Making Monsters (EN)

In Making Monsters, you become a mad scientist at the Monster Maker Science Fair, where only the most brilliant and bizarre creations earn prestige and fame. Each round, you secretly decide how many monster parts to order, hoping to outwit your rivals and grab the right materials. Then, using a push-your-luck bag-building mechanic, everyone draws and assembles monster parts at the same time, racing to complete powerful monsters before their lab experiment collapses. Play too safe and you fall behind; push too far and your monster might fall apart in spectacular fashion. Completed monsters grant points and unlock upgrades once reanimated, and each one adds to a growing tableau of upgrade and prestige options. Your robotic assistant L.E.S.T.E.R. also lends a hand, letting you manipulate the science fair for an edge in future rounds. The game wraps up with a Grand Finale: a final simultaneous challenge where each player picks their five favorite monsters from the lab and tries to complete them with their remaining resources. Success earns prestige, failure costs dearly. It is a final test of strategy, memory and risk management as everyone races to complete their ultimate monster squad before the fair closes.

Making Monsters is for you if you thrive on push-your-luck tension, enjoy building something a little chaotic under pressure, and want a game that stays lively because everyone plays at the same time instead of waiting for a turn. Families and groups of friends who like a mix of light strategy and monster humor will feel right at home around the lab table.

Making Monsters started life as a Kickstarter campaign before being featured on Good Morning America and landing on several "most anticipated games" lists ahead of its 2026 release. The duo behind the game also created Dead of Winter, Dinosaur Island and Finspan, so the bag-building tension packed into this monster lab comes from proven hands.

Designers Jonathan Gilmour-Long, known for Dead of Winter and Dinosaur Island, and David Gordon, known for Finspan and Monkey Palace, built Making Monsters around this push-your-luck bag mechanic. Illustrator Brett Bean, whose credits include work for Disney, DreamWorks and Scholastic, brings every monster part to life alongside artist Jordi Planellas.

BOX CONTENTS
1 rulebook
72 monster cards
20 L.E.S.T.E.R. cards
1 game board
1 scoring track
40 upgrade tokens
12 order tokens
4 scoring standees
16 +50 point score tokens
344 monster part tokens
4 drawstring bags
4 laboratory boards

Number of players: 2 to 4
Playtime: 45 to 60 minutes
Age: 10+