Slay the Spire
Whether it’s a real-life dinner party or a beloved video game franchise, I’m chronically late to the party, which is why I only played Slay the Spire for the first time this year. Of course, now I understand why it was nominated for all those awards back in the day. In fairness, I always expected to enjoy it. After all, I love a deck builder and a roguelike. It was sure to be a winner.
What I didn’t expect was how completely it would take over my brain. This isn’t just a game I played — it’s a game I obsessed over. I thought about it in the shower, mulled over synergy builds while waiting for my coffee to brew, and convinced myself into just one more run many, many times. The reason for it? Slay the Spire makes failure just as compelling as winning.
Those of you who’ve read my other reviews know in spite of loving video games, I’m not particularly great at them. I die. A lot. I get lost, I ask for help, I read walkthroughs etc. But I persist because I love them. I love the stories, I love seeing the innovation of technology, and I love the determination of humanity to prioritise play, even into adulthood. You’ll also know by now that I mention the Fromsoft games every chance I get, but the truth is, they shaped how I’ve played every game since the original release of Demon’s Souls. They changed the way I think about failure.
Sometimes failure is just that. You lose what you had and all you have left is the choice to try again or give up. I learned the importance of patience, of taking breaks between runs (this one is major, if I die to the same enemy three times in a row in any game now, I stop playing for at least ten minutes to reset.) I’ve also learned when to give up: when it stops being fun.
Curiosity was fun enough to keep me going back in the day. I wanted to know what was behind every wall enough to hit my head against it until I broke through. I learned over time that sometimes the payoff is just not worth it. So these days, I stick to games where even the attempts are fun. Give me my flowers while I’m alive, and all that. And oh, boy, Slay the Spire has a big ol’ bouquet at every turn. I appreciate even the measliest medals of participation that many roguelikes offer in the form of unlockables and skill upgrades each run but Slay the Spire doesn’t hand out its progress like a consolation prize. Sure, repeated attempts unlock new cards and relics, but the real reward is the knowledge gained from each failure. Every disastrous deck, every botched elite fight, every moment where I realized — too late — that I shouldn’t have taken that card? That’s experience. That’s progress. That’s fun.
The team at MegaCrit are working on a sequel as I write, and this time I am determined to get to the party on time. If the first game proved anything, it’s that they understand how to craft a challenge that respects the player —one that rewards persistence, creativity, and a willingness to adapt. Slay the Spire was a masterclass in turning failure into fuel and I can only wait with bated breath to see what they’ll do with the next title in the franchise.