As we informed you a couple of days ago, Combat Monsters is due for release this week. In fact, it's available from today onwards. Have at it.

This is the next game, and the biggest yet, from Rubicon, the developer of the Silver Award-winning Great Big War Game. It's a mix of Magic The Gathering and Advance Wars, which is to say it blends multiplayer collectible card games with turn-based monster combat.

Each side has a hero to protect and build a small army around, with the aim being to slay the other heroes one turn at a time.

Your monsters will do most of the work under your command, but if the swords, fireballs and arrows flying in become too much, just chuck a couple of cards in to bring the tide of battle back to your favour.

There's 132 monsters, 70 weapons, 28 shields, 42 spells, 22 runes, 12 Heroes, and 120+ maps to choose from in Combat Monsters. All of this ensures that you can explore many different ways to fight each match.

Perhaps you'll consider tactics like having monsters concentrate on healing, or sending dozens of small demons after your opponent at once as a distraction. A better option may be investing in runes to create high-powered cards and take the match in one foul swoop.

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There's a hefty single player campaign to take on, but it's more like extended training for the proper battles online. Six online players can fight on one board, and they can be connected via PC, iOS, or Android.

Clearly, there's a lot to learn in Combat Monsters, so it might be an idea to jump in today and get a head-start.

Considering Combat Monsters is free on the App Store [download] and Google Play [download], you don't really have anything to lose, apart from your dignity.