Slay the Spire

Sabre0001

I broke my No Early Access rule for this, mainly because it was made by someone within the Netrunner community...and it looked interesting.

It's essentially a roguelike, deckbuilding on the fly (like the tabletop game, Dominion), turn based combat game. You pick one of two classes (there will be three at some point), each with their own pool of cards available to them, battle through rooms of monsters; collect gold, relics and cards along the way - either through combat or purchasing them from shops along the route; and ultimately attempt to slay the spire.

I've been enjoying it (despite a terrible win record), but I feel that the drops I acquire along the way have more of a say in how I do than how I actually play. In one of the runs I won, I don't think there was a way for me to lose with the engine that I had setup.

Here's a NorthernLion gameplay vid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRnLda1k5gs

And Wanderbots (who I haven't really watched, but is much further along in terms of episode numbers)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oibi_JBct0A

Xyo

Bought this game as well, crazy amounts of fun. I always feel like i'm just one piece away from a winning combo.

Sabre0001

Xyo wrote: »

Bought this game as well, crazy amounts of fun. I always feel like i'm just one piece away from a winning combo.

Strangely, it was the Exhaust combo (that I was so afeared of when I started) that was so OP for me. Although Feel No Pain hasn't shown up for me anytime I've deliberately gone down that path after seeing how powerful it is

I've also enjoyed the Headbutt-Rampage/Clash combo and Poison decks. But I seem to overcommit and forget that I need defensive cards to live!

Any run where you can get endless Relics seems great too!

Thargor

This game is so fecking addictive, Im firing it up again 15 minutes after I close it, hope they release an Android version of it sometime. So well designed the way the Relics interact with each other and the cards, would love them to overhaul it with loads of new content though.

Sabre0001

Devs seem pretty good to me. Always seems to be new patch notes - mostly tweaks and fixes, but we've been getting some new relics and cards too. Love the Daily Mode - it has restricted how much I play in a way (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), but I do enjoy it. Some great modifiers and runs.

Arcsurvivor

Fun and replayable game. I still have not beat Act 3 with any character yet, but I am getting closer with the unlocks.

It is now on sale until end of Steam Winter sale. Buy it while still in early access for the discount.

Mr Crispy

I was thinking of picking this up over the weekend, but I've never played anything like this before. What's the learning curve like on this? Any useful guides around aimed at novices to the whole genre?

Sabre0001

It's definitely worth a purchase

Found it difficult at the start, but you start to get more used to enemies and their movesets (moreso based around their scaling and debuffs that they might apply, which dictates how you approach fights), cards and card choices, relics, etc. Still tricky, but also flexible based on your skill level (there's a mode called Ascension which applies new factors and changes the difficulty).

In terms of guides, watching Let's Plays may be most helpful.

Rhapsody is starting from scratch again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX-ozEJjsUQ

This channel does really in-depth talks about runs (sometimes too in-depth )

https://www.youtube.com/user/JoINrbs

And then there's NorthernLion...who may teach you how to improve by showing you how not to play (plus there are plenty of commenters willing to point out misplays and one who goes into great detail about choices, pathing, plays, etc.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE_fuVG18-M

Mr Crispy

Thanks. I had watched a few of their respective videos, but found the newest ones didn't really help me from the perspective of a complete novice. And I avoided their older ones in case the changes in the game have been too great! I'll keep looking.

Sabre0001

A hefty update has been released (to beta branch on PC, at least) that adds a new character and reworks some cards and relics. New character very tricky from my first couple of runs with them. Focused on stances, which can provide their own buffs (and drawbacks in some cases!). Probably some reworking required for certain cards, but the developers have been great at updating and tweaking things over time.