Recently, Slay the Spire 2 has proven to be an absolute roguelike time vampire. Between sessions with larger, more narrative-driven titles, I have found myself disappearing into this genre for bleary-eyed stretches of time. After roughly 118 hours of gameplay, it is clear that this sequel has fully justified its existence.

While the core loop remains familiar, the game offers enough variety to keep things fresh. The inclusion of two new characters and a new co-op mode, alongside significant balance shifts, provides plenty of reason to keep coming back for more.

Why Slay the Spire 2 Wasn't Originally Planned

This expansion wasn't actually the original intention for the developers at MegaCrit. According to an interview in Edge issue 423 (via GamesRadar+), co-founder Casey Yano admitted that a sequel was once dismissed.

"In a Reddit comment a long time ago, I was like 'we're not going to make a sequel! Why would we do that? We'll just update the first one'," Yano stated. Given the massive success of Slay the Spire 2, he admitted, "I guess we were a little naïve."

Navigating the "Murky" Future of Slay the Spire 1

The shift in direction was largely driven by external industry changes, specifically when Humble Games went under in 2024. As the publisher responsible for handling the original game's console and mobile ports, their departure created significant hurdles for the studio.

Without Humble Games, maintaining the original title became a logistical nightmare for several reasons:

  • The inability to support console versions of the game.
  • Difficulty managing updates for mobile platforms.
  • The risk of entering a complex publishing rights quagmire.

As Yano explains, "We couldn’t just work more on Slay the Spire 1, because its future was very murky." To ensure their creative plans could move forward without leaving players behind, the studio decided a sequel was the only viable path.

Given that I have already spent the equivalent of 2.8 working weeks playing Slay the Spire 2, it seems like a decision that has paid off immensely.