Slay the Spire - Catch all

Tempted, but I typically don’t like card-based games. Also I’m digging Timespinner, which I just got yesterday.

I gather this has some Rogue-like elements. Where does the difficulty fall? Games like that a lot of times fail for me because they require too much luck or time (Dead Cells). Rogue Legacy was about as hard as I’m willing to put up with.

It’s heavy on the cards, but that’s based on a deck associated with the character, and luck-of-the-draw initial build (given to you) followed by your choices as you climb the literal tower of encounters and get single card offers. So each run is partly luck, partly skill.

It’s a Rogue because each run credits that character with points towards a small set of upgrades that are available for all later runs. So there is persistence, and the challenge changes somewhat as you get more experienced, since you unlock additional challenging areas.

Did it actually release this morning with store update?

I held off buying on Steam holiday sale since I knew Switch version was coming soon.

Edit: Yes, bought and downloading.

Review at Nintendo Life reports great performance, no text issues, only some minor framerate slowdown in a handful of spots.

bigred wrote:

Anyone getting this for Switch? In principle, I refuse to buy games for another platform when I own it on pc but this might be the game for which I make an exception. I'd like to hear the Switch port is successful/not-broken and then I'm insta-buying.

From Nintendolife’s review: n the technical side of things, this Switch port runs beautifully in both docked and portable mode and the game’s big, bright and colourful cast of characters mean everything looks great and is easily discernible on the handheld screen. There are also no annoyances to report with text being too small; all the information on-screen is easy to parse and clearly laid out. We did encounter a handful of very slight framerate drops from time to time whilst we were shuffling quickly through our cards as a screen-shaking attack was going off, but they were few and far between.

Blind_Evil wrote:
bigred wrote:

Anyone getting this for Switch? In principle, I refuse to buy games for another platform when I own it on pc but this might be the game for which I make an exception. I'd like to hear the Switch port is successful/not-broken and then I'm insta-buying.

From Nintendolife’s review: n the technical side of things, this Switch port runs beautifully in both docked and portable mode and the game’s big, bright and colourful cast of characters mean everything looks great and is easily discernible on the handheld screen. There are also no annoyances to report with text being too small; all the information on-screen is easy to parse and clearly laid out. We did encounter a handful of very slight framerate drops from time to time whilst we were shuffling quickly through our cards as a screen-shaking attack was going off, but they were few and far between.

Pretty much what I wanted to hear. Does it perform fine (doesn't need to be perfect) and are the controls intuitive without a mouse? Can't wait to play this curled up on a couch

Got this on switch. My first run, I’m past two main bosses. Not sure what’s normal, but it feels good so far.

Been holding off on this to get on Switch as well, and been feeling like I've neglected the console for some time, so hearing this is finally out on it is good timing for me!

Oh this is so fun.

Just two games in but quite a blast

I played for an hour or so yesterday, and had a real blast. The GUI is perfect for couch Switch play, although I'm not one to be bothered by small text so YMMV. There were a few bugs here and there, but nothing game breaking. The Dutch translation was a bit iffy at times as well, I will check if I can override system settings and go English.

I was flying last night and got in about 5-6 games and unlocked some new cards. Really like the second character more than the first I think. Haven't tried the third yet.

I was reading some reviews and found that there’s no narrative whatsoever. What’s the draw to complete the game?

Gameplay is addictive. Seriously. It's not a story game, any more than, say, Hearthstone. Each run is a unique game, consisting of a number of encounters against enemies that pose different (but predictable) challenges. At the end of each run, you gain points towards unlocks that will affect all future runs. So your incentive is to improve your score, but also to gain long term advantages through repeated finishes.

If you're so concerned about liking it that you're going to analyze the game in fear of not liking it, then skip it. Really. It's a fun game, it's highly random but also has strong skill/experience elements, and it fits the rogue-like category more than any other, in my view. If you like rogues, you'll probably enjoy it unless you *hate* cards (remember, most rogues are pretty highly random). If you need a story, or you imagine it's an RPG or something, skip it. But if it's causing you so much worry that you're stressing over details before even playing, well, it might not be worth the worry.

I don’t think it’s out of line to ask questions before sinking $25. I have an expensive infant.

I think this is probably a great game if you have an infant. It is easy to put down at any moment and pick up without losing track of what you are doing. Definitely a ton of fun. It isn't a game with much of a plot, but it has a nice atmosphere and some nods at narrative that are compelling and well utilized, IMO. There is definitely a lot of space for your brain to fill in and the main draw is the game-play, but I wouldn't say it is absent of story. Hope this is helpful!

Blind, I think it is worth the splurge but you could always try the Steam version and get a refund within the 2 hour window. I also like to be sure before I spend money on a game so I understand where you are coming from.

Blind_Evil wrote:

I don’t think it’s out of line to ask questions before sinking $25. I have an expensive infant.

It might be useful to watch some plays on YouTube if you' haven't to see how the game flows. I enjoyed watching KatherineOfSky - she's very chill.

I agree with what Harpo said. I think the draw of the gameplay is the strategy of building a deck and seeing how deep your run goes. I haven't traditionally enjoyed deck-builders because following a meta and playing against other players isn't my cup of tea, so the rogue-like aspect is a draw for me. You can start a run and say, "Hmm, I wonder what a shiv-based deck would work like" and go see, and if it's a flop you start over and nothing is lost.

It’s not out of line, at all, Blind. (Although I didn’t know it had popped up that high, I bought into it earlier iirc.) My concern is that if you’re that worried about liking it or not, just take it off the list for now. It’ll come down in price (probably even at the end of this month) and it’ll still be just as good if you buy it a year or two from now. My point, as someone who suffers from anxiety, is that sometimes it’s better to just walk away and leave it for another time. I was trying to describe it in ways that would help facilitate that choice.

I literally don’t have a machine capable of running Steam anymore, my laptop died about a year and a half ago and I haven’t felt the need to buy a new one. I appreciate the YouTube recommendation, but I also don’t have enough time to play games I want to, much less watch someone else play games I’m not sure about.

It’s probably less than $25 on Steam but I would be playing on Switch. It just came out yesterday.

I swear I’m not trying to be difficult

I’ll keep perusing reviews and whatnot. Thanks folks!

It's also similar to meteorfall on mobile. You could buy that for$4 on Android or iOS and get a taste.

I loved that and am now loving StS.

I’m several runs in, all with the first character. But even my best, most optimized and synergized build got gutted by the third boss. It was such a good run, too.

Spoiler:

beast with 300 hp who died and came back with 300 hp

Can't beat the 2nd boss, failed on all 3 so far at least once

The second boss is the most common failure point, it is definitely a power check and once you get more experience you can even start planning your second floor run and pickups based on which boss it is. Keep at it and I'm sure you'll break through!

Finally beat the 2nd boss with Defect.

Got to 3rd boss who I defeated... and then the bastard revived with full health. Ugh.

I made it to the second boss and came within a turn of beating it. Anyone have a favorite guide or tips site?

Haven't beat the 2nd boss again today. Got multiple unlocks for all 3 characters. Having fun but I feel lost.

Should I be trying more elite bosses to get relics? Less ? rooms? More regular enemies for cards?

Read a couple of tips articles and still not clear on what to do.

Also they say to build towards boss of act but that would require me to remember symbols from 3 runs ago or look up a guide to bosses. Just a lot to keep track of and I am starting to feel overwhelmed.

Usually on the first map I try to get elites to get more relics. One tip is that the first three regular enemy floors are 'easy' enabled, so you want to try to go up a path that has 3 enemies then an elite. This lets you get a few cards without taking too much damage before the first elite.

I also prioritize rest areas before elites and shoot for 4-5 floors between rest areas if possible, with an elite after a rest area rather than before.

On the second area I usually only do 1-2 elites if I can. Don't prioritize ? rooms as they often don't help you get cards and build your deck. Speaking of, one of the things to learn is when to decline taking a card - you don't have to take one after every fight if it doesn't fit your deck direction. If you're going for poison and have a couple of poison cards already, then don't take just regular attacks. A smaller deck with stronger cards is better.

I am not an expert though. I am up to ascension 8 or 9 on all of the characters with about 100 hours in.

These are good tips. Any rules of thumb for upgrading or healing at a rest area? Sometimes it’s obvious when you need to heal of course.

Generally speaking, what size is a good tight deck? On average, what percentage of encounters do you not take a card?

Thanks!
Chad

I would say the deck size depends on the synergies you go for. If you have a nice rotation going, then it's probably small. If you've got cards that constantly push more cards into play (like happens with the Defect sometimes), then you can likely get away with more cards. I've tried, but I've never come up with anything like an "optimal deck size", although it's *usually* smaller is better. High teens to high 20's is usual for me, I guess... Still... If you pass up good cards to stay small, you'll likely find yourself giving up too much and not having enough firepower to take the later bosses. But if you set your filter too wide, you won't be able to rotate your deck often enough. It's one of the real challenges of the game, because the effects of your early choices won't be obvious until you see later draws.

You can see from this how I view the answer to the second question.

Thought I had an ironclad win in the bag last night. Had the keep shield through turns, and a gain strength every turn card. Had an artifact that turned 2-5 dmg into 1 and the other that boosted strength if below 50% health. 2nd floor boss snowballed and I did like 140 dmg with a couple cards. Things were going well.

And then on 3rd floor, I miscalculated on elite boss. My health was low so I tried to finish it off and left it with 2 health after a barrage. Could have used a strength potion and won but my math was bad. Next map spot was a rest, would have at least made the boss. Oops.

Made it through the last (?) boss on my first run with the Defect (3rd run overall). The one that revives itself... and then I did 300 damage in a round to take it out immediately.

I think I had a series of very lucky events help me out. Had a "?" that upgraded all my base strikes and defenses. I started stacking 'claw' cards and had an "All in" card (or something) that pulled all 0 cost cards out of my discard pile into my hand. I had an absolute pile of relics to work with. Basically I just focused on shielding first and playing 0 cost cards and letting the building damage do the trick. In the final battle I had that lightning card that did 12 damage 21 times (1 time for each time I'd channeled lightning).

It was insane and kept me up until 2am on a night I really could have used the sleep. But it was great.