10mo ago

Slay the Spire on Steam Deck is such a joy

After Brotato addiction I found this gem of a game, right before the sequel announcement it seems. It's such a perfect game for the Deck at least for me - you have time to think, the controls just work and you can just put the game down and continue your run later.

Do yourself a favor and try it out even though your first runs will probably be a disaster. The core game mechanic is so tight and well done it's a pleasure to play loop after loop. 50 hours later I still want to do 'one more run'.

33 comments

I completely agree!
Once you're done with slay the spire, you can start the cycle again and play Vampire Survivors and Balatro 😁
- I started Brotato after some serious Vampire Survivors. I want to know what the heck is the genre of Brotato and VS and find more games like them.
  Heard only positive about Balatro. I need to keep my addiction to one game at the time hehe. You know any (roguelitish?) games that are off the radar or more obscure? They seem to be my jam.
  
  I've heard them referred to as "survivor-likes" (I believe Magic Survival was the first) or "bullet heaven" (you are the one creating the bullet hell)
  
  Check out Bounty of One and Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor. Those are two of my favorites.
  
  Check out Cobalt Core. Great game in that and vein.

Tossing out other deck favorites here, (sorted by length of name as it appears on my phone screen, because duck it why not)
Hades
Griftlands
Dead cells
No man's sky
Monster train
Hollow Knight
Disco Elysium
Dave the diver
Wizard of legend
Backpack battles
Hero of the arena
Vampire survivors
Skul the hero Slayer
All of these I've sunk dozens of hours into on the deck
- Satisfying sort order
- Thanks. Hades and Disco Elysium were on my list but you had many listed that I've never heard of. Much appreciated.
  
  Hades and disco Elysium are both incredible experiences. Hades when you're feeling reflexive on point and rogue lite with a hell of a story and development, disco Elysium when you want a long story driven narrative branching and repeatable.
  If you want another game, with equally great story, on the entirely opposite end of replayability and gameplay (and equally highly regarded by most critics) add return of the obra dinn to your list, it also works great on the deck!
- @Donjuanme
  Great hints! Thanks! Just bookmarked this!
  @Kruulos @steamdeck

Slay the Spire is the "original" Rougelike Deckbuilder and IMO got the formula down perfectly.
- When you say perfected the formula I have to agree with you. It's such a joy to start with the same deck as the top 1% A20 only players and make your own journey. It just feels so right and well balanced.

Steam ... Deck? You mean the Balatro machine, right?
- Ours went from the po(bro)tatoe machine to the backpack (battles) machine. I'm thinking about getting a 2nd (3rd, already got my mom one of her own) so I can use it some times.
  
  Or just get a divorce. Whichever is cheaper.

I know I'm in the minority here, but I'm just not a fan of rogue-likes. The game itself is amazingly fun, but it always feels like I'm starting back from square 1
- I kinda get you. I too didn't like when I started always with the same starter deck but then it grew on me. When there is no game progression (think for Rogue Legacy etc. permanent upgrades) the progression is you and your game knowledge. Every single run starts the same but evolves to so different each and every time and you make better decisions over the run. I love it.
- That's why rougue-lite exists. Each run gets a bit easier, though you start getting new and harder tasks. If it's done well, the repeatability is immense.

Both are great games. I saw someone recommend Deep Rock Galactic Survivors as a followup to Brotato, and I would like to second that recommendation.
Some of my favorite games that are somewhat similar to Slay the Spire are Slice & Dice, Dicey Dungeons, and Card Quest. All of them also have phone versions.
Slice & Dice is amazing, I've been playing it for literal years. The mix of risk taking with the dice rolling and being able to combine different characters and items to break the game is incredibly satisfying.
Dicey Dungeons is by the same guy who made VVVVV and Super Hexagon. It's another Dice based crawler, much simpler in mechanics than Slice & Dice but still super fun with really catchy music. It's a testament to how good Slice and Dice is that this isn't the best Dice game available.
Card Quest has the lowest art/etc budget of all the games listed, but makes up for it with really smart game play. At first it seems absolutely brutal, but it's that you're not being smart enough with your moves. Unlike other deck builders, you're expected to figure out how to chain your cards to take zero damage every turn. But the interplay of balancing multiple resources, card draws, and more. It's the kind of game where every single action you take feels like a miniature puzzle to be solved. I actually played this before Slay the Spire, and it made StS turns feel really low option/low complexity in comparison.
- Ooh. Thanks for the suggestions. Not sure about Deep Rock (multiplayer eh? Can't pause mid game, right?) but the Slice & Dice and Dicey Dungeons sound like something I'd be interested. Much appreciated.
  
  DRG Survivors is a "Survivor like", just like Brotato. It's a spin off game of the Deep Rock Galactic game, and is a fully offline and solo-player experience.
  Main difference between it and other games in the genre is that there's cave walls you can dig through. The enemies in the game generally feel stronger than they do in most other games like it, so you have to plan escape routes and kite properly to survive.
  
  I haven't played DRG: Survivors, but I can attest that regular DRG can pause when playing solo (and it does a good job balancing for solo play). I would guess that solo play in DRG: Survivors likely has the same "solo pause" feature.

They announced a sequel coming in 2025 squeals excitedly

The interface is just so responsive and well laid out in Slay the Spire which makes it a joy to play. Not just on the Steam Deck.
People mock the graphics sometimes but I'd much rather have something this responsive than bombastic but sluggish (Hearthstone comes to mind - haven't played in years thou maybe it's better today).