Images courtesy of Mega Crit
The 2019 roguelike deck-building game Slay the Spire (StS) took the world by storm. Previously most deckbuilding games were played versus other players or a team of CPUs, with most mechanics just being distilled to whoever has the most points wins. Slay the Spire, however, employed the core tenets of deckbuilding – such as card selection agency and flushing out targeted specific builds – and added a dungeon crawler roguelike element to it, with some meta-progression to keep players coming back for more. And it was an instant hit!
Although it wasn’t the first roguelike deckbuilding game (that honor belongs to Coin Crypt or Dream Quest), Slay the Spire quickly gained traction and inspired a whole slew of other deckbuilding roguelikes, such as Monster Train, One Step from Eden, and Griftlands, and ushered in a newfound popular era for the genre, once relegated to the sidelines.
Slay the Spire developer Mega Crit recently announced the game’s sequel, Slay the Spire 2, planned for release in 2025.
Let’s break down what we know so far about the upcoming sequel.
A New Class: The Necrobinder
In the trailer, we see The Ironclad and The Silent alongside a new character – a scythe-wielding skeleton called The Necrobinder, described as a “wandering lich who seeks to bind the forgotten corpse.”
Mechanically, The Necrobinder begins with 35 health – a pitiful amount compared to the other two characters – but begins battle with her left hand named Osty, with its own separate health pool.
The Defect and The Watcher Are Missing
Two classes, The Defect and The Watcher, are noticeably missing from the trailer.
But upon closer inspection, we see the cards exclusive only to The Defect, such as Claw, in the Shopkeeper art in the trailer; it won’t be the last time we see our robot pal.
The gameplay trailer also revealed a mysterious fourth character, whose identity we do not know yet; it could be a new version of The Defect. We also see a dilapidated statue of a figure which resembles our favorite robot, which is yet another hint to its return.
The team also seems to be teasing more tidbits about The Defect, as seen on their official FAQ and their social media.
As for The Watcher, only time can tell…
Visual Overhaul in Slay the Spire 2
A new game engine means an overhaul on the game’s visuals. The trailer featured a completely new look for the game, with crisper game elements and more fluid animations that its predeccesor.
The Mega Crit team talked more about StS2’s art direction in the October 2024 edition of The Neowsletter, where they drip-feed tidbits of Slay the Spire 2.
New Cards and Relics in Slay the Spire 2
The gameplay trailer featured new cards and relics – and even new mechanics and keywords.
Card Packs
No, we don’t mean purchasable booster packs. There will be no microtransactions, ever.
A clip in the gameplay trailer revealed two separate pools of three cards, prompting the player to choose from one of the two packs, hinting we must add all three cards to the deck at the same time. This could come at a significant risk and reward, as we generally just want targeted cards in our deck during our runs.
Will There Be Co-Op in Slay the Spire 2?
We have no word on Co-op yet. Fans are speculating a tease for a potential Co-op mode, due to the clip of The Necrobinder sitting in the campfire log to the left, with the right log being completely open. Though this just seems like the Campsite splash art when resting.
Game Platforms
Slay the Spire 2 will be available for PC, Mac OS X, and Linux. The game will be out on Steam Early Access first.
There is no official confirmation for mobile systems yet. However, they want to release StS2 on “as many as possible” platforms. Since the sequel was migrated to the new Godot engine due to the Unity runtime fees issue, it may take some time for mobile and console ports to be released.
Mods Will Be Overhauled
Since Slay the Spire 2 is developed on Godot, the game engine is vastly different. And thus, currently existing Slay the Spire mods will not be compatible with the sequel. However, Mega Crit has promised that it will be “easier to create new mods”.
Slay the Spire 2 is (still) set to be released on Early Access this 2025. This period will run for a year to a year and a half, meaning a full release sometime in 2026. Meanwhile, wishlist the game here.
Want more Slay the Spire? Check out our review of the board game version here.
