

Finally, completing the game with the first three characters unlocks the ability to take on the extremely difficult true ending.Ī huge part of the success of Slay is in its tremendous variety. Once you complete a run additional challenges called ascension are unlocked which tweaks various elements of the game. A successful run takes about an hour and a half but you can save and exit at any point. Potions can be consumed for a one time effect where as relics are bonuses that stay with you for the whole run. The gold you acquire can be spent at shops to buy new cards, relics, potions, or even take a single card out of your deck. All the cards you find a better than your starting cards however if you add too many it may become difficult to execute a consistent strategy. You start each turn with five cards and after your deck runs out all your cards are shuffled back into your draw pile.Īfter defeating your enemies you'll be rewarded some gold and you can choose a new card for your deck.


You can usually see the enemies next move and can act accordingly. Some cards do damage to the enemies while others let you defend from incoming attacks. The most common are normal battles in which you most use you cards to defeat a set of enemies. Different icons on the towers represent the different encounters. You start each tower on the bottom and their are branching paths that work up to a boss fight. In order to beat the game you'll need to work your way up three towers. You begin the game with the same set of 10-12 cards depending on who your choose. Each character has a different set of cards, a unique relic, and very different strategies. When you jump into a round of Slay you pick one of four characters. Their is a myriad of clever design features worth discussing that highlight the joy and replay-ability offered by this incredible title. After each run you'll just want to jump right back in a do a little better. I can easily say that Slay is my favorite rogue-like since Spelunky, offering similarly short and varied runs. I'm 60 hours in and I've only begun to scratch the surface of the many challenges offered. This turn-based card game is very easy to learn yet offers amazing depth via the variety of countless combos to discover. Slay the Spire is a near perfect rogue-like for those more interested in testing their wits rather than their dexterity. By bumblebug | Review Date: April 18, 2020
