I wanted to try a new type of post: just taking a particular videogame and see if there are others who would like to talk about it.
To start I’m taking Slay The Spire. A beautifully balanced game with infinite replayability. What are your favorite classes? What is your favorite way to win the game? What is the highest ascension you’ve beaten? Are there similar games you enjoy? Let’s go!
I wish there were more cards.
I have played it a decent amount, but I probably wouldn’t still play it if it wasn’t also on my iPhone (there’s a “plus” on Apple Arcade that looks identical, too).
I like Monster Train better mechanically for the reason that it does feel like there’s a lot more variety, though I dislike how short the runs are to build a deck with. (I’d like Slay the Spire to go longer on a good run, too).
I haven’t been too far on ascensions. I don’t think they’re really more entertaining. I mostly do the daily runs because at least there’s variety there.
Sure there aren’t that many cards but those cards are so well balanced. Every single card has its uses so you’re constantly presented with interesting decisions. It feels like almost every other roguelike has dead time where you’re just going through the motions whereas in slay the spire you’re making decisions from floor 1.
I find there’s a lot less variety in my monster train runs. Most classes have a distinctly best strategy and the artifacts generally also funnel you towards that strategy. For example, I can’t remember the last time I played an Umbra run that didn’t set up a morsel engine behind a warden or alloyed construct - as far as I’m concerned, those are the same strategy, it doesn’t feel different. The only other build I think is viable is just “play Shadowsiege,” which rarely happens early enough to build for it.
Every class in STS has at least three viable archetypes and almost every run within those archetypes still feels different to me.
The game itself is great, the UI/UX is just on another level. The UI has no ambiguity, is very responsive to input and just feels smooth. The wording on the cards is also excellent and consistent.
StS is a joy to play and I bet it’s also really great on the Steam Deck.
It’s really great on the Stream Deck. The controls work perfectly. I played it a lot while commuting.
I played it for about 400 hours on deck. I never play games for longer than 60h :D
I almost exclusively play for A20 heart kills. I play all 4 classes but in a “whichever I feel like today” way. I tried rotating between the characters for a while and really didn’t enjoy playing silent or watcher while in the wrong mood for those classes.
My favorite deck in recent memory was probably a silent discard combo with Grand Finale as the only damage-dealing card in the deck. My favorite archetype in general is probably ice defect. A good all-you-can-eat ironclad run is great too.
I don’t think I agree that STS is especially well balanced - some regular hallway combats do irrationally more damage on average even to players much better than me (for example, floor one jaw worms or any act 3 darklings). In general, the game could be quite a bit harder on A20 and still be fun for players who want a challenge. It’s also weird to me that A1 makes the game easier compared to A0. Between the classes, there is a class which is clearly stronger than the others. However I also don’t think this is a bad thing. Imbalances create more opportunities for new experiences, and for different kinds of players to have different kinds of fun. And that certainly agrees with “infinite replayability.” I’m sure in 5 years’ time I will still be seeing interactions I’ve never seen before.
I prefer more casual games, but I do like Slay the Spire. I don’t think I’ve tried to get past A4. I got bored with it a while back and downloaded expansions. I LOVE Downfall and kinda like PackMaster, too. If I am feeling lazy, I will do a custom run and pick my starting cards, and choose ‘slow’ and ‘big game hunter’ options as well. It makes me overpowered, but – again – is enjoyably casual for a change.
Hey, games are supposed to be fun. So if you’re able to modify it in a way that makes it more enjoyable to you than that is 100% valid!
I’ll check out downfall!
I love Slay the Spire. It’s been a while since I played it on PC but nowadays I play it on my phone or tablet every now and then. I backed the Slay the Spire boardgame on Kickstarter that will be shipped some time soon and I can’t wait to try it out.
I think the max I got was Ascension 6, I’m not that good at deck builders I think. The Silent and Ironclad are my favourites and I play whatever fits my mood. Getting insane high block together body slam is just as much fun as getting insanely high poison stacks. I never once made it through act 4 sadly.
The music is also something I really enjoy, it fits the game so well! Sometimes I listen to it while driving or working.
You can totally do act 4, I believe in you! Just make sure to remove weak cards (strikes) whenever you can. And try to get enough card draw (an upgraded Pommel Strike does damage and draws 2 cards for example).
Card based roguelites are one of my favorite genres and StS is maybe the best one. Wish there was more content.
Lately, I’ve been having a bit of fun with Monster Train on steam.
Ironclad is my first and still my favorite class, strength scaling is just so satisfying when even your strikes start to do insane damage. I also love entrench to get very high block and then body slam to turn that into damage :).
Completed all characters on A20 with heart kills.
Ironclad is so good to rely back on for consistent builds, I feel like. I think I have the most fun with The Silent and The Defect, personally, but Ironclad runs are just so straightforward and there’s so many good builds.
I mostly play it as a kind of chill casual game. I like to do endless more on ascension 1 and slowly build up the most broken deck imaginable (there’s many options). I just stop when I get bored of it, I usually don’t die ever on endless if I made it past the initial run.
I absolutely love this type of post! If there is interest I would definitely be down to make this another weekly stickied thing alongside the other thread. Anyone feel free to chime in if they want to see that
I was hoping to get some conversation going and it seems to have worked out well! I would love to help out / keep posting these kinds of things regularly. People could dm possible candidates for the next post or put them at the end of their comments. I’m also interested to do this for games that I know are popular but that I don’t play, always fun to hear people being passionate about stuff :).
If you haven’t played StS: Downfall yet you should.
Ok I’ll try it out soon! Thanks for the recommendation.
This is a game I keep coming back to. I love it, and it’s got great replayability. I’m glad the phone version works well now.
Was it bad previously?
My experience with it on Android had several weird bugs
- Consumed a lot of battery
- Crashed on swapping focus to another app
- Opening the app would get stuck connecting to the game state server (even though the app works fine offline) so I had to use airplane mode to launch the app
These seem resolved now
With Ironclad, I really love when you get a good strength build going. Demon Form early game is so cash money
With the Silent, Poison builds are my go to, but if you get a good something going with Shivs in the beginning, it’s so much fun.
The Defect, I recently defeated A3 with a channel lightning build - where you channel for every time you get hit. I was channeling, i think 6 every hit and had +4 focus, so when the heart did the 4x12 attack, it destroyed itself. Felt incredible.
I haven’t yet figured out a solid strat for The Watcher, but divinity is fun and I enjoy going full wrath, but having enough defense to back that up proves difficult.
In terms of similar games, if I’m feeling a little more casual/braindead, Peglin is a lot of fun with a similar deckbuilding style. I have yet to figure out any really good builds and I think some balls are definitely better than others, but it’s still fun and super casual.
First game of this style that i really enjoyed. The characters actually feel and play differently, the mechanics make sense and finding synergies is so much fun. My favourite is the silent but I’m not actually that good; haven’t finished the game yet but have gotten damn close a couple times.
This is the game I play on my Steamdeck the most. Great for five minutes or 45. I’m at ascension 14 or so.
Haha the same, thanks to my deck it became over half of my total steam game time :D
I could never really get into this one. Too much to try to remember with the cards and just not my style overall. Seems like a great game for the genre just not my cup of tea.
I found it one of the only ones that did click for me, because all effects are explained on the screen itself (or behind a hover). So I was glad I didn’t need to remember every mechanic to get started with the game.
But I totally understand you, I’ve also bounced of certain well regarded games.
