tl;dr -> This is one of those games where I will get absolutely destroyed by RNG just as I completed a fantastic deck, sigh, and say, "time to try again.” Until 3am. 11/10 would card-craft again.

Normally, I am very hesitant to review games that are still in early access, but Slay the Spire is so much fun and the dev team has been solid in updates that I didn’t mind making an exception.

Disclosure: I LOVE deck-building - I own 3 versions of Dominion, 4 different DC Comics Deck-Building Games, Legendary (Marvel), and the 2-player variant of Ascension. Those are all deck-building tabletop card games. I also played Magic the Gathering (physical, never digital) extensively for two years, and Hearthstone for 3-4.

If you like deck-building, rogue-likes, dungeon crawling, being at the mercy of RNGesus, and dying frequently, then you will enjoy this game. Did I mention dying? You’ll be doing a lot of that.

The aesthetics are good - I like the art style and detail in the character/monster models, cards, and relics (loot that gives bonuses). The animations are very basic - your character does not actually move and attack, but the sound effects are decent enough. The music is appropriate for the grim setting of dungeon crawling, however, I muted all sound within a few hours of playing in favor of my own playlist. I made a half-joke with my friend that because I care about deck-building in this game more than anything else, I would have preferred if there were no animations at all so I could play even faster (I play on the “fast mode” setting). There is no voice-acting or narration.

The game can be played entirely with a mouse, but you can also use the keyboard to select cards quickly (good for if you are trying to speedrun). The learning curve is slight to moderate depending on your experience with deck-builders - understanding how to make your deck more efficient (ex: pruning useless cards, focusing on synergy, and skipping rewards you don’t need) will increase your chances of success tremendously. I recommend trying the daily climbs until you win because it will teach you combos (the map and rewards - or dungeon “seed” - stay the same, so you can learn from your mistakes) and overall card-crafting meta. The card descriptions are helpful, and you can always hover over debuff/buff icons for an explanation of each.

There are three characters to choose from, each with a different set of “core” cards and unique playstyles. There are also neutral cards that are available across all classes. Card rarity consists of common (gray), uncommon (blue), and rare (yellow). Like most deck-builders, you will start off with a deck of basic cards. You obtain cards after defeating monsters, from certain events, and by purchasing them at the store. Attack cards deal damage, skills apply effects (including damage), and powers apply buffs and disappear from your deck until the battle is over. The "“exhaust” attribute on certain cards means they are put into a separate discard pile that you cannot interact with unless you have a card (Exhume) that returns them to active play.

After you select a character, the map for the first dungeon (there are 3 + 1 secret) will be shown. From here, you can select a starting point - I strongly suggest you trace each route (there are forks) to find your optimal path. Locations include monsters (these make up most of the route), ? events (can also be stores or battles), elite monsters, campfires (rest or upgrade a card) and stores. The end of each level is a boss fight (you fight 1 of 3 chosen at random), and each location is considered a floor - this is important to remember because after 150+ hours of playing I finally realized that a relic called The Maw (gives 15 gold for every floor you climb until the first time you spend gold at the store) activates on “floors” and not “levels,” making it significantly more useful.

During combat, you use Action Points (AP) to play cards. All characters start with 3 AP, but there are relics and cards that increase that pool. Every card is upgradeable, and some of them involve a reduction in AP cost (or cost 0 AP to begin with). Battles are turn-based, so you will go through your actions first, then the enemy party will go next (regardless of their size). There is an icon above each enemy showing what they intend to do on their turn - this can range from attacking, buffing themselves, debuffing you, and other special things. At the end of your turn, all unused cards are discarded; when you have no cards left in your deck, you reshuffle. There is a relic that allows you to retain your hand across turns, and there is also a card that lets you hold one card (stackable).

Experimenting with card combos is my favorite element in Slay the Spire. There is even a relic that allows access to cards from other classes, making the possibilities seem limitless. I saw a build where the player had 2 Flash of Steels (a 0-cost attack that deals 3 damage and allows you to draw one card} and was able - through the grace of RNGesus - to trim his deck down to just those two. This resulted in what is known as an infinite turn because he would keep drawing another Flash of Steel, and could only be countered by one boss that ends your turn whenever you play your 12th card (across all rounds). A poison-focused deck while playing as The Silent. Poison is a debuff that does x damage at the end of every turn and reduces by 1; if you can keep the poison counter high enough, then the enemy will stay in that state until it dies (or until it kills you). After playing for 160+ hours, I am still finding new card synergies. The dev team has also done a fantastic job listening to player feedback, regularly implementing bug fixes and game balances (for example, The Ironclad’s Burning Blood used to heal 10hp - now, you need to upgrade the relic to recover that much.

Overall, Slay the Spire is easily the best deck-building videogame I have ever played, and one of the top rogue-likes as well. At first, I was worried that I would get bored of the game because there were only 3 characters, however, Slay the Spire still finds ways to surprise me. Considering it is still in early access, I am perfectly comfortable recommending this title as a complete game even if the dev team suddenly decided to abandon development. If you have ANY interest in deck-building or rogue-likes, then I wholeheartedly implore you to try this game. You will not be disappointed. You will, however, die often. Seriously.

Normally I try not to mention price because everyone’s perception is different, but the $17.99 CAD is a steal, and I would gladly pay triple that for the experiences I received in return. This is the way early access should be used.

ABSOLUTELY RECOMMEND!

Cheers,

DJSF @DJSF's Rogue Reviews

For the full review, please visit my website[djroguereviews.com].

If you like this game try: Hand of Fate (1 and 2) and Monster Slayers.