Game file / ROGUE BY ROGUESlay the Spire 2
The iconic roguelike deckbuilder returns. Craft a unique deck, encounter bizarre creatures, and discover relics of immense power in Slay the Spire 2!
Why this score?
Original text · Simplified Chinese
卡牌和角色机制的扩展有明确价值，合作进一步增加策略；当前资料中的平衡波动与无障碍缺口限制评分。
Core gameplay
Weight 25%8.5 / 10Original text · Simplified Chinese
回合攻防与卡组发展仍紧密衔接，新机制增加决策；快照指出部分精英和首领偏生硬数值检查。
Builds & strategy
Weight 25%9.0 / 10Original text · Simplified Chinese
五名角色独立卡池及 Ancient 选择扩展构筑方向，合作卡还支持队伍配合；角色间平衡仍摇摆。
Replayability
Weight 20%8.5 / 10Original text · Simplified Chinese
新敌人、事件与合作规则使熟悉路线出现不同解题方式；未完成内容与反复首领调整限制稳定评价。
Randomness & fairness
Weight 20%7.0 / 10Original text · Simplified Chinese
可根据卡组规划应对，快照却记录高难度前期容错窄、流派硬克和失败缺乏明显可改进点。
Polish & usability
Weight 10%7.0 / 10Original text · Simplified Chinese
动画与出牌反馈较清晰；键盘导航不完整、部分素材和成长界面未打磨，EA 状态带来使用阻力。
- Reviewer
Original text · Simplified Chinese
Rogue by Rogue · AI 资料评测- Version reviewed
Original text · Simplified Chinese
具体构建未知；以所引资料描述的版本为准
Scope and limitations
Original text · Simplified Chinese
基于收录资料与官方页面的主观归纳，未进行试玩。Steam 本次访问明确仍为 Early Access，快照涉及多轮首领和平衡改动，未确定具体补丁；不评价承诺中的真结局、后续模式或美术完善。
Review sources 02
- 01Archived materialView archived external material ↓
Original text · Simplified Chinese
收录评论与社区资料（2026-10-01 快照）
使用 作者观点摘要 的 Tier list Part 5 (2026) 及 玩家好评与批评 中的机制、交互、重复与易用性反馈；未将外部分数或旧等级用于计算。
- 02Web sourceView original ↗
Original text · Simplified Chinese
Slay the Spire 2 官方产品说明
2026-10-08 访问。确认五名角色、卡牌与遗物选择、最多四人合作及合作专属卡，并确认 Early Access 状态。 官方页面不单独证明平衡或稳定性。
Video reviews
Reviews and deep dives from YouTube and Bilibili, in every language. Open the original video to watch.
Other voices, for reference.
Archived third-party reviews and community material may refer to different versions. External opinions and ratings are presented separately; consult the original videos for their full context.
Community discussion
Mega Crit's sequel to the genre-defining roguelike deckbuilder, adding two new characters, a redesigned Ancients/Epochs structure, and up to 4-player co-op; currently in Steam Early Access.
Slay the Spire 2 launched in Early Access on March 5, 2026 to huge hype, record concurrency and near-universal critic praise (full-marks reviews from outlets such as PCGamesN), and early Steam reviews were glowing about visuals, content volume and co-op. Since then Steam sentiment has slid to Mixed (about 61% positive across roughly 203k reviews), driven by a long run of balance patches that many players feel made enemies, elites and the Act 3 bosses more punishing and less varied, plus review-bombing waves (including heavily negative Simplified Chinese reviews). Even many negative reviewers say the core card game, art and animation are top-notch and that they are leaving thumbs-down only on the current state of balance and direction. The game is still Early Access with no Act 4 announced as of the latest update notes I could read; Mega Crit is teasing big secret features after its September break.
What players praise
- The core deckbuilding loop stays as compelling as the original, with many reviewers saying it feels even deeper and more polished
- New art style, animations and game feel are widely called a clear upgrade over Slay the Spire 1
- Up to 4-player co-op that translates the single-player experience well, including multiplayer-specific cards; players use it to play with friends and family
- Large amount of content already in Early Access: two new characters (Regent, Necrobinder), new enemies, bosses, events, lore and music
- Ancients replacing boss relics give three-way choices each act and add build variety
- Epochs/unlock progression and richer events with real risk make runs feel more rewarding and story-connected
- Fair pricing ($24.99, same as the first game) with content updates promised as free rather than DLC
- Steam Workshop mod support, Bestiary and ongoing developer communication
What players criticize
- Repeated patches that nerf strong cards and buff enemies; many long-time fans say each update made runs harder and less fun
- Act 3 third-boss slot has been a flashpoint: the boss was redesigned several times then replaced (Doormaker removed, Aeonglass added), with reviewers saying the fights counter whole archetypes or feel unfinished
- Elites and bosses often feel like raw number checks (block X now, huge HP pools, regen, strength scaling) with less identity than in the first game
- Difficulty is front-loaded and punishing at high Ascension, with little margin for error so runs can end without an obvious lesson learned
- Balance is uneven across characters; some builds feel almost irrelevant against the third boss
- Accessibility gaps: incomplete keyboard navigation, which a disabled player cited as a reason for a negative review
- Some negative reviewers question Mega Crit's Early Access management and direction after rapid boss changes
Distinctive features
- Co-op deckbuilding for up to 4 players inside a Slay the Spire framework
- Ancients: a choice of three rewards at each act's end instead of a single boss relic
- Epochs meta-progression and a stronger lore/story layer than the original
- Two new characters, The Regent and The Necrobinder, alongside returning Ironclad, Silent and Defect
- Rebuilt RNG system meant to decorrelate random elements, and a Bestiary showing enemy moves and animations
- Shift from Unity to Godot after Unity's fee controversy, costing the team around two years of rework
Divided opinions
- Difficulty: some critics and players find it easier than the original (PCGamesN noted easier infinites and dangers), while a large share of patched-era Steam reviewers find it harshly difficult
- Whether the balance patches are necessary corrections to infinites and homogenised play or an over-correction that removed fun builds
- Geographic split: English Reddit and reviews skew positive while Simplified Chinese Steam reviews skew much more negative
- Whether the sequel is a big leap or feels like an expansion of the original (noted by some critic reviews)
Repetition and friction
- Long, high-hour grinds through Ascension where build options get narrowed by enemy checks and infinite/engine decks feel forced
- Enemies that chip through block or slam 30+ damage, making many fights feel like the same damage race
- Frequent balance churn means good strategies can be invalidated between patches
- Solo play feeling less fun to some players than co-op after recent changes
- Perceived developer responsiveness to a few high-level streamers rather than casual players
Hoped-for improvements
- Finish Act 4 and the remaining act variants (only Act 1 had multiple variants early on)
- Make elite and boss fights more varied and puzzle-like instead of damage races, and stabilise the Act 3 boss pool
- Rebalance difficulty curve and Ascension scaling so it does not hinge on a strong Act 1 or a 'god run'
- Full keyboard and controller-style navigation/accessibility support
Launched March 5, 2026 in Early Access at $24.99 on Windows, macOS and Linux after a delay from 2025. Per Wikipedia it hit over 177,000 concurrent players on day one and passed 3 million sales within a week, with over 25 million runs played. The Metacritic page shows a pending Metascore with 9 critic reviews compiled and no user reviews yet; no OpenCritic page could be reached. Steam reception started extremely positive and declined to Mixed overall after balance patches (v0.100 through 1.0 and later betas) and several review-bombing incidents: two over balance changes, largely from China, and one in May 2026 tied to a consultant credit. Latest notes show the last major update on June 18, 2026 (v0.107.1), Steam Workshop support, a new Act 3 boss (Aeonglass), bi-weekly beta patches, and big unannounced features teased for after the September 2026 break; Act 4 is not yet announced. Steam revenue estimator sites show zero for this title, so use the Wikipedia 3M-in-a-week figure instead.
Community sources
- Top helpful positive and negative English Steam reviews (local file) ↗
- Steam metadata, review totals, price, release date (local file) ↗
- Steam store page and review summary (Mixed, 61.2% of about 203k) ↗
- Metacritic page: Metascore pending, critic review blurbs from Gamersky, PCGamesN, Eurogamer, Ars Technica, AV Club, Metro ↗
- Confirms no Metacritic user score yet ↗
- Development history, Early Access release, sales and player records, review-bombing incidents ↗
- 10/10 review: praise for refinement and co-op, criticism of new characters and easier difficulty ↗
- Recent patch notes and announcements: Aeonglass boss, Workshop, RNG overhaul, teased features, no Act 4 ↗
Archived creator commentary 1
Third-party summaries based on automatic captions may contain transcription or interpretation errors.
Tier list Part 5 (2026)
Slay the Spire 2 is the sequel to the game that popularized roguelike deckbuilders, reviewed here while still in early access. He has cleared Ascension 10 with every character and sees it as a proper sequel that refines the original rather than reinventing it. He calls the card design a master class and praises the variety, visuals and multiplayer. His complaints are thin content in places, unfinished art and a disliked meta-progression system. He places it in S, slightly above the first game.
What the creator praises
- Card design is a master class: cards work across many decks and no single card is mandatory
- Huge variety across relics, characters and cards makes every run feel very different
- Kept what players loved from the first game and cut disliked characters and cards (the Watcher)
- Big visual upgrade, with unique animations for many cards and every enemy, making it very satisfying to watch
- Ancients replace boss relics, and the new relics are more niche and polarizing, with less guaranteed energy
- Multiplayer is well integrated and fun, with real-time visibility and map drawing
- Developers balance actively and listen to community feedback, such as cutting early infinites
Issues raised by the creator
- Early access content is a bit light: the final boss lacks animation and much art is unfinished
- Meta-progression (the epoch system) is visually messy, confusing and uninvolving; he wants a full revamp
- Acts 2, 3 and 4 still need work, and he worries about a very long early access
- Multiplayer lacks teammate deck visibility, relic exchange and unique multiplayer events
- Harder and more complex for casual players because energy is scarcer
Design observations
- Deliberately a straightforward sequel with no new gimmick mechanic, which he sees as the right call for the genre's originator
- Two complete biomes on the first act, each with distinct events, enemies and bosses
- Multiplayer chest-picking mechanic and drawing on the map
- Builds are not locked to one archetype, unlike the poison-focused approach in the first game
Updated opinion
Places Slay the Spire 2 above Slay the Spire 1 in S tier, saying both are game of the year worthy.
