Slay the Spire+ (2023) [+]
Jan 19 2026
Slay the Spire+ is the Apple Arcade version of Slay the Spire, a roguelike deckbuilder from 2019.
In the game you travel a point to point map with crisscrossing paths. Each node shows the type of encounter:
Combat is turn-based with card actions. You have a draw pile of cards and three action points. Draw your cards then play them. Usually it's attack one or more enemies (usually one enemy and maybe five max), block which adds to your current shield (e.g. a 10-point enemy attack reduces your shield by 10; shields reset to 0 at the start of your turn), power which is an ongoing effect (e.g. poison 2 on all enemies at start of turn, or the first discard of your turn you draw a replacement card), skill which does some kind of effect like draw more cards or buff/debuff.
There is very little randomness outside card draw. Attacks do a set amount of damage, blocks add a set amount of shield, there is no die-rolling. There are effects that are random: a poison bottle that bounces around hits three or four enemies randomly so can hit one enemy multiple times; or if you're confused your card action point costs are randomized (cards cost 0 to 3 points to use and there are effects that can give you more action points). Similarly if enemies have multiple types of actions the current one they've chosen seems random (and for the most part you know what each enemy is doing).
There are four classes that play quite different and have their own set of cards. Fighter that is mostly attack or block cards; Elementalist that conjures energy orbs that do something at the end of each turn; Poisoner that has lots of poison cards (poison does damage at the start of an enemy's turn then it's value goes down 1); the last one I haven't played yet.
After each Monster/Elite battle you get a choice of 1 of 3 random cards and each character has different builds you can specialize. For example I had an Elementalist but instead of energy orbs I ended up concentrating on this 0 cost claw attack and effects like remove all discarded claw attacks and add them to your hand, or increase strength for more claw attack damage. With a good draw I could do a lot of claw attacks.
A game is traveling through three maps with a Boss fight at the end of each map. After the final Boss fight you get a score, though I'm not sure how scoring works. The score is also added to that characters running score total which unlocks new cards.
Besides the normal game mode there is a Daily Challenge where you play a set character and there are three environment rules (e.g. whenever you Rest you heal 100% but lose 5 max hp so try to find another way of healing). The Daily Challenge has a global high score and your score also contributes to unlocking stuff for that character.
There is a Custom which is like Daily but you can set the environmental effects. Normal game mode you can play Ascension difficulty where it gets more difficult as you win more games. You can also set the game run's seed so I guess if you play with friends you can all have the same randomness.
A full run takes a couple of hours. Since each combat is short the urge to do one more combat is strong and I've started a game at 0100 or 0200 and ended up going to sleep much later. Graphics and sound are good.
My only negative is that with a lot of cards in your hand you have to tap to see the card title then drag up to read the description if you don't have it memorized. And often if you tap on another card it thinks you are still on the same card so once or twice a run I end up using a card I only looked at but didn't intend to use then. Also in the "choose a card to discard or add" view I sometimes double tap or something and end up choosing that card when I just wanted to read the description. I guess in both cases it's a problem of trying to do things too quickly.
Anyway this is a very fun game.
In the game you travel a point to point map with crisscrossing paths. Each node shows the type of encounter:
- Monster - most nodes are common monster encounters
- Elite - some nodes are an elite monster, adds an artifact reward
- Rest - some nodes are rest areas where you can recover 25-30% of hit points (in general hp are rarely healed otherwise), or instead you can upgrade a card of your choosing (all cards can be upgraded once)
- Merchant - some nodes have a merchant with a random collection of cards to buy, one of the cards at a discount, two cards are higher cost special cards
- Unknown - some nodes are unknown and can be any of the above
Combat is turn-based with card actions. You have a draw pile of cards and three action points. Draw your cards then play them. Usually it's attack one or more enemies (usually one enemy and maybe five max), block which adds to your current shield (e.g. a 10-point enemy attack reduces your shield by 10; shields reset to 0 at the start of your turn), power which is an ongoing effect (e.g. poison 2 on all enemies at start of turn, or the first discard of your turn you draw a replacement card), skill which does some kind of effect like draw more cards or buff/debuff.
There is very little randomness outside card draw. Attacks do a set amount of damage, blocks add a set amount of shield, there is no die-rolling. There are effects that are random: a poison bottle that bounces around hits three or four enemies randomly so can hit one enemy multiple times; or if you're confused your card action point costs are randomized (cards cost 0 to 3 points to use and there are effects that can give you more action points). Similarly if enemies have multiple types of actions the current one they've chosen seems random (and for the most part you know what each enemy is doing).
There are four classes that play quite different and have their own set of cards. Fighter that is mostly attack or block cards; Elementalist that conjures energy orbs that do something at the end of each turn; Poisoner that has lots of poison cards (poison does damage at the start of an enemy's turn then it's value goes down 1); the last one I haven't played yet.
After each Monster/Elite battle you get a choice of 1 of 3 random cards and each character has different builds you can specialize. For example I had an Elementalist but instead of energy orbs I ended up concentrating on this 0 cost claw attack and effects like remove all discarded claw attacks and add them to your hand, or increase strength for more claw attack damage. With a good draw I could do a lot of claw attacks.
A game is traveling through three maps with a Boss fight at the end of each map. After the final Boss fight you get a score, though I'm not sure how scoring works. The score is also added to that characters running score total which unlocks new cards.
Besides the normal game mode there is a Daily Challenge where you play a set character and there are three environment rules (e.g. whenever you Rest you heal 100% but lose 5 max hp so try to find another way of healing). The Daily Challenge has a global high score and your score also contributes to unlocking stuff for that character.
There is a Custom which is like Daily but you can set the environmental effects. Normal game mode you can play Ascension difficulty where it gets more difficult as you win more games. You can also set the game run's seed so I guess if you play with friends you can all have the same randomness.
A full run takes a couple of hours. Since each combat is short the urge to do one more combat is strong and I've started a game at 0100 or 0200 and ended up going to sleep much later. Graphics and sound are good.
My only negative is that with a lot of cards in your hand you have to tap to see the card title then drag up to read the description if you don't have it memorized. And often if you tap on another card it thinks you are still on the same card so once or twice a run I end up using a card I only looked at but didn't intend to use then. Also in the "choose a card to discard or add" view I sometimes double tap or something and end up choosing that card when I just wanted to read the description. I guess in both cases it's a problem of trying to do things too quickly.
Anyway this is a very fun game.