A clever crossover of metroidvania and monster collecting. The team-duo combat and skill grid offer genuine buildcrafting depth. The pixel art is gorgeous. For anyone who loves optimizing creatures, it is a delicious trap.
Your verdict
Category
RPG1 player7+
Description
A keeper explores a side-scrolling sanctuary, capturing creatures and building a team. Published by Team17, released worldwide in 2020. Over a hundred monsters with skill trees, battles in teams of three, ability-gated maze exploration and warm pixel art.
Monster Sanctuary review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
MAX
Story
★★★★★
"Masterful"
Heir to a line of Monster Keepers, the hero explores a threatened sanctuary where each captured creature reveals a shard of a troubled past. The lore unfolds in fragments, through inscriptions and dungeon secrets, rewarding the curious. This coherent world and its patiently woven mythology lend unexpected depth to an exploration-driven adventure.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"Pleasant"
Addictiveness
"Captivating"
Difficulty
"Easy"
Lifespan
"Massive"
Metroidvania and monster-collecting marry here without compromise: over a hundred creatures to catch, evolve and combine into teams of six, each also unlocking traversal powers. The map keeps reopening, skill combos get fine-tuned, and an infinite mode extends the run. Hunting the perfect five-star egg does the rest.
Technical info
💾0,5 GB📅08/12/2020
Published by Team17
Monster Sanctuary (Nintendo Switch) price, value & rarity
Capturing your foes rather than slaying them gives these encounters a strategic dimension rare in the genre. Building a team, chaining synergies and reading patterns turn every guardian into a living puzzle. The tactical depth of the combinations means no two players will ever approach the same boss the same way.
An underrated gem
Crossing a metroidvania with Pokémon-style monster collecting sounds obvious on paper, yet few blend snappy exploration and deep team battles this well. Released in an avalanche of indie pixel art, it struggled to stand out. Its hundred-plus creatures with skill trees and clever design make it a bottomless playground for synergy-loving strategists.
Is Monster Sanctuary still worth playing in 2026?
Monster Sanctuary weds two genres few dare to cross, the metroidvania and the creature-collecting RPG, and the blend works better than you would expect. The three-monster battles hide real depth of synergies and skill trees that rewards optimization. Power-based exploration opens the world with logic. The warm pixel art and the hundred-plus monsters fuel the urge to complete your collection. The pace stretches at times, but for anyone who loves Pokémon with more strategy, it remains a discovery that still holds.
