598: Slay the Spire

[JaySevenZero]

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for Slay the Spire for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.

[Kez86]

An absolute belter of a deck-building rogue-lite with some wonderful artwork and a score that emboldens the experience. I have spent 68 hours climbing and failing, climbing further and failing again, up and down the spire and it amazes me that you can continually discover new cards, items and relics to change and adapt the experience so that every run feels slightly different.

Now I cannot believe I am going to say this but here it goes...

However, after the 60 hour mark, I found the experience starting to become too repetitive with not enough variety in enemy design or variety in playable characters in which to send off on their journey to climb the spire.

That's after 60 hours. Honestly, I adore this game, but...

For those who feel the same, I can 100% recommend "Downfall - A Slay the Spire Fan Expansion" https://store.steampowered.com/app/1865 ... Expansion/ which adds a new game mode, new character, bosses, cards, relics, items, etc, etc, etc. I now have over 150 hours in the free fan-made DLC alone. I also recommend for the Cane and Rinse team to check this out and include it within their episode as will open up a lot more discussion in terms of what more could be added to this already brilliant simple game.

3WR
corrupt card collecting

[Time for Stein]

I played this a fair bit when it was given away on PS Plus last year. Having played boatloads of rougelikes/lites etc over the years, I really enjoyed the different change of pace that the turn based, deck building combat brought to the table.

A few moments stand out in the memory - buffing my defence ludicrously high and bodyslammimg into enemies for massive damage was both charming and effective, and defeating the final boss by the skin of my teeth while playing the poison based character was real edge of the seat stuff!

Not a game I've sank tens of hours into or anything, but I enjoyed the time I had with it, well worth a try.

[nosleeptill0blivion]

I purchased this day one on a whim on the PS4 having never played a deck-builder before and only dabbling in roguelikes. I was initially frustrated buy the steep learning curve and punishing difficulty but persisted, squeezing in runs here and there when I had a small window of time for something quick to boot up and play.

It was only after unlocking further cards and relics that I started to really understand the mechanics and synergies that allowed me to fully utilise the tools at my disposal and make better decisions to conquer the spire. The game requires you adapt to a build based on the cards dealt as opposed to having one in mind from the onset.

Almost 2000 hours later, Slay the Spire has become one of my favourite games of all time. With the challenging combat, unique character play styles, and small subtle plot threads, this is a game that is far more than just another roguelike.

3WR: Dead Branch, Corruption

[Nicktendo]

I played this on the Switch last year after searching for a Card-based battle game similar to Inscryption. And it did not disappoint. Aesthetically, STS doesn't set the world on fire, but it's simple gameplay loop was more than enough to keep me hooked. The rogue-like gameplay and "always improving" game elements ensured I wanted just one more run before bed-time. I somehow beat all 4 character spires, but stopped with the post-game content due to the sheer difficulty.
Three Word Review:
One More Run