Slay the Spire

What to Know

Critics Recommend

Average Score

Total Reviews: 43

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Slay the Spire takes some of the best parts of turn-based dungeon crawlers, roguelikes, and card games to create a strategically deep deckbuilder.

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Critics Recommend

Critic Reviews: 43

Critics Consensus

# Reviews: 43

Slay the Spire takes some of the best parts of turn-based dungeon crawlers, roguelikes, and card games to create a strategically deep deckbuilder.

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Awards & Recognition

Critic Reviews for Slay the Spire

Reviews

High Score - 100/100

Low Score - 80/100

Gold TIER

50% of scored reviews fell within the range of 86 to 92 / 100

Christian Donlan (Eurogamer)

Recommended

“Genres combine with beautiful precision in a game that offers simple pleasures and terrifying depths.”

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Tom Marks (IGN)

9/10

“Slay the Spire takes some of the best parts of deckbuilding games, roguelikes, and dungeon crawlers, and mixes them into a wholly new and extremely satisfying package.”

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Jeff Ramos (Polygon)

Recommended

“Roguelites teach their lessons in often devastating ways, and Slay the Spire is no different. Each new run can feel punishing and, at times, unfair. It wasn’t until I learned how to trim the fat and come up with counterintuitive deck ideas that I really started falling in love with the game.”

Read full review

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Read the Reviews (43 total)

Outlet	Author	Score	Date	Quote	Read
Areajugones	Víctor Rodríguez	9.5 / 10	01-30-2019	“Slay the Spire blends roguelike and deck building to offer an experience that is accessible, challenging and fun as hell from the very beginning. One of the best recent inide games!”	Read review
But Why Tho?	Eva Herinkova	9 / 10	12-07-2019	Overall, I loved Slay the Spire and it definitely deserves the nomination for Fresh Indie Game at the Game Awards, which airs on December 12th. Historically, I’m not a fan of roguelike games, but Slay the Spire made me reconsider my position	Read review
Cerealkillerz	Gabriel Bogdan	8.7 / 10	06-04-2019	Slay the Spire belongs in the hands of every card game and rogue like fan out there. The game works perfectly on the go with the Nintendo Switch and delivers some innovative gameplay mechanics and a lot of variety in every playthrough. The biggest setback is still the unexciting character/world design.	Read review
CGMagazine	Derek Heemsbergen	8 / 10	06-19-2019	A loving homage to a niche sub-genre of days gone past, Slay the Spire uses procedurally-generated challenges to keep its deck-building gameplay fresh.	Read review
Daily Dot	AJ Moser	4.5 / 5 stars	06-05-2019	I stare at the game’s start menu, telling myself, “one more run.” Of course, this more than likely means one more death—but who can say what might come from the run after that?	Read review
DarkZero	Dominic Sheard	8 / 10	07-29-2019	Slay the Spire brings to the Switch a neat blend of combat and card elements mixed with the addictive nature of roguelite designs.	Read review
Electric Bento	Christopher Joslin	9.3 / 10	06-12-2019	Slay the Spire is a roguelike deck-building game that will hook you once you get your hands on it.	Read review
Eurogamer	Christian Donlan	Recommended	01-29-2019	Genres combine with beautiful precision in a game that offers simple pleasures and terrifying depths.	Read review
Everyeye.it	Sofia Abatangelo	9 / 10	02-10-2019	Slay the Spire is the definitive deckbuilding game: stimulating and relaxing at the same time, it combines a playful structure truly cared for with the variety and brevity of roguelike.	Read review
FNintendo	Pedro Mesquita	8 / 10	06-24-2019	Slay the Spire may have an unorthodox formula but it does it correctly: this intersection between card-based and roguelike games, Slay the Spire delivers an addictive, enjoyable and unpredictable, long-lasting experience which makes for yet another very welcome entry in the Nintendo Switch catalogue.	Read review
Game Informer	Daniel Tack	9.3 / 10	01-25-2019	An incredibly well-crafted dungeon delve with hundreds of hours of crawling chaos	Read review
Game Rant	Dalton Cooper	4.5 / 5 stars	06-01-2019	Slay the Spire is one of the best deck-building games we’ve played, featuring addicting, strategic combat blended with a satisfying roguelike gameplay loop.	Read review
Game Revolution	Paul Tamburro	4.5 / 5 stars	01-29-2019	Slay the Spire has spent all its energy in order to firmly sink its claws into me, and I can’t envisage putting this game down for a long time.	Read review
GameCrate	Nate Hohl	8.5 / 10	02-01-2019	If you’ve enjoyed playing deck-building card games and roguelikes in the past, you owe it to yourself to give Slay the Spire a try. It might take a bit to fully wrap your head around the game’s concept, but once it click, it’s addicting. Now’s also a great time to get in on the action, since Slay the Spire will only continue to grow in the future.	Read review
GameSpot	Chris Pereira	9 / 10	07-09-2020	It’s easy to see why Slay the Spire has popularized a new blend of genres.	Read review
Geeks Under Grace	Derek Thompson	8 / 10	06-07-2019	For deckbuilding and video game mashups, this is as good as it gets.	Read review
God is a Geek	Mick Fraser	9 / 10	06-04-2019	Mick Fraser: “Slay the Spire is a hugely enjoyable single-player deck-builder that feels genuinely unique in its genre.”	Read review
Guardian	Simon Parkin	5 / 5 stars	08-07-2020	Unleash your inner warrior and wreak havoc in this deck-building game’s series of exhilarating face-offs, now available for Apple devices	Read review
IGN	Tom Marks	9 / 10	02-13-2019	Slay the Spire takes some of the best parts of deckbuilding games, roguelikes, and dungeon crawlers, and mixes them into a wholly new and extremely satisfying package.	Read review
IGN Spain	Albert Manjón	8.9 / 10	02-15-2019	A surprising new twist on a crowded genre. Slay the Spyre may not be the prettiest game out there, but it’s one of the most interesting experiences on 2019 so far.	Read review
Kinglink Reviews	Frank Reese	4.5 / 5 stars	08-27-2019	A very solid deckbuilder coupled with a slick rogue-lite. Together they make an addictive combo that I keep finding myself pulled to for “just one more run”. It’s quite entertaining.	Read review
Metro GameCentral	Unknown	8 / 10	05-23-2019	An excellent mix of turn-based dungeon crawler, roguelike, and card game whose perfectly balanced combat will have you constantly coming back for more.	Read review
Niche Gamer	Frank Streva	8.5 / 10	05-07-2019	There will be many runs where you won’t really have much of a chance, and if that might turn you off. However, Slay the Spire still offers a nice variety of content, an addicting card-based combat system, and a compelling gameplay loop that will keep you coming back for more punishment.	Read review
Nintendo Life	PJ O’Reilly	9 / 10	06-06-2019	Slay the Spire is an endlessly addictive roguelike card-battler that’s a perfect fit for the Switch; a beautifully balanced game that’s arrived on Nintendo’s system with all the benefits of an extended period of Early Access on PC.	Read review
Nintendo Times	Alex Knight	9.5 / 10	06-17-2019	EXCELLENT	Read review
NintendoWorldReport	David Lloyd	8.5 / 10	06-05-2019	With the growing library of roguelikes and card-based strategy games accumulating in the eShop, new entrants continuously need to find new ways to stand out from the crowd. Slay the Spire succeeds in this regard by foregoing a traditional story or narrative and allowing the player to become completely immersed in strategic thinking. It may not be the prettiest or flashiest roguelike out there, but it certainly has my attention.	Read review
PC Gamer	Evan Lahti	92 / 100	01-24-2019	A strategically deep deckbuilder that, with any luck, has spawned a brilliant new subgenre.	Read review
PCGamesN	Ali Jones	9 / 10	01-23-2019	An intricate and highly replayable game that shines across both of its genres, MegaCrit’s debut combines a simple premise with near-flawless mechanical execution.Ali Jones	Read review
PlayStation Universe	John-Paul Jones	10 / 10	05-20-2019	A sublime, impeccably crafted roguelike card-battler that is absolutely without peer, Slay the Spire cements its place as one of the best games of this console generation. This. Is. Essential.	Read review
Polygon	Jeff Ramos	Recommended	02-12-2019	Roguelites teach their lessons in often devastating ways, and Slay the Spire is no different. Each new run can feel punishing and, at times, unfair. It wasn’t until I learned how to trim the fat and come up with counterintuitive deck ideas that I really started falling in love with the game.	Read review
Rock, Paper, Shotgun	Alec Meer	Recommended	01-23-2019	A drug I don’t want to quit. A miracle of design? Yeah, go on.	Read review
RPGamer	Zack Webster	4 / 5 stars	02-15-2019	Slay the Spire is an absolute knockout of a devilishly simple concept that nevertheless merges the finesse of deck-building with the gripping strategy of a tightly-designed turn-based combat system, helped all the more by the desire to complete “just one more turn”.	Read review
Screen Rant	Leo Faierman	5 / 5 stars	01-25-2019	RPG/roguelike/deck-building card game Slay the Spire finally comes out of early access on Steam, ready and able to consume all of your free time.	Read review
Shacknews	Josh Hawkins	9 / 10	01-30-2019	On the surface, Mega Crit’s weird blend of rogue-like and card game might seem like a simple dungeon-crawler with some deck-building mechanics thrown in. But, as you dive deeper beneath the surface, and really start to flesh out the complexities tied into each deck, you’ll find an entirely new world of mechanics to learn and master as you try your best to survive each encounter and eventually slay the Spire.	Read review
Slant Magazine	Steven Scaife	4.5 / 5 stars	01-23-2019	There are few greater thrills than discovering a new, powerful combo in Slay the Spire.	Read review
SomHráč.sk	Karel Šír	90 / 100	01-24-2019	Slay the Spire is an absolute must-play for roguelike and card game fans. At the same time, it manages to be a casual game to fill an hour of free time and a complex challenge that won’t loosen its grip over you.	Read review
SpazioGames	Unknown	8.4 / 10	07-10-2019	Although the mods are not supported as in the PC scene, the Switch version of Slay the Spire is pure bliss, a dangerously addictive roguelike card game like you’ve never seen before on Nintendo’s console.	Read review
TechRaptor	Richard Costa	9.5 / 10	01-23-2019	Slay the Spire is a vertiginously challenging and infinitely replayable roguelike deckbuilder set in a highly original dark fantasy universe.	Read review
TheSixthAxis	Jason Coles	9 / 10	07-04-2019	Slay the Spire takes the best parts of roguelites, dungeon crawlers, and card games, and mixes them together into an unholy, but absurdly enjoyable game. It’s the kind of game that gets under your skin and uses it like a tent, just camping out and reminding you that you aren’t playing it. It’s the kind of game that you can jump in for one quick run and suddenly realise that you’ve been playing for five hours and should really be asleep. It’s the kind of game that is easy to play, hard to master, and impossible to put down. What more could you want?	Read review
USgamer	Kat Bailey	4.5 / 5 stars	06-05-2019	Slay the Spire cleverly mixes the roguelite and card game genres, bringing with it a deep and satisfying strategy layer that encourages you to experiment over the course of a multitude of runs to the top of the tower. I can only hope that it continues to see regular updates, because it’s already one of my favorite games of 2019.	Read review
Video Chums	A.J. Maciejewski	8 / 10	08-22-2019	Card-based combat doesn’t get much more satisfying than in Slay The Spire and its roguelike campaign is quite a rewarding challenge.	Read review
viewport	Frostilyte	9 / 10	01-28-2019	It almost feels redundant to write it here, but Slay the Spire comes highly recommended. All of its mechanics work together to prevent repetition through encouraging the player to take calculated risks and forcing them to think strategically about how to utilize their available card selection. The variety is also delivered to the player as they continue to play the game, so as to prevent overwhelming with the sheer volume of what’s available. The additional game modes in the daily climb, custom game modes, and mods help to fully round out a game which already has an immense amount of diversity. While I wasn’t a fan of the art style, that is only a minor gripe against Slay the Spire. It is one of the most well-designed rogue-likes I’ve played and a decidedly engaging deck building game.	Read review
We Got This Covered	Eric Hall	4.5 / 5 stars	05-25-2019	Slay The Spire is an ingenious and addicting blend of card game strategy and rogue-like mechanics. It’s a potent mix that will keep you coming back for more, even if death often awaits you.	Read review

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Game Info

Game Description / Storyline:

Ascend an evil, living tower in the roguelike deck-building game Slay the Spire. Select from hundreds of different cards and powerful ancient relics as you craft a unique deck and fight your way to the top!

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