Slay the Spire is a roguelike dungeon crawler. However, instead of levels with pixelated graphics and frenetic Binding of Isaac-style action encounters punctuated by furious keystrokes and swarming enemies, in each Slay the Spire run you build a deck for the game's elegant turn-based combat encounters. And, though its off-kilter art style might at first seem to clash with what I'm about to say, it is within its elegance that Slay the Spire's genius lies. For, while the game is easy to pick up and play out of the box, each of its carefully-considered mechanics allows for the player to dig a level deeper in pursuit of mastery. A mastery which only the most disciplined, detail-oriented players will achieve.

Before we go any further, I'm going to do something I wish each video game review I read did at least for a sentence or two: define the industry terms they use. In this case, we have three to flesh out: "roguelike," "dungeon crawler," and "deckbuilder."

A roguelike game is one in which, when you die, you go back to the beginning. One of the first games to feature this kind of perma-death for the main character was called Rogue. Hence the term. Slay the Spire is a masterful take on the roguelike genre. The best roguelikes are punishing but not to the point of making their players feel despondent. Slay the Spire carefully maintains this balance throughout one's journey by rewarding the player with bite-sized, character-specific card and artifact unlocks once a run ends. More important than these in-game rewards, however, is the knowledge gained during a run about how to better optimize a deck for the character you played.

A dungeon crawler is a game in which the hero navigates a labyrinthine environment of rooms containing various monsters, traps, puzzles, and/or treasure troves. Making choices about which room to enter next is one of the ways dungeon crawlers give agency to their players. Slay the Spire does just this, allowing players to choose one of four starting paths on each of its progressively difficult maps (of which there are three in the core gameplay, with one available as an unlock). Players then choose how many common enemies, elite enemies, loot chests, merchants, rest areas, and/or mystery rooms they visit as they make their way toward the map's final boss. Introducing this level of choice allows for a unique experience on each run while allowing the player to experiment with different strategies for traversing the Spire.

In a deckbuilding game, players compile cards over a series of turns. These decks are used to achieve the game's win condition, oftentimes while the player continues to build and refine their composition. One of the most famous deckbuilders currently on the market is Dominion. In Slay the Spire, each character comes with its own starter deck, containing mostly "strike" (attack) and "block" (defend) cards. Each time the player overcomes a monster or milestone as they progress throughout the map, they have the option of picking a new card to supplement their deck. The player can also buy cards from merchants and gain cards in unknown encounters. Another way Slay the Spire players interact with cards is by upgrading them. At rest areas, players are faced with the often difficult choice between regaining health and upgrading a card. The simple yet meaningful tension implicit in decisions like this one are what make Slay the Spire's nuances so compelling.

Persistent Relics and consumable Potions also have the potential to tip the scale in the hero's favor. Relics are gained in loot chests and after beating elite-level foes. Once a player gains a Relic, it remains with them for the entirety of their run. Certain Relics have minute benefits (e.g., The Boot - Whenever you would deal 4 or less unblocked Attack damage, increase it to 5). Others carry a cost (e.g., Velvet Choker - Gain 1 Energy at the start of each turn. You cannot play more than 6 cards per turn). Some are just downright game changing (e.g., Runic Pyramid - At the end of your turn, you no longer discard your hand). Since Relic collection is always optional, here again we find simple yet extremely meaningful tension that has a real bearing on whether a run ends in success or failure. Case in point: I was cruising through a run with Runic Pyramid and Velvet Choker, loving the extra energy the latter was allowing me to use during combat until, on the final boss of the last map, my hand was flooded with cards that cost zero energy to use that would have been super helpful. However, my Velvet Choker prevented me from playing them. I was rich with energy but poor on playable card slots and ended up being slain. The Spire giveth and the Spire taketh away.

Potions provide benefits that only persist for the turn or battle within which they're used. Slay the Spire rewards enough of these consumables that I never felt incentivized to hoard them while playing. In fact, as a beginner, they are vital to survival. Yet another simple yet exceedingly important detail that Slay the Spire nails.

When you start a run in the game, you choose between one of its four characters. Three of them - The Ironclad (modeled after the classic RPG fighter archetype), The Silent (modeled after the classic RPG rogue archetype), and The Defect (magic-user with a twist) - came with the original game and are essential to unlocking the fourth map. Slay the Spire's fourth character, The Watcher, is a take on an innate magic user whose fighting style evokes Dungeons & Dragons' Monk class.

Once the player selects a character, they choose their path on the first map and start their adventure, building their decks as they overcome foes and venture through unknown encounters. In combat, players use a pool of energy (which starts at three) to play cards with varying energy costs. These cards usually do one of four things: attack the opponent, debuff the opponent, defend the player, or buff the player. Each player and their opponent(s) have a pool of health. The first party to be reduced to zero health loses. Simple, right? Yes, it is. Simple and elegant. That is Slay the Spire at its core.

It took me nine and a half hours to complete my first successful run and unlock The Watcher. Over the course of this time, my desire to play the game only grew. Its combination of playability and strategy is unmatched. 9/10.

Where it shines:

• Playability
• Strategic depth
• Mix of in-game and knowledge-based hooks

Where it fades:

• Art is weird (it grows on you)