stackmons

Battles take place between two different stacks of monsters, with the goal being to knock out all of the opponent's monsters. Both stacks simultaneously determine the moves used by each individual monster, and then perform those attacks based on the speed stat of each monster, usually resulting in a rapid back and forth fight within a single turn. Each monster has individual health as well, and will be knocked from the stack once it runs out. If all monsters are knocked out, that stack loses.

Each monster has several stats tied to them. Attack determines damage, defense determines how much damage is resisted, speed determines attack order, health determines how much damage the monster can take, and stability determines how structurally sound the monster is when stacked. Stability as a stat is determined by the monsters stacked above and below any given monster, and this combination ties into the Stability meter. Certain actions like some attacks and having a monster knocked from the stack reduce the Stability meter, and if it is emptied, the entire tower collapses and that stack forfeits their turn as they need to set themselves back up, with the opposing stack being able to continue their attacks once their opponent has reformed. There are some attacks that dont deal damage and directly target a stack's stability.

Outside of stats, monsters have three main areas of note; type, traits, and abilities. The type of a monster affects how much damage it takes from attacks of certain types. Traits determine features that are shared between different monsters, and can passively affect how they fight or interact with other monsters. Abilities, however, are completely unique to each individual species of monster, and can greatly affect how they fight.

Each monster is also classified as small, medium, or large, each represented by being 1, 2, or 3 points. Players are given 6 points to start off with, but can gain more to make larger teams as they progress. A stack can never consist of more than 6 monsters, however. An additional rule is that you are not allowed to stack monsters worth more points on top of monsters worth less points, eg. you cannot stack a large monster on top of a small monster, but you can stack monsters of the same size on top of each other.

Trait examples:
Vehicle - Gain speed and attack boosts if another monster is stacked on top of them.
Connected - If a monster with this trait is stacked on top or below another monster of the same species, they combine their stats and act as a singular monster.
Precarious - Monsters stacked on top of a monster with this trait have their stability halved.
Hover - Makes the stack take less stability damage, but lowers overall stability
Heavy - Boosts stability if placed lower, lowers stability if placed near the top.