Hotel Transylvania 3: Monsters Overboard

Based on the animated film, Hotel Transylvania 3: Monsters Overboard is a puzzle-strategy game where players control a horde of small, gremlin-like creatures called Imps. The story begins when the main characters from the movie are accidentally thrown overboard from their cruise ship. Players must command their Imps to solve environmental puzzles, fight creatures, and complete various tasks across different levels to progress through this original adventure, which is noted for its similarities to the Pikmin series of games.

Hotel Transylvania 3: Monsters Overboard: A Pikmin Clone Lost at Sea

In the vast and often treacherous ocean of licensed video games, where cynical cash-ins frequently drown out genuine creativity, Hotel Transylvania 3: Monsters Overboard stands as a curious artifact. It is a game that defies the lowest of expectations not by being a masterpiece, but by daring to be something more than a simple, by-the-numbers platformer. Developed by Torus Games and published by Outright Games in 2018, it is a title that wears its primary inspiration—Nintendo’s beloved Pikmin series—on its sleeve, for better and for worse. This is the story of a game caught between the demanding tides of franchise obligation and a surprisingly ambitious, if flawed, creative vision.

Development History & Context

The Studio: Torus Games and the Licensed Game Grind
To understand Monsters Overboard, one must first understand its developer, Torus Games. By 2018, the Australian studio had carved a niche for itself as a reliable, if unspectacular, creator of family-friendly licensed titles. Their portfolio was a who’s who of children’s entertainment: Ben 10, PAW Patrol: On a Roll!, and Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion. These games operated within tight constraints: modest budgets, strict deadlines aligned with film or TV releases, and a target audience of young gamers with undemanding expectations.

The game was built using the Unity engine, a pragmatic choice that allowed for efficient multi-platform development (it launched simultaneously on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows). The development team, led by Managing Director Bill McIntosh and Producer Ash Bryant, included over 100 credited individuals, many of whom had worked on Torus’s other licensed projects. This was a team well-versed in the specific alchemy of translating cartoon properties into interactive form.

The Gaming Landscape of 2018
The game launched on July 10, 2018, a strategic date chosen to ride the wave of the Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation film’s release. The gaming landscape at the time was dominated by massive, narrative-driven epics and live-service titans. For the family market, the Nintendo Switch was rapidly becoming the platform of choice, yet it notably lacked a new entry in the Pikmin franchise—a series whose last mainline installment, Pikmin 3, was five years old. This created a curious vacuum. Torus Games and Outright Games, perhaps sensing an opportunity, made the bold decision not to create a simple platformer but to develop a real-time strategy and puzzle game inspired by one of Nintendo’s most unique IPs.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

A Stranded Sequel
The narrative of Monsters Overboard is positioned as a direct sequel to the events of the Summer Vacation film. A mysterious storm wrecks the cruise ship, scattering the “Drac-Pack” across the legendary Lost Islands. Players take on the role of either Dracula (voiced by Brock Powell) or Mavis (Melissa Sturm), who must explore the islands, befriend a race of small, malleable creatures called the Impa, and rescue their missing friends: Frankenstein, Murray the mummy, and Wayne the werewolf.

The plot is a functional, if barebones, framework to facilitate the gameplay. It wisely avoids a slavish re-telling of the film, instead offering an original side-adventure. The writing, however, fails to capture the manic energy and snappy humor of the films. As noted by critics like John B. from JP Switchmania, the cutscenes are “joyless affairs,” presented as static visual novel-style images with dry dialogue exchanges. The charismatic voice cast from the films is replaced by sound-alikes who, while competent, lack the distinctive star power of Adam Sandler or Selena Gomez, making the narrative feel like a diluted imitation of the source material.

Thematic Echoes
Thematically, the game mirrors the films’ core themes of family and teamwork. The mechanic of controlling a horde of Impa that must work together—each with specialized skills based on the monster they emulate (Vampimpa, Frankenimpa, Wolfimpa)—is a direct gameplay translation of the movies’ message that collaboration triumphs over individual effort. However, this thematic connection remains surface-level, a convenient justification for the gameplay loop rather than a deeply explored narrative element.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

The Pikmin Blueprint
The core gameplay loop of Monsters Overboard is an unabashed homage to Pikmin. Players control Dracula or Mavis from a diagonal-down perspective, exploring semi-open environments. They discover and command a horde of Impas, which are spawned at portals using a resource called Imparite. The Impas are the true protagonists of the gameplay:

• Vampimpa: Bat-winged Impa that can fly and carry objects over gaps.
• Frankenimpa: Strong Impa that can move heavy objects and break barriers.
• Wolfimpa: Digging Impa that can burrow under obstacles.

The core loop involves throwing these Impas at environmental puzzles—building bridges, moving blocks, digging up treasures—and at enemies, such as giant crabs and piranha plants, in simplistic combat. Critic after critic noted the similarity, with The Game Hoard stating it “doesn’t make it as good as Pikmin” and Switch Player calling it a “facsimile of Olimar’s outings.”

Flawed Execution
Where the game stumbles is in the execution of this borrowed formula. The controls are frequently cited as a major weakness. The character movement is described as “jittery,” and aiming the cursor to direct your Impas is imprecise and “about as sensitive as Drac’s skin at dawn.” This lack of precision undermines the strategic element, turning what should be thoughtful planning into frustrating trial and error.

Furthermore, the game imposes a strict 10-minute time limit for each “night” of exploration, after which the characters must return to their ship. While this is a clever nod to the vampires’ sun-aversion, it often feels arbitrary and disruptive, especially when compounded by the game’s lack of a minimap. This leads to repetitive backtracking through “uninspired and confusing” stages, as players meander trying to remember the location of puzzles they now have the correct Impa to solve.

The gameplay is ultimately “dry and repetitive” (JP Switchmania). Tasks are described as “bland chores” (The Game Hoard) that require little strategic thought. While later levels and optional secrets offer a slight increase in challenge, the core experience never evolves beyond its simplistic foundation.

World-Building, Art & Sound

Aesthetic Fidelity, Technical Mediocrity
Visually, the game makes a commendable effort to replicate the cartoonish, exaggerated style of the films. The character models of Dracula, Mavis, and the others are instantly recognizable and faithful to their animated counterparts. The environments of the Lost Islands are bright and colorful, adhering to the family-friendly horror-comedy vibe.

However, the technical execution is lacking. The graphics are “pretty basic” and “barebones,” with simple textures and a lack of environmental detail. The decision to use static images for cutscenes, devoid of animation, is a significant misstep that saps the game of the energy and personality that defines the Hotel Transylvania brand. It feels less like participating in an adventure and more like flipping through a lackluster storybook.

The sound design follows a similar path. The voice acting, while competent, is a pale imitation of the A-list Hollywood talent it’s emulating. The soundtrack and sound effects are functional but utterly forgettable, doing little to enhance the atmosphere or immersion. The overall presentation screams of a budget-conscious production, prioritizing recognizable iconography over polished, engaging sensory experience.

Reception & Legacy

A Tepid Critical Response
Upon release, Hotel Transylvania 3: Monsters Overboard was met with a lukewarm and mixed critical reception. On aggregator sites, it holds a Metascore of 55 and a MobyScore of 51% based on critic reviews. The consensus was neatly split: some reviewers appreciated the ambition of the Pikmin-like design for a licensed game, while others were unforgiving of its myriad flaws.

• The Praise: Outlets like Way Too Many Games (60%) noted, “I was impressed with how the developers managed to come up with what’s essentially a simplified Pikmin clone with a somewhat original story.” Switch Player (60%) concluded it was “not bad at all” for fans of the franchise.
• The Criticism: The Game Hoard (43%) criticized its repetitive tasks, while Softpedia (40%) delivered a scathing verdict: “a waste of time and resources.” User reviews were even harsher, with an average player score of 1.5/5 on MobyGames.

A Fading Legacy
The legacy of Monsters Overboard is that of a curious footnote. It did not revitalize the licensed game genre nor did it spawn a new subgenre of Pikmin clones. Its primary historical significance lies in its bizarre existence as perhaps the most notable Pikmin-like game on the Nintendo Switch before the release of Pikmin 4 itself—a trivia answer to the question, “What game let you command minions as Adam Sandler’s Dracula?”

It remains a benchmark example of the tensions inherent in licensed game development: a glimpse of genuine ambition stifled by budget constraints, tight schedules, and the inherent challenge of adapting a passive viewing experience into an engaging interactive one. Its influence is negligible, but its existence is a testament to a developer trying, and partially succeeding, to be more than the sum of its parts.

Conclusion

Hotel Transylvania 3: Monsters Overboard is a game of conflicting identities. It is a licensed product that dared to be different, yet it failed to master the genre it sought to emulate. It is a game with a recognizable and charming aesthetic, let down by technical mediocrity and a lack of polish. Its greatest achievement is that it is not the soulless platformer one might expect, but its greatest failure is that its ambitious Pikmin-inspired heart is shackled by imprecise controls, repetitive design, and a pervasive sense of budgetary limitation.

For die-hard fans of the films seeking any additional adventure with these characters, it might provide a few hours of passing diversion, especially if found at a deep discount. For historians of game design, it serves as a fascinating case study of imitation and its pitfalls. But for the broader gaming audience, it is ultimately a well-intentioned but flawed vessel, forever lost at sea between inspiration and execution. It is not a disaster, but nor is it a success; it is simply, and perhaps most damningly, mediocre.