What this is
A run-based card strategy game built around route choices, deck refinement, and risky adaptation.
What you actually do
You choose cards, remove weak options, collect relics, manage resources, and plan turns around visible enemy intentions. Each run tests how flexibly you adapt your deck and route to uncertain rewards, with failure sending you back to the start.
Verdict
Slay the Spire turns each climb into a compact strategy puzzle, asking you to build a deck, read enemy intentions, and adapt to imperfect options. Its main caveat is that randomness and punishing setbacks can make losses feel outside your control.
User reviews first
Steam recent first
Quick facts
Genre
Roguelike DeckbuilderCard GameView
Side viewSolo
✓Co-op
✗PvP
✗Length
12hEntry
Can start herePricing
PaidMTX
✗Account required
✗Active Support
✓Crossplay
?+Best if
You like experimenting with card and relic combinations, then refining your decisions across repeated runs.
!Skip it if
Random draws and run resets make strategic losses feel frustrating rather than interesting.
Developer
Mega Crit Games
Publisher
Mega Crit
Release
Jan 23, 2019
Game DNA
Rhythm
Depth
Mood
Look & sound
Also tagged
Your role and how it develops
Your role
You shape a character build, choose routes, manage resources, and make the tactical decisions that determine whether each run survives.
Learning and mastery
The basic rules are approachable, but effective deckbuilding and survival take sustained practice.
Replay and variation
Very high, driven by changing routes, rewards, encounters, and build possibilities.
Systems you interact with
Card drafting
Choose new cards from changing rewards to shape your deck.
Deck refinement
Add, remove, and balance cards so draws support your plan.
Turn-based combat
Spend cards and resources while responding to visible enemy intentions.
Relics
Collect persistent modifiers that create new strategic combinations.
Route planning
Select paths that trade safety, rewards, and risk.
Character builds
Use distinct card pools and play patterns for different characters.
Run progression
Unlock further options while learning from failed attempts.
Time investment
Main story
focused run
12h
Main + extras
story and side content
47h
Completionist
full clear
188h
Session fit
When it clicks
Expect a learning-focused opening as you discover how cards, relics, routes, and enemy intentions interact.
Session constraints
A failed run resets progress, and difficult draws or encounters can force repeated attempts.
Best session rhythm
Its self-contained runs suit focused sessions, with natural stopping points between encounters.
DLC timing
No timing guidance for extra content is available yet.
Review interpretation
Players remain highly enthusiastic, especially about the deep deckbuilding, distinct characters, and addictive replayability.
Its approachable card systems open into deep strategic decisions, with varied runs and character playstyles that keep players experimenting. Critics likewise praise the precise genre blend and satisfying depth.
Critics emphasize balanced strategy and replayable variety, while some players feel harsh randomness can overpower decision-making and make losses feel undeserved.
What players value
Players praise the accessible foundation, powerful combinations, and substantial strategic depth.
Different characters, builds, maps, cards, and enemies make runs feel fresh and encourage repeated play.
Players highlight the different ways the characters play and the range of build options available.
Players repeatedly describe the game as highly addictive and difficult to put down.
Evidence-backed risks
Some players say harsh randomness can overshadow strategy, produce unrewarding losses, and limit opportunities to adapt.
Some players find the difficulty scaling punishing and lose interest after completing a run or struggling to progress.
Players and critics repeatedly describe the run-based loop as difficult to put down, with a strong pull toward starting one more run.
Minimum PC
Storage and usability
Accessibility
Support status
Official Steam news
The Neowsletter - July 2026
The July Neowsletter is here, Slayers! Last month we bid farewell to the Doormaker, but you know what they say: when one door closes... a giant floating hourglass creature appears! In this issue we're taking a look behind the scenes at the process of bringing the Doormaker's replacement, Aeonglass, to life! Aeonglass...
The Neowsletter - June 2026
Hey Slayers, it's time for the June Neowsletter! In this issue we're covering a couple of big roadmap items we've checked off our list as of yesterday's main branch patch and answering some of your recent questions. Let's dive in... Dev Update The first feature we want to highlight is the Bestiary . The Bestiary is a...
The Neowsletter - May 2026
Hey, Slayers! Demi the CM here with this month's Neowsletter! Dev Update We wanted to start off with an update from last month's roadmap, especially for those who only play StS2's main branch. The first big update is that we have moved from a weekly to a bi-weekly cadence for the beta patches. Though we stuck with the...
The Neowsletter - April 2026
Hi everyone! Casey here. Slay the Spire 2 has been out for about a month and the majority of our work has been fixing up major issues, improving our feedback systems, polishing up visuals, and reworking/balancing content so that all of the cards and items feel interesting and viable! To those who reported feedback,...
Slay the Spire: The Board Game - Downfall Expansion Kickstarter Now Live!
It's finally here!! The Kickstarter campaign for the Slay the Spire board game Downfall expansion is LIVE NOW! The fan-favorite community mod for Slay the Spire 1 is getting its own OFFICIAL expansion to Slay the Spire: The Board Game , allowing you and your friends to play as some of the Spire’s infamous bosses....
The Neowsletter - March 2026
Hi everyone, Casey here! Our excellent community manager, Demi, has been in charge of the majority of Neowsletter writings for a while now but I wanted to stop by to say a few words: 🐟HOLY MACKEREL🐟! But in all seriousness, the response to Early Access has been incredible. Even though I threw out my back from...
Slay the Spire 2 is out NOW in Early Access!!
The Spire has finally reawakened. Slay the Spire 2 , the long awaited sequel to the original genre-defining roguelike deckbuilder, is available now on Steam Early Access ! We're so excited for you all to see for yourselves what we've been working on for the past 5 years. If you've been keeping up with our monthly...
Slay the Spire 2 Releases in Early Access on March 5, 2026!
Your wait is nearly over. The Spire awakens once more on March 5, 2026 . Learn more about what Slay the Spire 2 has in store in our official Early Access trailer: And if you haven’t yet, you can wishlist it here to keep it on your radar: About Slay the Spire 2 Ascend the Spire once more in Slay the Spire 2 the...
The Neowsletter - February 2026
It's February, everyone. You know what that means... SLAY THE SPIRE 2 IS OUT NEXT MONTH!! That also means if your goal was to hit A20 on all characters before StS2's release, you're running out of time. That also also means that this Neowsletter is a little lighter again. So no major content teases right now, but...
The Neowsletter - January 2026
Happy Slay the Spire 2 year, everyone! Tomorrow, January 23rd, 2026, is the 7th anniversary of Slay the Spire 's 1.0 launch! Also, in just a couple of months, it will have been 8.5~ years between the early access launches of Slay the Spire 1 and Slay the Spire 2 . If you've been with us since the very beginning of...
The Neowsletter - December 2025
The last Neowsletter of 2025 is here! For those who didn't hear, Slay the Spire 2 was recently ranked the number one game on the PC Gaming Show's Most Wanted list! We want to thank the voting council as well as all of you steadfast Slayers out there! As a treat, you can find quite a few tidbits of new StS2 info in the...
The Neowsletter - November 2025
Greetings, Slayers! It's November. Just a few more months until the sequel is available in Early Access. To get hyped, we've got another big content sneak peek. Last month, we properly introduced you to one of Slay the Spire 2 's new playable characters, The Necrobinder. This month, we're introducing you to some new...
The Neowsletter - October 2025
It's October, the month of tricks, treats, and... spooooky things~🦇💀 For those who missed it, we announced a delay last month. Slay the Spire 2 is coming to Early Access in March 2026. I know, I know, it's hard to wait. But speaking of spooky things, let us properly introduce you to... The Necrobinder At long last,...
The Neowsletter - September 2025
Hi everyone, it's time for the September Neowsletter. This one comes with a pretty big update right off the top, so let's dive right into it. Early Access Timeline Update After a lot of internal discussion, we've made the call to move Slay the Spire 2's Early Access launch to a secret Thursday in March 2026 . We know...
The Neowsletter - August 2025
Greetings! This month's issue marks the 1-year anniversary of The Neowsletter!! Thank you to everyone who has been reading along since the beginning. The Mega Crit team is still hard at work on the sequel. We're on that grindset >:( But also striking a good work/life balance >:) The main focus lately has been content....
answered from verified data
Yes, Slay the Spire is available on Android.
The full platform list: PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Android and iOS.
Yes, Slay the Spire is playable on PlayStation 5: the PlayStation 4 version runs on PS5 via backward compatibility.
There is no separate native PlayStation 5 version. The full platform list: PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Android and iOS.
Access
Store prices, editions, subscriptions, and free-now signals get their own deterministic layer later. The main page only answers whether the game fits.