Monster Industries

**Age Rating(s)** |  Violence, Blood and Gore, Mild Language.

***Monster Industries*** is a horror strategy management simulation game developed by Lazy Studios for PC in which players are tasked with overseeing the process and must command their employees to take care of monsters, the Specimens and make research on them in order to fill the daily quota of researches and avoid a game over.

The game is noted for its crude violence, and contains tongue in the cheek humor. In 2022, Coral Games studio developed a spin-off My Monster Industry. My Monster Industry features Specimens that was originally cut from Monster Industries before release.

## Plot

See the full plot here: Story
*Monster Industries* centers around you, the recently hired Overseer of the titular Monster Industries. The company was started many years ago by a being known as the Higher Ups, with their primary purpose being to retrieve, house and research various unusual creatures and individuals, known as Specimens, gaining information on them to inform the public. After giving out your name, you are given a branch of the company in an unknown location, tasked with managing it and making sure nothing bad happens. With your faithful assistant, a monster-obsessed scientist, and a cynical police officer, it's up to you to build up your facility, turn a profit, and prevent your monsters from overrunning the city and endangering all of humanity.

*I mean, what could go wrong?*

## Development & Reception

Monster Industries creator and Lazy Studio developer, Crakabo, cited the Korean indie game Lobotomy Corporation but also the movie Cabin in the Woods as their "largest inspirations".

Outside of housing monster, Crakabo wished to create a game around the theme of "How willing are you to sacrifice people's lives to save the public ?". It lands to the decision to make the players automatically lose if any Specimens escaped but to confront no downside if one of their workers died. He added, speaking of this theme, "do you want to let your workers die if it means satisfying the creatures and keep a good flow of money?".

The game is the fifth original game series developed by Lazy Studios, alongside the Constructinator series, KillGames, Kingdombound and Sugar Cannon. Due to similarities, many players were confused into believing the game was part of the Constructinator series. The developers explained that despite the similarities in the gameplay, Monster Industries is meant to be its own series.

Once release on PC on August 2019, the game was well received by the critics. The videogame website SharkLord summarized the consensus on the game by writing: *" I find this concept pretty interesting. [For a RTS is] a nice change of pace. Also, I find the concept of people paying to see a monster microwave exhibit like a zoo to be absolutely hilarious."*

The game begat a spin-off, My Monster Industry, developed by another studio, Coral Games, but in close collaboration with the Monster Industries original team.

## Gameplay

*Monster Industries* mixes elements of a business simulation game, a real-time strategy game, and elements of horror games. The entire game is 2D, taking place in a birds-eye view, where players can freely move the camera and interact with things by clicking on them.

The game is primarily split into days, where your goal is to research enough information from your Specimens, while making sure not to bankrupt and preventing your Specimens from escaping. Every day you are given one of three, randomly chosen monsters that you won't know about until they appear in your facility, and its your job to learn about how they act and how to successfully handle and research them.

Once the day ends the player can move on to the next day if their research bar has filled up. The day will be considered a failure if you don't make your research quota, run out of funds, lose a Story Quest, or have a Specimen manage to escape the facility. Failing will bring you to a Game over and force you to start the day all over again (or on your last save).

To allow the player to direct affect the workers and Specimens, the player can use **Overseer Powers**. Those special abilities are produced in the Overseer Office, but must be unlocked through the Laboratory. These are useful for helping subdue your Specimens, or supporting your workers with stat increases, healing and other things.

### Guests

As you develop your facility, people will come in and will want to see the various Specimens on display. These will act as your main source of income by purchasing for entry and spending money on various things like viewing your Specimens or buying things in the facility. Your guests have various factors which determine their needs (Enjoyment, Visibility, Safety, Hunger, Thirst and Cleanliness).

As more guests come into your facility, your **Reputation** will go up, meaning more people will be coming to your facility and more money will going into your pockets.

If your guests see something dangerous like an escaping Specimen , they'll go into a **Panic State**, where they will try and find a way to escape. They will either run towards the entrance, or to a nearby Safety Bunker. If any guests are killed you will likely face a **Lawsuit**, which will take away some of your funds. It's best to keep your guests safe as much as possible, as it could threaten your business.

### Workers

Male WorkerFemale Worker
A group of random individuals, your Workers are hired by you to manage your facility and keep it safe. They act as your main tool for interacting with the various Specimens being housed. The player can order them to perform tasks like researching, moving Specimens, or suppressing those that have become aggressive.

Hiring a worker requires you to give them a small sum of money after every day. At first you will only be able to hire three workers, but as the game goes on you can eventually hire up to fifteen workers. Though a worker is given a randomly chosen name and look, you are free to customize them however you please.

Always remember, your workers are disposable. What we do here is more important than whatever lives they have. So don't get too attached to them.

Each worker is assigned various stats: Health, Energy, Happiness, Damage, Speed, Intelligence (how quickly a worker can research a Specimen). Often these stats will be randomly generated, but you can increase these stats through training through special items like armor or weapons.

Alongside stats, each worker is given two Personality Traits (from Charming to Shady). These are given to them at random, and can affect their behavior or how they are affected by certain Specimens or situations.

Stress is one of the game's most important factors in the workers management. Stress can be increased if a worker becomes unhappy, seeing a Specimen escape, being exposed to the effects of certain Specimens, or witnesses one of their coworkers being killed. If a worker becomes too stressed they'll eventually go **Insane**. An insane worker cannot be destressed unless they are taken to a Psychiatric Ward, and if left alone they will begin being a detriment to other workers.

### Quests

As you play, your representatives may give you **Quests**. These are special tasks that, if performed, grant various new things like money, a boost in your reputation, or new items and Specimens that the player can research.

There are two types of quests, **Normal Quests** or **Story Quests**. Normal Quests are fairly easy, and can be completed at any time. Story Quests only appear at certain points in the game, and must be completed within the day, otherwise, a Game Over will occur. Story Quests will affect how your run's story will go.

## Characters

Markus is a police officer/detective who, while not hired by Monster Industries, helps out with security and keeping your guests safe. He seems to absolutely hate the creatures being held in the facility, and is described as strict and uncaring towards others.

## Specimens

*Monster Industries* features 48 different Specimens. Each Specimen is or is based on a creature or character from mythology or horror. Alongside the guests, these Specimens are your main focus as Overseer, as its your job to learn about them, research them and keep them contained.

### Profile

Each Specimen is given one of five aggression levels (Delios, Epimonos, Asynithis, Ferox, and Immortalis) with Deilos being the safest, and Immortalis being the most dangerous.

The primary way to purchase a Specimen is through the **Specimen Market**, though the player may also obtain them through certain quests. Specimens are held in your **Specimen Holding Facility** until they are to be put into a containment chamber. Just be careful not to hold them for too long. The Higher Ups want these Specimens on display after all!

Like your workers, your Specimens have different stats: Health, Happiness, Damage, Defense and Speed. Unlike your workers, they are not randomly generated, always being tied to whatever Specimen they are.

Specimens are also assigned one of five types (Undead, Supernatural, Beastial, Psychotic or Otherworldly). Though these don't affect the Specimen in any way, certain visitors will enjoy different types of Specimens compared to others.

### Specimen Care

You can do one of five things with your Specimens:

* **Researching:** Allows you to collect data on them. Researching is required to complete the game. As you research a Specimen more and more, you will get less data out of it, so it's good to try and research as many Specimens as possible.
* **Feeding:** Required to keep them from going hungry. Certain Specimens become hungry faster than others. If a Specimen goes hungry they'll become unhappy.
* **Cleaning:** Cleaning a Specimen's room allows you to improve their living conditions and keep them happy. Though some monsters would be happy to live in a disgusting room, your guests might not enjoy being distracted by the smell.
* **Entertaining:** Allows you to keep them happy. Certain Specimens enjoy different types of entertainment than others.
* **Disciplining:** Disciplining a Specimen through electrical shock to prevent it from attacking you. This will lower a Specimen's happiness, but it increases safety when a Specimen attempts to escape or attack a worker while researching.

Alongside those your Specimens enjoy living in specific environments. There are 7 different types of environments: Castle, Cave, Cell, Forest, Graveyard, Hell, House, and Ruins.

Something you may want to save space in your facility. Thankfully, several Specimens are **Compatible** with each other, and you can safely hold certain Specimens together without them attempting to kill each other. Just be careful as if a breakout happens, both Specimens are escaping.

### Specimen List

See the more detailed Specimen list (Monster Industries)
#### Epimonos

CannibalCatgirlClownCyclopsDragonbatGhostMummyShespiderWerewolfWitch
#### Asynthis

BansheeDollFrankensteinGargyoleIron MaidenMartianMutantPlantRed RiderRobotScarecrowStalkerVampire
#### Ferox

BlobDullahanExecutionerGolemGorgonIce QueenPixiePlague DoctorReaperSuccubus
#### Immortalis

AlienAngelCthulhuDemonEliminatorInfiltratorKaijuNightmareWendigo
## Comparison

While My Monster Industry is based around the same concept as the original, **Monster Industries**, both games have their own particularities which help the games to distinguish themselves.

### Goal

* **Monster Industries** main goal is to end each workday filling the daily quota of researches. **My Monster Industry** goals is to make your Zoo attractive to the visitors.
* Quests are a bigger part of the **Monster Industries** main goal as some them need to be clear to avoid a game over. In **My Monster Industry**, quests are called Mission, and while they can deeply influence the game they are optional.

### Characters & Story

* **My Monster Industry** has its very own cast but **Monster Industries** characters do have cameo role in the spin-off.
* **My Monster Industry** story takes place after the event of **Monster Industries** if the players won the Good Ending.

### Workers & Guests

* In **Monster Industries** workers have more stats with Speed and Intelligence which are not present in the spin-off. They also have two Personality Traits against only one in the spin-off.
* In both games, you can hire any applicant to do any jobs (caring, researching and cleaning) but Personalities and pre-obtained Skills in **My Monster Industry** made some new workers (without training) better for a job than another
* In **Monster Industries** and **My Monster Industry**, guests have close to the same expectations but with different name (Enjoyment/Whoa, Visibility and Cleanliness/Patience, Safety/Tranquility and Hunger and Thirst/Hunger). There is one more in the spin-off: Temperature.
* In **Monster Industries** reputation goes up with the number of guests in your Zoo. In **My Monster Industry** there is way more factors influencing your reputation. In both case, Lawsuit is a deep down in your Reputation.

### Specimens

* **Monster Industries** has 48 Specimens, **My Monster Industry** has 35 planned Specimens (DLC included) with 20 Specimens returning from the original.
* In **My Monster Industry**, there is only 4 types of Habitat against 7 in the original but one new Specimen Level, Titanikos.
* The Supernatural type in **Monster Industries** was combined in the Undead or the Otherworldly type in **My Monster Industry**
* Some returning Specimens in **My Monster Industry** has different profile (stats, level, type,...)
* Cohabitation plays differently as it works by Specimens in **Monster Industries** and by Types in **My Monster Industry**.