I never would’ve thought I’d lose myself as much in this rabbit hole of a game, as I did. I’m not really good at card games, especially deck building, but this one somehow clicked. I retire this game for now, after reaching ascension level 10 with two chars, but I might get back to it again. Wonderfully designed, challenging but so much fun. This might’ve been my gateway drug, I’m already looking at similar games. 👀
Where it Shines:
Card System - 9/10
Replayability - 8/10
Custom Runs - 7/10
The Good:
StS is undoubtedly the gold standard for Rogue Like Deckbuilders. It deserves the praise it gets, for the most part.
Runs feel satisfying, you learn quickly, and the relics, shops, events, cards, etc, all feel really fun. It's definitely the "Just one more run..." game.
The game on steam also has an incredible modding community and there are tons of extra characters, modes, modifiers, and other changes to breathe life into the game once it gets stale.
The Bad:
For all it's praises, the game really does have a lot of flaws. It's easy to just 4 star review this and move on, but I want to highlight areas where I think it really desperately needs some attention.
- music is serviceable, but very generic
- artwork feels like an early 2000's flash game. You'd have expect to see homestarrunner and his gang pop in
- only 4 main characters, half of which are very basic and make runs too easy, the other half of which are overly complicated and runs feel like a coin toss
- good run customization, but the game needs a sandbox mode where you can experiment without restriction
- ported a ton of times over the last 6 years but no real improvements made at all
- some relics and run modifiers just flat out suck. Like trash garbage, unusable.
Summary:
So is it good or not? I think base StS, although hands down is the best out there, still has flaws that drag it down. However, it's still fun overall to play. Will you get bored of it? Sure, but that could be 20 hours in, 30, 40, 100...it depends on how into it you are. And then you can mod it to get even more life. It's probably the most average game I've put over a hundred hours into and counting, which is maybe why I'm so critical of it. I want it to be better. I want it to sound better, look better, play better. Because people keep making rogue like deckbuilders, and they keep trying to reinvent the wheel when StS has the fundamentals down pat. I just want someone to copy StS and give it the polish it deserves.
Note on my ratings:
Treat my stars like Michelin Stars - just having one means the game is worth playing in some way.
1/2 ⭐: hot trash garbage, since you can't do zero stars here
⭐: below average, needs work
⭐⭐: average
⭐⭐⭐: pretty good
⭐⭐⭐⭐: excellent
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: all time favourite
Card System - 9/10
Replayability - 8/10
Custom Runs - 7/10
The Good:
StS is undoubtedly the gold standard for Rogue Like Deckbuilders. It deserves the praise it gets, for the most part.
Runs feel satisfying, you learn quickly, and the relics, shops, events, cards, etc, all feel really fun. It's definitely the "Just one more run..." game.
The game on steam also has an incredible modding community and there are tons of extra characters, modes, modifiers, and other changes to breathe life into the game once it gets stale.
The Bad:
For all it's praises, the game really does have a lot of flaws. It's easy to just 4 star review this and move on, but I want to highlight areas where I think it really desperately needs some attention.
- music is serviceable, but very generic
- artwork feels like an early 2000's flash game. You'd have expect to see homestarrunner and his gang pop in
- only 4 main characters, half of which are very basic and make runs too easy, the other half of which are overly complicated and runs feel like a coin toss
- good run customization, but the game needs a sandbox mode where you can experiment without restriction
- ported a ton of times over the last 6 years but no real improvements made at all
- some relics and run modifiers just flat out suck. Like trash garbage, unusable.
Summary:
So is it good or not? I think base StS, although hands down is the best out there, still has flaws that drag it down. However, it's still fun overall to play. Will you get bored of it? Sure, but that could be 20 hours in, 30, 40, 100...it depends on how into it you are. And then you can mod it to get even more life. It's probably the most average game I've put over a hundred hours into and counting, which is maybe why I'm so critical of it. I want it to be better. I want it to sound better, look better, play better. Because people keep making rogue like deckbuilders, and they keep trying to reinvent the wheel when StS has the fundamentals down pat. I just want someone to copy StS and give it the polish it deserves.
Note on my ratings:
Treat my stars like Michelin Stars - just having one means the game is worth playing in some way.
1/2 ⭐: hot trash garbage, since you can't do zero stars here
⭐: below average, needs work
⭐⭐: average
⭐⭐⭐: pretty good
⭐⭐⭐⭐: excellent
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: all time favourite
A pretty fun deckbuilding game. It leaves a bit to be desired in its aesthetic, but as it's the only roguelike deckbuilder I've played it establishes a nice jumping off point for some others I've heard of that pique my interest a bit more, that hopefully are similarly very accessible. It also gets very difficult, but when strategy comes together it's super satisfying.
While not being a really complex game, Slay the Spire is very challenging, fun and creative. This makes it a really good roguelike in my opinion.
There are a LOT of challenges you can accomplish (such as steam acchievements), aswell as community challenges (every day updates) for the ones who really enjoy playing this game without stop.
This game helped me in very hard moments (I find it quite relaxing and demanding at the same time, which makes anxiety go away) and that is why is one of the best games of all time for me.
There are a LOT of challenges you can accomplish (such as steam acchievements), aswell as community challenges (every day updates) for the ones who really enjoy playing this game without stop.
This game helped me in very hard moments (I find it quite relaxing and demanding at the same time, which makes anxiety go away) and that is why is one of the best games of all time for me.
When I pick this game up, it absorbs me every time. Crafting your deck each run, choosing your path to manage encounters, health, shops, feels like just the right amount of risk taking to tickle my brain.
The problem for me lies when I put the game down. It takes months for me to bother picking it back up again, but I think that is just my feelings towards rogue-likes. They are fun every now and then, but I will have to content myself with never really finishing these types of games.
Should've bought it on my phone, I think it would be excellent there.
The problem for me lies when I put the game down. It takes months for me to bother picking it back up again, but I think that is just my feelings towards rogue-likes. They are fun every now and then, but I will have to content myself with never really finishing these types of games.
Should've bought it on my phone, I think it would be excellent there.
To this day, this game is still the standard for rouge-like deck builders. There's a lot of builds you can pull off with the right cards and when it all comes together the game just plays amazing. No run ever feels the same.
However my only complaint is that the RNG shafts you sometimes with the bosses. You'll have a certain build that gets absolutely countered by the floor boss which will end your potential god run.
However my only complaint is that the RNG shafts you sometimes with the bosses. You'll have a certain build that gets absolutely countered by the floor boss which will end your potential god run.