Cassette Beasts review

Cassette Beasts is the best value monster collector on this list at $19.99 on Steam. Instead of throwing balls, you record monsters to cassette tapes and play them back to transform into those monsters for turn-based battles. The Fusion System is the hook: any two monster forms can be fused into a new, fully animated form, and how well you fuse depends on your bond with your human companion. The open world of New Wirral uses monster abilities for traversal, so you glide, swim, climb or turn magnetic to solve puzzles and find dungeons. After the story, the Gauntlet offers an endless battle mode. Bytten Studio added online multiplayer, and the Steam page also lists local split-screen co-op. It is light on hardware: 8 GB of RAM and 2 GB of storage, on Windows or Linux. The trade-off is scale, since it is a smaller pixel-art production than the big studio games ranked above it.

Who it is for

monster collectors on a budget or on low-end PCs

Price

$19.99 one-time on Steam.

Combine any two monster forms using Cassette Beasts’ Fusion System to create unique and powerful new ones! $19.99 Buy on Steam
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 11, 2026.

Key features

• Record monsters to cassette tapes, then play them back to transform for battle
• Fusion System combines any two monster forms into a new, fully animated fusion
• Open world on the island of New Wirral, with monster abilities used to glide, fly, swim, climb and dash
• Gauntlet mode: a never-ending battle mode for materials
• Local split-screen co-op and online multiplayer, per Steam

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: $19.99 on Steam, tied for the lowest list price here
• Strength: Minimum spec is 8 GB of RAM and only 2 GB of storage
• Strength: Runs on Windows and Linux
• Weakness: Smaller budget and lower visual scale than the 3D Monster Hunter or Pokémon games
• Weakness: No macOS version on Steam
• Weakness: Fusion strength depends on building relationships with companions, which takes time

Key facts

• Developer: Bytten Studio
• Publisher: Raw Fury
• Released on Steam: Apr 26, 2023
• Storage: 2 GB
• Minimum RAM: 8 GB

Where it ranks

Cassette Beasts is No. 3 in our Best Monster Games verdict.