Shiny Shoe has, in the last 24 hours, confirmed on Steam its plans for the year ahead, with three free content updates and a paid-for DLC expansion detailed alongside a triumphant announcement.
Free Update #1 Lost Arsenal
As part of the first free update, every clan will be getting a new card. These cards will arrive alongside new equipment and room cards, and will be available at some point during Q3, 2025. Not too far away, then.
Following that, likely at some point during Q4, 2025, we’ll get Free Update #2, which will have new bosses, challenges, artifacts, and cosmetics. Update #3, on the other hand, is gonna be a surprise!
The paid-for DLC is due to land at some point in Q1, 2026, and it’ll add a new clan to the mix, which will no doubt require a load of careful balancing. The studio is also promising a new game mode, which could be something minor but could also be a whole campaign revamp, as we’ve seen with Darkest Dungeon 2: Kingdoms.
All aboard the Monster Train
Finally, while I’ve got you, I want to take a moment to say congrats to Shiny Shoe, as the studio has just celebrated 500,000 players getting aboard the game since launch.
The game’s inclusion on Game Pass has no doubt buoyed the numbers a bit, but even that shouldn’t take away from what I think is a phenomenal achievement for an indie studio.
Monster Train 2 has managed to achieve all this since it launched back on May 21, 2025, when arrived on PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox. You’ll find my review right here should you wish to find out more.
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Still with us? Of course you are! If you want to keep reading about great hand-picked rogues, the following articles represent a huge collection of the best roguelike games ever made.
Next, there are genre-specific lists that delve into the best roguelike games of all types. I’ve pulled out the best examples from each category, alongside the links to more in-depth articles!
The best turn-based roguelikes: Caves of Qud | There are some seriously incredible turn-based roguelikes out there. Of all the modern games, these are the closest to the original Rogue.
Awesome first-person rogues: Gunfire Reborn | We almost went with Blue Prince for this spot, but most people checking out first-person rogues probably want to wield a gun, you know?!
Cool roguelike deckbuilders: Balatro | Sorry, Slay the Spire fans, but this poker-solitaire deckbuilder has stolen Mike’s heart and won’t give it back.
Exciting roguelike platformers: Spelunky | Now, don’t get us wrong, Dead Cells is an incredible game, especially with all the DLC switched on. But when it comes to impact, you just can’t beat Spelunky.
Amazing action-roguelites: Hades 2 | And finally, let’s wrap things up with our favourite of them all. There’s no beating the original Hades, although Hades 2 comes pretty close!
