When a new Deck Builder smash hit rolls around, it usually fills me with both joy and fear. The joy comes from the fact that I adore deck-builder games and always appreciate new and exciting tweaks to the tried and tested formula. However, I always fear that I’ll dive so deep into these games, memorizing their systems and min-maxing my runs, that I might forget to eat, sleep, or socialize.
Slay the Spire 2 Announced at Triple I Initiative
A Slay The Spire 2 Announcement headlined the Triple I initiative today, as Mega Crit Games announced a sequel to the acclaimed roguelite deckbuilder
It’s a fear born from experience, asSlay The Spireburst onto the scene and effectively rendered me housebound as I spent hundreds of hours taking on the various Ascension challenges and mastering the mechanics of each of the game’s unique characters.
Eventually, the spell was broken, and I was free to do whatever I wanted again. And you know what I did? I played more deck builders to fill the void. So, if you are also looking to fill the voidSlay The Spireleft behind, or just want something to tide you over untilSlay the Spire 2, here are some great alternatives.
Take A Gamble On This One!
LocalThunk
Metacritic Score
First up, we haveBalatro, the recent deckbuilder that took the rather mundane gameplay found on ‘Pokie’ Machines you’d find in your local pub and then added some roguelike flair to create something completely fresh and new. In this game, your Relics are the Jokers you acquire throughout your run, and these offer complex and varied synergies that will help you stack up chips as you play each hand.
Every Deck In Balatro, Ranked
Which one brings the fun factor?
You’ll need to do this at speed to beat each unique Boss Blind, beat unique challenges, and beat each unique deck variant at varying levels of difficulty. In principle, it’s no different from Video Poker, and yet, thanks to the variety of Jokers on offer, and the addicting ‘one more game’ gameplay,we reckon that if you lovedSlay The Spire, then it’s inevitable that you’ll spend hundreds of hours playingBalatro.
2Dicey Dungeons
Swap Cards For Dice!
Terry Cavanagh
Deckbuilders are traditionally games that have you play with cards, but there are a few games that change the rules ever slightly while still keeping all the deckbuilder gaming principles intact.Dicey Dungeonsis a game that is very in line with what Slay The Spire offers, but instead of cards, it has the player collect dice, and their values will dictate what you can do on each particular turn.
It has many direct similarities toSlay The Spire,such as the varied characters with different passive abilities, like The Inventor and The Witch. But you also have unique differences, like how the Backpack works for equipping items, the dungeon crawler map layout where you need to gather XP before every boss fight, and so much more.
It’s cut from the same cloth as Slay The Spire, yet feels like a fresh take on the formula dripping in whimsy. So, if you need a very slight change of pace, this is the way to go.
A Game Within A Game… Game-ception!
CD Projekt Red
If you’re someone who believes thatSlay The Spireis the best version of what that particular type of deck builder can be, you’ll probably be in the market for something within the same genre that feels familiar yet completely separate from STS. Well, in that case, I would suggest you tryGwent, the fully-fledged card game that started its life as a popular mini-game withinThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
This card game sees you begin with an army of different ranks and classes, and based on what your opponent has on their side of the field, you’ll need to use your squad’s unique abilities and the terrain on the battlefield in your favor to weaken their defenses.
It’s a game where careful strategy, patience, and just a little bit of luck will see you through. Many games likeAssassin’s Creed(Orlog)andHorizon Forbidden West(Machine Strike) have tried and failed to make standout in-game Mini-games this good, which just shows you how impressiveGwenttruly is.
4Inscryption
We All Love An Escape Room, Right?
Daniel Mullin
What if you combined a roguelike deckbuilder with an escape-the-room puzzle? Well, simply put, you’d haveInscryption, a game that offers a chilling and unsettling location for one of the most compelling deckbuilders in recent memory.Inscryptionplaces you in the shoes of a captive at the hands of Leshy, and only through battling through his various personas and exploring the room around you, will you find a means of escape.
The card-based gameplay starts off simple but soon becomes a varied and multi-faceted format with moments of risk and reward, tricky boss fights, and so much more. Then, just when you’re settling into a rhythm, the game will completely flip the script and change to a completely different card-based gameplay format in the second half of the game. It’s a surreal experience, but one I would recommend to just about any roguelike or deckbuilder fan.
5Across The Obelisk
Deck-Building Fun With Friends
Dreamsite Games
77% (Based on User Reviews)
Deck-builders tend to be a pretty solitary experience where you’ll sit alone and stress over which cards you need to destroy to make your deck more consistent. But wouldn’t it be fun if you could take that internal stress and bicker about it with a squad of friends?Well, Across the Obelisk allows for this in a co-op deck builder experience where you will need to collect cards, battle monsters, and hopefully get across the Obelisk in one piece.
The game is somewhat removed fromSlay The Spirein terms of the format, as there is permanent progression, there are more role-playing moments present here, and the game is a little limiting in terms of defining your strategies, such as a 15-card minimum deck, or that only one character will receive the effect of certain Relics. But all in all, this is a game that will give you an opportunity to feel whatSlay The Spirewould feel like with friends, and here’s a spoiler for you. It feels pretty good!
Less Thinking, More Fighting!
Supergiant Games
This will feel a little out of place. Why does a hack-and-slash action game have any place in a list primarily filled with Deck Builders? Well, allow me to explain.Hadesis a roguelike much likeSlay The Spire, so if you lift the hood and check the engine, you’ll find that they are more similar than you might first perceive.You still go on procedurally generated crusades, and your build will dictate your success.
Best Games Like Hades 2
Roguelike treasures For After You Slay Chronos
Only, in Hades, your build is made up of Boons given by the Gods, and these will give you unique abilities in combat.It’s important to say thatHadesis a much more fast-paced game, so if you liked the thinking time thatSlay The Spiregave you during fights, you won’t find that here.
But to witness the brilliance of the world steeped in Greek Mythology that Supergiant Games creates and the intricate incremental storytelling they weave with each inevitable death, I feel that this one out of left field is well worth trying for anySTSfan who wants a more dynamic and high-octane experience.
7Into The Breach
Huge Robot Killing Machine To B5
Subset Games
I considered puttingFTL: Faster Than Lighton this list, but if I’m honest, I would say that their follow up title,Into The Breachfits the brief a little better. This game offers a rich Turn-Based Strategy experience centered around a grid system, which feels like a fluid game of chess. Only instead of wooden chess pieces, you have huge Mechs capable of causing mayhem and destruction.
Much likeSTS, you’ll have characters to choose from in the form of Pilots, you’ll have islands to work through, like the various segments ofSTS, and you’ll have unique Boss variants to take down.Every grid layout is like a puzzle to solve, and as long as your strategy is strong, there is no wrong way to achieve victory. I would also suggest tryingFTLas well, but for STS fans, this is the one that draws the most parallels, and it’s one of the finest strategy games on the market.
8Darkest Dungeon
More Sinister, But Just As Fun
Red Hook Studios
If you were intrigued byAcross the Obelisk, then you’ll probably get a kick out ofDarkest Dungeon, too.Darkest Dungeonhas you controlling your squad of mercenaries hired to excavate the Dungeons under the Manor, and it should go without saying that along with the bounty of treasures on offer, you’ll find a slew of horrors below as well.
This game is a much more punishing one compared toSlay The Spire, where there isn’t so much a series of ‘This or That’ decisions, but more a wealth of options, with some benefiting the group, and others dooming you to fail. And of course, no action taken can be as perilous as taking action.
You’ll need to manage your group carefully, understand all the classes on offer, and if you choose to take on Stygian Difficulty, then your time management will also need to be incredible. It’s a real slog, and one that is definitely more RNG-Fuelled by comparison, but even still, STS fans will adore this gritty RTS epic.
9Sea of Stars (Wheels)
More Game-Ception, It’s Wheels Within Wheels!
Sabotage Studios
This is a real wildcard inclusion, and it’s not even a fully-fledged game. It’s, much likeGwent, a minigame within a game. In Sea of Stars, theChrono Trigger-inspired JRPG, you’ll eventually gain access to Wheels, a game played with Figurines with different classes, and the goal is simple. You need to build XP for your particular chosen figures to give them more power, while also managing your Bulwark defenses, and dealing regular damage to your opponent.
It’s essentially a tabletop re-imagining of the tried and tested turn-based JRPG combat formula, and while it doesn’t have as much depth as the other games listed here, it didn’t stop me from making a beeline for the Wheels table every time I entered a new settlement in this game.
It’s a game I wish someone would make into a fully realized game in its own right, but for now, all I can suggest is playing this incredible indie JRPG, and taking regular breaks from saving the world to play Wheels.
10Loop Hero
Sit Back And Watch It Go
Four Quarters
Then, lastly, we have a roguelike that is about as hands-off as it gets. Yet despite this passive gameplay, it is one of the most popular indie games in the genre ever.Loop Heroplaces you in the shoes of a hero, who perpetually walks in a loop, and your goal is to equip them with armor, items, and weapons that will see them through the various encounters they find themselves locked into as they travel their set path.
You have no say in the combat, or the direction of the character. You simply equip them for battle. But you’re able to alter the world around them with different environmental tiles, allowing you to dictate when the action happens and what type of encounter you can expect.
This is one that will appeal to fans ofSlay The Spirewho want something a little less involved, yet something that still scratches that tactical gaming itch. You might only play this one out the corner of your eye on a second screen, but the little drops of serotonin it provides with each loop make this a roguelike that STS fans may just take to like a duck to water.
Best Hades 2 Arcana Cards
Channel the spirits to make your runs go the distance
