Gold Rush Battlers, the new Japan-exclusive spinoff of the popular Monster Strike series, releases next month

MXI, the developers of the extremely popular Japanese gacha RPG Monster Strike, have revealed their latest entry into the franchise; Gold Rush Battlers. This new title is a mix of board game mechanics with a side of card building, all within the Monster Strike universe and using characters from that world too. Scheduled to be released on July 4th in Japan, this next entry into one of the region’s most successful franchises is one that many are looking forward to.

As for the gameplay of Gold Rush Battler, this is where things get interesting. When you enter a level, there’s a board game layout similar to your traditional grid-based board of things like Monopoly. You’ll be bouncing between each square while also doing battle with various creatures that are also bouncing on the board, all with the goal of collecting the most gold possible.

The card game portion comes in when considering which attacks to use on these enemies, as all of your board-based attacks will come directly from a deck that you create and then use. These attacks can range from movement-based abilities to a straight laser that deals huge damage across the board and many, many others.

Interested in other card-based battlers? Check out our Top 10 best card games for iOS!

Frankly, I can say it’s a darn shame that there’s no word on if this one’s making it to the rest of the globe because this is one of the most unique battle systems I’ve seen in a while. From a wide range of cards that affect the board and enemies in different ways to interesting combat cards that can sway the round in your favour, there’s a lot of strategy built into a really cool spin on the traditional board game formula.

If that sounds as awesome to you as it does me, you’ll be able to download Gold Rush Battlers when it launches in Japan on July 4th!