Slay the Spire

2020-02-07

Deckbuilding happens to be my favorite tabletop mechanic at the moment and Slay the Spire is a pure deckbuilder wrapped in a roguelike/dungeon crawl skin. After playing a bit on Game Pass I bought a copy on the Switch, which is of course the natural home for a game like this. The dungeons are randomly generated and you play until you die, upon which you lose all your cards and relics and start over at the beginning.

As you traverse the dungeon you proceed along a map with icons for the types of encounters: enemy, elite enemy, treasure chest, camp, ?, shopkeeper, and boss. ? events are often CYOA-style choices, like whether to barter with a stranger or attempt to steal a gold idol from a pedistal, but sometimes they are one of the other type of encounters.

One of the most interesting aspects of the game is relics. These items bestow permanent boons and curses (or a mixture of the two) with no limit. Each of 3 three starting characters begins with a relic and others are earned through chests and after battles. (Think perks in Fallout.) The combinations of relics and different cards keep things interesting and make every run different, as you end up relying on different strategies. I love collecting relics and there is a starting option that allows you to trade your starting relic for a random boss relic that can really shake things up, since some of the relics have a positive and negative aspects.

The RNG is strong, but it's a solid card game and I hardly mind. It scratches a very similar itch to Unexplored for me. I wish I could write a more informative review to be honest, but it Just Works.

That being said, I may be about done with games with roguelike elements (more roguelite roguelikes, I suppose?) for a while. It seems I always get about 10 hours into these roguelikes before I wander off. If a game doesn't have an interesting storyline or some underlying progression I can only play so much before I need new stimuli. I think ASCII roguelike are ultimately a better fit (Cogmind and Caves of Qud have been on my list forever) but playing games on my PC with a keyboard does not appeal right now.

2025-03-08

I picked up Slay the Spire for Switch years ago and had an ok time with it, but got bored after a bit. Returning to it on Steamdeck, I'm actually getting kind of into it? And part of it is I'm breaking the game into smaller play sessions.

As you play you unlock characters with unique starting relics, or starting powers, and new sets of cards to find. I try to be as adventurous as possible and hit all the ? markers I can, which has led to some strange and interesting buffs. My favorite was when I sacrificed maximum HP to pick up cards that would reduce all incoming damage to 1, and I also had a relic that reduced all damage by 1, meaning I could go rounds with zero damage. But I found myself in a situation where I didn't have any mitigation cards and the boss hit me for more HP than I had.

2025-03-14

I beat Slay the Spire the first time! This time, it's getting its hooks into me. I've been focusing on snapping up as many relics as possible, which means hitting all the ? and elites I can. I've had one or two runs where I picked up a relic early that I thought would sink me (for instance, extra energy but can't rest at rest areas) but was able to navigate the handicap by changing up my play style. I just unlocked ascension the first time, as well as a new character, so we'll see how long it keeps my interest.

The game is slightly janky on Steam Deck, and I've had a few times where controls became unresponsive. One time, I couldn't play attack cards for some reason. Fortunately, the touch screen has let me work around the occasional control issue. I think there's something going on with the game's modal screens if you navigate the menus in a way the devs weren't expecting.

2025-03-29

I've been playing Slay the Spire near daily, trying to beat the game with Silent, to no avail. My strategy is generally to get as many relics as possible by gong after ?s, and to focus on debuffs and shivs. I think I probably relied too much on debuffs like weak and I should have been adding more blocking cards to my decks. I like the unpredictability of relics, but I'm starting to wonder if I wouldn't be better served angling for more elites so I can get relics and cards.

I got close a winning with Silent a few times, but decided to take a break and switch to Defect. I'm still familiarizing myself with the different orbs, but I like how they change things up. This round, I had a card that channels 2 lightning orbs every time I received unblocked damage, and it was extremely satisfying to watch that thing go crazy when I was fielding 5 x 1 type attacks. So I will probably work on this character for a while.

It's always interesting when I bounce off a game, but come back later and really get into it. I've put 35 hours into Slay the Spire this go, last time I wandered off after around 10 I think. I'm not sure what made it click this time, but I'll continue to work on it (my kid keeps saying, "You're playing that AGAIN?" lol).