lot going for it, from its appealing cartoony style (apart from the teeny-tiny text), easy to pick up gameplay, and intriguing concept; who amoung us wouldn't jump at the chance to have our very own bloodthirsty creatures of legend? (And then immediately work on engineering tiny red and white balls to fit them into.) Unfortunately, it also starts to feel a little repetitive after a while, and the tutorial glosses over the finer points of the game so that you'll probably figure more out experimenting on your own. After a while, the lack of any real specific goal other than "make X amount of money" ceases to be a motivator, and Monster Corp's staying power for you will depend on your need to catch (or grow) 'em all and purchase the top tier of absolutely everything. While the gameplay doesn't feel quite as developed as it might have been, however, Monster Corp is still a weirdly appealing little title packed with charm and well worth experimenting for anyone who loves mythological beasts and profit. Yes, by all means pack those squishy, tasty, defenseless humans into a room full of monsters contained by flimsy enclosures! What could possibly go wrong?
Nice game, though I agree that it does get a bit tedious. However, does February have thirty days in the future? Huh.
normally i love complex management games like this but i was lost before i finished the tutorial. it just seems like a sequence of menu screens, with no context
i'll give it another shot later
Does this game actually load for anyone else? It's stuck on the loading screen for some reason.
I'm running ie 8.0. Is there anything I can do?
[Sorry, the game appears to be incompatible with IE. You'll need to use a different browser to play. -Jay]
If you got stuck on, please clear your browser's cache, and then try to refresh it again. Sorry for the issue.
Pretty neat. A bit too simple maybe.
The lack of multi-buy really gets in the way... Buying items one by one is, in a way, this game's version of level grinding...
Hint:
Creating monsters costs close to nothing, so selling monsters is a great source of income.
Bug:
The final mission (get 3 halls full with monsters) didn't get marked as completed for me. I had 3 halls, full of monsters, and all the furniture. I created and exposed each monster at least once. If there is something I'm missing, I don't see what.
I always love business games like these xD I especially like how detailed the mythology and type of monsters available are!
Haha, it took me a while to understand why I wasn't able to generate some of the monsters I bought from the store until I looked over the Monter Info page again.
But for some reason, even though my Hall 1 has some nice furniture and is almost full of monsters with max employees, my guest keep showing angry faces. Is there something I'm still doing wrong?
@joe
What are you talking about lol, I thought the intro and gameplay was pretty simple and easy to understand. ;)
Hey,
nice little game here. I love the pixel art !
I experimented a bug that ended my game, by trying to buy a hall from the "begin of a new month summary", then by trying to hire a hunter : the hall got mixed with the location picker, and I couldn't go any further. :(
Also, the gameplay becomes a bit frustrating, and the mixture of clicking and drag-n-dropping doesn't feel quite achieved. As a previous commentator pointed out, the absence of possibility to buy several similar items is disappointing.
Overall, it is still a good little game, worth playing :)
uh...jay i had a little problem going to your website. when i accidentally forgot to type the s in games it directed me into a spam
[I'm sorry, but that's not something I have any control over. You might want to bookmark us and use that to visit us instead. Or, if you're using Firefox, you can just type "jay" in your address bar and press [Enter], usually we're the first link you'll see. You may need to type "jayis", though, depending on where you're located in the world. -Jay]
agree with the review, at the end it just gotta collect them all-- though I did enjoy it. And it is not that hard either considering you could just spam-grow the monsters. Combined that you can buy everything including fame needed, well.. it just money farm. If just the lab limited to three creatures at a time :) .
I don't have any problems with angry visitors. My popularity seems never diminish at all. I just have to make sure that the number of staffs equivalent with number of beasts in single hall. Also disappointed that you can't get DNA / special DNA from hunting.
Some of the creatures animation are interesting and long is my favourite monster here. A few like the hydra and leviathan looks a bit awkward but it is ok.
Angry visitors are due to high ticket prices.
Ha ha, this game's English is so funny! :) It makes me smile every time an information box pops up.
The scrolling function gets pretty annoying though.
Update