Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road

 
Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road is a “tower-survivor” that mashes up the addictive loop of Vampire Survivors with a frantic tower defense game—except your tower is a moving city. Released on November 20, 2025, by developer Ludogram and publisher Raw Fury, it challenges you to defend a rolling fortress from endless hordes of monsters while simultaneously scavenging for resources to keep its engines running. It’s a multitasking nightmare in the best way possible, blending strategic building with high-stakes resource gathering.
Defend, Gather, Roll: Core Gameplay

The Moving City: You don’t defend a static base; you defend a massive, rolling vehicle that is constantly pushing forward toward “The Ark.” If the city stops or gets destroyed, it’s game over. This movement forces you to constantly adapt your positioning rather than turtling in one spot.
The Peon Protagonist: You play as a small worker unit running alongside the city. You aren’t a god-like hero; you are a vulnerable scavenger. You must run out into the dangerous wilderness to chop wood, mine stone, and collect gold, all while dodging enemies.
Resource Juggling: Everything costs resources. Wood is ammo for your towers. Stone repairs your hull. Gold buys upgrades. The tension comes from balancing greed (running far away to get more gold) with safety (staying close to repair the walls). If you run out of wood, your guns stop firing, leading to a quick death.
Building the Grid: Between waves, you expand your city by placing new districts on its grid. You can add ballistas, resource generators, or buff towers. Strategic placement is key—putting a short-range flamethrower in the center won’t help as much as putting it on the edges.
Roguelite Progression: Like most survivors-likes, you unlock permanent upgrades after each run. You can improve your starting weapons, unlock new tower types, or boost your resource gathering speed, making subsequent attempts slightly easier.

How It Stacks Up
Monsters are Coming! carves a niche by adding a layer of logistical stress to the survivor genre.



Game
Key Difference




Vampire Survivors
VS is about becoming an unstoppable god who wipes screens with flashy magic. Rock & Road keeps you feeling vulnerable; you are a maintenance worker trying to keep a machine alive, not a superhero.


Dome Keeper
Both games involve defending a base while mining for resources. However, Dome Keeper separates the two phases (digging vs. defending). Rock & Road forces you to do both simultaneously, creating a more chaotic, high-pressure rhythm.


Kingdom: Two Crowns
Both feature a side-scrolling perspective where you manage a base’s expansion. Rock & Road is faster and more combat-focused, lacking the slow, atmospheric build-up of Kingdom.



Key Details

Developer: Ludogram.
Publisher: Raw Fury.
Platforms: PC (Steam, GOG, Xbox App). Xbox Game Pass (Day 1). Console release (Xbox Series X|S) planned for 2026.
Release Date: November 20, 2025.
Genre: Tower Defense / Action Roguelite / Survivor.
Vibe: Mad Max meets Plants vs. Zombies.

Who It’s For

Must-play for multitasking fans. If you enjoy the feeling of spinning plates—fixing a wall while reloading a turret while dodging a boss—this game hits that sweet spot perfectly.
Perfect for Game Pass subscribers. Since it launched Day 1 on the service, it’s a low-risk, high-reward download for anyone looking for a 30-minute “just one more run” experience.
Skip if you want a chill idle game. Despite the “auto-shooter” tag, this requires constant active input. You cannot just stand still and let the game play itself.

Why It Works
It works because of the gravestone mechanic. In a stroke of dark genius, if your character dies during a run, you respawn, but your corpse leaves a permanent gravestone on your city’s building grid. This gravestone blocks a slot, meaning you can’t build a tower there. It’s a hilarious, mechanical punishment that visually reminds you of your failures and physically weakens your defenses, adding a unique layer of consequence to dying.