What I soon learned is that I can pay the shopkeeper to remove other “negative cards” - namely, my generic attack cards. I had originally assumed that I was meant to use this to remove negative cards I randomly received, such as ones that might damage me when I draw them, or are just useless cards that eat up precious space in my deck. Among their wares is the option to remove cards from your deck for a price. Throughout the game, I can run across a shopkeeper along one of the many randomly generated paths. One of the most important - and counterintuitive - recommendations was to get rid of my basic attack cards. After poring over some guides from the game’s early access stage, I picked up a few new tactics. This is deck-building 101, but it’s easy for me to fall into this bad habit when I first start playing games like this. It turns out that the more cards I have, the less likely I am to draw my more essential cards. Mega Crit GamesĪs I got further into the game, I was eager to make use of all the new cards I earned along the way. With so many cards to choose from, it can be overwhelming at first. In my naïveté, I kept grabbing cards to add all four types to my deck, unaware that they really don’t mix well at all. For instance, the Defect can cast four different types of orbs to power itself up. Since there’s no limit, I just kept adding cards that seemed interesting. One of the first mistakes I made was adding too many cards to my deck. But after failing repeatedly, I knew I needed to take a different approach. I assumed each class had a fairly straightforward approach to deck-building: The soldierlike Ironclad is a high-damage fighter, the Silent is a poison-chucking rogue, and the Defect is a robot that casts magical orbs. This isn’t uncommon in roguelites, and while I was having fun, I still felt like I must be missing something, since I was struggling so much. But even after a few hours, I was constantly losing and not making much progress. I thought I had a grasp of all of this at first I’m used to playing both card games and roguelikes, after all. These cards can unlock new, specific skills, and allow me to build diverse styles of decks using the generic cards as a foundation. But every time I take down a foe, I get the option to add one of three new cards to my deck, drawn from the large pool of possible cards available to each character. Īt the start of each playthrough, all I have is a generic deck, filled with basic attack cards, defense cards, and some skills. If you want to see the very best of the best for your platform(s) of choice, check out Polygon Essentials. When we award a game the Polygon Recommends badge, it’s because we believe the title is uniquely thought-provoking, entertaining, inventive or fun - and worth fitting into your schedule. Polygon Recommends is our way of endorsing our favorite games. Each character has their own set of cards, making their play styles radically different. These cards allow me to attack, defend, cast spells, or use special abilities. Combat is similar to that of a turn-based RPG, but instead of selecting attacks and spells from a menu, I draw cards from each character’s specific pool of cards. In Slay the Spire, I play as one of three unique characters, in order to fight my way through a randomly generated map filled with battles, treasure chests, and RPG-like encounters. However, after 10 hours, I learned that mastering Slay the Spire doesn’t come through learning the game’s systems, but rather by dismantling my assumptions about how it all works.
Slay the spire reddit windows#
When I started playing Slay the Spire, a deck-building roguelite now available on Windows PC, I assumed the game would follow the same sort of progression. Victories are few and far between, and the fun is found in the struggle to adapt to an ever-changing game. Overcoming the odds and learning from constant failure are at the heart of roguelite games.