I love Slay the Spire. By now, I’ve logged over one hundred and twenty hours playing it. It’s my go-to game while listening to a podcast. But no game is without flaws, and Slay the Spire certainly has them.
Slay the Spire’s biggest flaw is that it’s not really a great roguelike. There are very few elements of this game that make it a roguelike. Because of this, the Standard mode can often feel like frustrating, unrewarding tests of luck rather than skill.
While Standard mode is plagued by its difficulty due to not taking more queues from the roguelike genre, Custom and Daily modes feel like the quintessential way to play. These modes keep the game fun and actually make it possible to win regularly. Don’t drop this game if you’re frustrated with Standard mode if you haven’t given the other modes a try!
Slay the Spire Isn’t a Roguelike
This is a pretty bold claim to make. Despite a bit of hyperbole, this is mostly true. The starting buff from Neow is the only aspect of Slay the Spire’s gameplay that really makes the game a roguelike. Slay the Spire would be easier and more fun if it leaned heavier into elements of the roguelike genre.
In a roguelike, the gameplay experience of dying and trying a level again is tied into the game’s story. The main character is expected to die in a roguelike. For each death, the main character returns back to the start of the game stronger than before. Typically, going further in a run unlocks resources that will eventually help you clear the game in a future run.
While Slay the Spire seamlessly integrates your many deaths with the narrative of the game, it doesn’t give many resources to match. The built-in ways already available to make decks stronger are largely unused when it comes to getting new resources when starting a new run. There is only one gameplay element of roguelikes to be found in Slay the Spire, and it does little to help.
Neow is the Only Roguelike Mechanic
In a roguelike, you should expect to get stronger and unlock resources that will make your runs easier the farther you advance in a run. However, the core roguelike resource you’ll have access to in Slay the Spire is Neow.
Neow is the mysterious whale-like creature at the bottom of the Spire on every run, except the first. At the start of each run, Neow offers you a choice of boons to help you go further in the run. If you reached the boss of the first level on your previous run, Neow will give you better choices that involve risk and reward.
Neow’s boons do not feel good enough to help you actually beat the game. While the boons do help you to progress farther, they mostly just give you a stronger start. Once you’ve reached Act 3, Neow’s boons probably have a negligible impact on your deck and your run. If you’re going for the true final boss, Neow’s boons feel like a distant memory with almost no effect on your run by the endgame.
Slay the Spire’s Missed Opportunities
The greatest tragedy of Slay the Spire is that it already has ways to make characters stronger using the roguelike formula. It just doesn’t use them.
A great example of this is the character’s starting relics. Each character starts with a relic that gives them a passive buff and compliments their playstyle. However, each character also has at least one advanced version of their relic that they can find in runs. There is no way to start your run with the upgraded version of your character’s starter relic. It feels like there should be a way to unlock the stronger starting relic after reaching a certain boss. But there isn’t. Sadly, this is just one missed opportunity that feels like a shame it wasn’t realized.
The missed opportunities don’t stop with starter relics. A system for drafting decks is locked outside of standard mode. The upgrade and transform mechanics could be used to permanently upgrade your starter deck, but they aren’t. Any benefit to your deck comes from Neow, once per run. It never feels like enough.
Getting Stronger in Slay the Spire
Like many games, Slay the Spire has a level up system. As you progress through runs and take on harder challenges, you’ll get access to stronger cards by leveling up.
The biggest problem with Slay the Spire’s level up system is that it doesn’t feel like you get stronger after leveling up. There is no guarantee during a run that you’ll find the strong cards or relics you unlocked during a level up. Instead, you may end up stuck with a lackluster deck filled with unhelpful cards. Without a way to filter through resources or “reroll” card or relic selection, runs always feel at the mercy of RNG.
It feels impossible to get stronger in Slay the Spire. At over 100 hours worth of playtime, I’m as skilled as I’m going to get. I’ve unlocked all the cards and relics for my favorite character. Even still, Standard runs end up feeling like a frustrating grind and a waste of time. There are no mechanics that actually make me feel like my character gets stronger after a good run.
Standard runs never feel like a test of my skill as a player. They feel like a test of luck, and they rarely feel fun.
Day by Daily in Slay the Spire
My first introduction to alternate game modes came when I was absolutely frustrated with Standard and saw the Daily Climb option. That first Daily Climb was when I discovered how fun this game could truly be.
Daily Climbs are runs generated daily that select a character and three modifiers from Custom mode for you to try. After struggling for hours previously, I found myself getting my first real victory with the hardest character in a Daily Climb.
Unlike some games with “dailies”, Daily Climb doesn’t tie progression in the game to grinding through it every day. Instead, every 24 hours, a new way to experience the game drops that you can play if you think it’s fun, and leave if you think it’s not. Leaving because I thought the Daily Climb options weren’t fun is how I first discovered the wonders of Custom mode.
Daily Climbs are a great way to break up the monotony of Standard runs and a great introduction to custom options for the game. If you’re frustrated with Standard mode or don’t know what to select in Custom, try out the Daily Climb!
Custom Runs in Slay the Spire
I firmly believe that the best way to experience Slay the Spire is with Custom mode. Custom games give you the ability to select from over 20 different modifiers that augment a regular run. These modifiers can do anything from giving you access to cards from the other characters, turning up the heat and making runs harder, and even making you stronger.
Custom runs eliminate a lot of the frustration inherent in Standard runs. Not only do I find that the modifiers for Custom runs add dynamics that make runs more fun and challenging, but they also make it easier to win.
It can feel demoralizing to play run after run in Standard with no victory in sight. Custom eliminates this frustration by making games more exciting and easier to win.
Why Isn’t This in Standard Mode?
Among the potential options in Custom Mode for augmenting a run, there are two options that let you draft your starting deck. One option lets you draft your starting deck one at a time from sets of three. The other drafting option gives you a pool of 30 cards to draft 10 from. These options are super fun ways to switch up your runs by giving a variation on the gameplay in standard.
These Custom options feel great for the game and really seem like they should have been included in Standard. Unlocking the ability to draft a starting deck as you advance instead of being handicapped by the starter deck feels like a roguelike mechanic. This way, progressing further would give you the ability to make your deck stronger on your next run to avoid frustration.
The option to draft your deck is an awesome game mode that puts you in the driver’s seat. Instead of being hamstrung by the starter deck, your choices make you feel in control, for better or worse. If your deck isn’t performing well after drafting it, you can’t blame the cards since you chose them. By that same token, your successes with your deck feel that much more satisfying because you are the one who made the deck.
When it comes to easing yourself into Custom mode, the drafting options are great ways to get your feet wet. Hop in and experience how this game should really be played.
Black and Gold
Some game modes in Custom give you may entirely change how you play the game. The Shiny and Cursed Run game modes both offer this experience. With Shiny runs, you’ll start with a deck that has every rare card available to your character. With the Cursed Run game modes, you’ll lose your starting artifact but gain access to other artifacts that make curses more common and reward you for accruing them.
Both game modes really feel like they really change the game by encouraging different types of play. In a Cursed Run, the black cards you’ve usually fretted over become sought after. In turn, you’ll have to manage your curses by finding ways to discard them, removing them in the shop, or hunting for curse-removing relics.
Cursed Runs incentivize risky choices in events and encourage entirely different styles of play. Events with curses become exciting instead of risky. A Cursed Run will have you taking every curse you can find during events and feeling great about it. In Cursed Run games, you’ll also learn to prioritize picking cards and relics that can help you pitch curses from your hand and draw more cards.
Shiny runs are another game mode that might encourage irregular play… though this constraint might be self-imposed. When playing a deck with all the rare cards, why would you want to play with cards that aren’t rare? Though you’re not restricted to gaining only rare cards in Shiny runs, it often just ends up happening when I play these game modes.
If you’re looking to play a Shiny run choosing only rare cards, I recommend also including green Custom modifiers. The green modifiers in Custom modes allow you to start with access to different character cards. This help even out the downsides of an all-rare deck.
Endless Fun in Slay the Spire
Custom mode truly feels like the best way to play Slay the Spire. You can make it as easy or as hard as you want, and that control makes the game feel rewarding. This is the mode that I find myself returning to when I want to play.
There is even an option in Custom mode that lets you experience the endless fun of Slay the Spire. This option is appropriately named “Endless” and is the perfect way to experience this game.
Endless mode keeps a run of Slay the Spire going once you beat the third boss. You start back at the bottom, you gain some relics that make the game harder, and you keep going with your endgame deck.
This game mode feels amazing because not only does it feel great to start with a super powerful deck, but this experience perfectly immerses you into the story of Slay the Spire. Slay the Spire is a game in which your character is caught in a loop where you never truly Slay the Spire until you kill the final boss. And in Endless, you get to experience what that’s truly like. Turns out it’s some of the most fun you’ll have in the game.
Have Fun Slaying the Spire
Despite my frustrations with Slay the Spire, I still highly recommend this game. Slay the Spire may underperform as a roguelike, but I still haven’t been able to put it down.
Slay the Spire is a game series with a lot of promise, and I hope its coming sequel incorporates more roguelike mechanics to make the game feel better. For now, I’ll stick with Custom and eagerly await the next installment in the series.
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Thank you very much! I’m glad you enjoyed the article!