Montabi Review (2026 Launch)

Montabi shipped on August 6, 2026 from Mankibo, published by Akupara Games, on Steam/PC, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. It is a single-player run-based game that fuses creature collecting, tactical 3×3 grid fights, and deckbuilding without pretending to be either genre cleanly. You are not grinding an open world for forty hours; you are chaining expeditions where Trainer death ends the run like losing a chess king, and every biscuit spent on a wild Montabi is gold you did not spend on Stickards.

That hook is why the game spread quickly in launch-week streams: it looks approachable, then punishes autopilot. Fans jokingly call the vibe **“Montarap—*—not because the soundtrack is trap music, but because the loop montages shop stops, Cafe thinning, evolution spikes at level 5 and level 10, and a boss check that asks whether your leader survived the front row. If you want a cozy creature collector only, this is not it. If you want Slay the Spire tension with tameable teammates and leader-specific kits, Montabi delivers.

Combat and the grid

Battles are turn-based on a 3×3 board. You control your Trainer plus two active Montabi, each with its own deck. Cards spend action points (AP), and smart play often carries AP between actions when rules allow, so dumping every point every turn is a rookie mistake. Attacks respect rows and columns; moving a unit one tile can matter as much as playing a finisher.

The Trainer is not a passive cheerleader. Student teaches repositioning and safer lines; Fighter pushes stances and Resonance on the front; Chef manipulates Flavor tags that buff or weaken effects. None of that is cosmetic—pick the wrong leader for your starter trio and the same Montabi line feels like a different game. Our Trainers hub breaks down unlock order; pair it with the Tier list when you want community consensus on starter power.

Montabi gameplay overview

Runs, biscuits, and the Cafe

Between fights you roam a roguelike map with familiar rooms: shops, events, and the Cafe, where you heal and trim decks. Biscuits let you tame defeated wild Montabi after victories, expanding options mid-run without breaking the draft fantasy. Evolutions rewrite decks at level 5 and level 10, which is when many “comfort pick—starters suddenly spike—or fall off if you skipped card rewards.

Item layers separate Montabi from pure deckbuilders. Equipment buffs individuals; Charms passively help the squad; Supplies fire from inventory; Stickards permanently modify specific cards. The Items hub is the shopping textbook; the Builds hub shows how those purchases become movement, bleed, or scaling teams once you stop buying random vending machine rolls.

Difficulty and who should buy

Montabi is fair but not gentle. Trainer death ends the expedition immediately, so defensive positioning and Cafe timing are core skills, not optional tryhard tech. Rank progression unlocks Fighter and Chef, which keeps the first hours focused and readable. If you bounce off roguelikes that invalidate thirty minutes of progress, wait for a sale or watch the embedded overview above before buying.

If you love optimizing synergies, Montabi is a feast. 22 starter lines mean draft RNG is real—you only see three options per run—but that variance is the point. Tools on this wiki (Starter picker and Team planner) exist because players want a plan before biscuits enter the picture.

Platforms and presentation

On Steam, controller and keyboard both feel at home for grid cursor movement. Switch portability fits the “one more run—length; Xbox is the couch-friendly option for the same build. Text is readable, UI color coding helps Flavor and status tracking, and performance on PC hardware from the last decade should be fine for a tactics deckbuilder. Audio is cheerful without drowning combat callouts—fine for late-night runs, not a reason to buy alone.

Verdict

Montabi is a strong launch-week roguelike for players who want creature-collector flavor with real tactical constraints. It respects your time per run but not your ego when the Trainer eats a column attack. Start with Getting Started, bookmark Updates for balance notes, and treat this review as a lens—not a substitute for your first Student run.

Score snapshot (fan wiki, not a press outlet): gameplay 8/10, accessibility 7/10, longevity 8/10 if you enjoy chasing rank unlocks and team labs. Buy if you want grid deckbuilding with tame targets; skip if you need multiplayer or open-world exploration.