MonsterBag: Barely A Game, But Certainly Interesting Nonetheless

I’m entirely unsure what to make of MonsterBag, a puzzler released in April 2015 for the Vita. The game possesses a frenetic quality wherein the player is constantly being rewarded for doing very little. Overall, I’d dare say that this game is only barely one, but it’s still worth your time.

Developed by IguanaBee, MonsterBag sees the player in possession of a monster bag (such things exist; Google told me) who is separated from its owner at the beginning of the game. Longing to reunite with said owner, MonsterBag embarks on a puzzler adventure, causing what appears to be an apocalypse in the process.

Each of the game’s levels involves moving from one end of the screen to the other, and occasionally solving environmental puzzles. Doing so rewards the player with all manner of zany, violent entertainment. Take for instance a level midway through the game. MonsterBag needs to get onto a helicopter which has recently provided its owner with a ride. But this helicopter is guarded by a man with a submachine gun, whose job is to ensure that only four people get onto said helicopter. The problem is that nearly eight people want to embark.

With this initial explanation out of the way, the player sets out immediately by interacting with the game’s environment (handled by tapping the game’s screen). Tap, tap, tap. Suddenly, a gun turret on a nearby Humvee is activated, killing one of the would-be passengers. Tap, tap, tap, and soon a locked door is opened, revealing a grenade. Lob this grenade to a nearby would-be passenger, and he catches it, threatening everyone in his vicinity to blow them up if he isn’t allowed passage. The rest of the level’s puzzle is solved by ensuring that the leftover would-be passengers are met with death at your (tapping) hand, thus ensuring that four people can fit snuggly onto the rotorcraft. It’s this sort of obtuse puzzle solving that the player must endure in order to experience bouts of random and often wanton violence.

Whether debasing human life is something that amuses you is almost beside the point, though. Ultimately, interest in MonsterBag is likely more mitigated by whether the player measures enjoyability based on agency. In other words, do you prefer games that have you playing more than watching? If so, then MonsterBag is likely not for you. However, if you enjoy the idea of never knowing what to expect from the game you’re playing, then this Vita indie title may please you yet.