An entire squad on the battlefield, three colors with different combat roles, and a progression system designed to cut the grind.
I tend to give a second look to any monster collector that changes how its creatures fight. HUEMON earned that look by sending the entire squad into battle: five monsters, a tactical grid, and no room for everyone to stand around looking decorative. Its developer describes it as a late-’90s/early-2000s throwback, with combat taking place directly in the overworld. That is certainly one way to interrupt a peaceful walk through the grass.
Behind it is Claas, credited as .claas and publishing under working claas games. This is a solo project apart from the soundtrack by awsum.music, and the first commercial game for both creators. The developer says the deliberately Game Boy-inspired visuals and sound effects are handmade, and such details are no longer taken for granted.
Five Monsters, One Battlefield
HUEMON’s turn-based encounters involve creatures that can jump over others, immobilize adjacent enemies, or exchange places with allies. Stamina and status effects also matter, alongside abilities, traits, and equipment called prisms.
Critical strikes have positional requirements, so getting your monster into the right square can affect how it attacks.
Claas has also addressed the obvious concern about putting tactical battles into a creature collector: how long does every encounter take? The stated aim is shorter fights than in many tactics games, with maps that creatures can cross relatively quickly. A surrender system speeds up encounters when you are far ahead. Sensible. Catching local wildlife shouldn’t require clearing your afternoon.
Three Colors With Different Ideas About Winning
Color determines a creature’s general role. Red favors aggressive attacks, green specializes in healing and buffs, and blue interferes with enemies through effects such as sleep and stuns. It is a readable starting point for assembling a squad, with each color suggesting a different approach.
The matchup triangle runs red over green, green over blue, and blue over red. However, Claas says the numerical advantages are deliberately restrained, leaving more room for status effects and individual movesets. Picking the right color is supposed to help, not do all the thinking.
Habitats and trainers’ clothing hint at opposing teams: blue creatures favor coasts, green inhabits woods and fields, and red lives in caves. A side-deck allows pre-battle substitutions.
The setting is DITHMA, where HUE emerging from the earth has created living, colorful creatures. Color is still a recent arrival. Exploration includes environmental puzzles, secrets, and Stamp Trials, while the story involves a plan to drain the world’s color. Dad jokes are also promised. There is always a catch.
Less Grinding, More Experimenting
Progression follows the same thinking as the efforts to keep battles moving. HUEMON levels are tied to player experience, which the developer explicitly describes as an attempt to avoid grinding. Players can obtain creatures in multiple ways, with hundreds of abilities to explore. The intention is to encourage experimenting with different teammates without making level farming necessary.
Prisms grant effects such as healing after using an ability, gaining defense each round, or growing stronger when an ally faints. Some creatures also advance into stronger stages. Prisms can be found or traded for.
A Demo That Introduces the Adventure
The available demo covers the adventure’s opening, including three towns, roughly a dozen kinds of HUEMON to collect, tutorials, and the first challenge stamp. According to the developer, even the fastest playtester took more than an hour, without stopping to read everything.
Demo progress is intended to carry into the finished game, with the caveat that things can change during development. That makes it a potentially worthwhile head start as well as a chance to judge whether the tactical encounters keep the collecting moving.
HUEMON is planned for PC via Steam in 2027, with a free demo available now.
