It’s being made by a company called Contention Games, which has a similar-ish-looking game called Imperium: The Contention. Similar in that it’s a deck-building and customising game, which, of course, Slay the Spire is. Exactly how Slay the Spire will translate is unclear, but the brief description on Contention Games’ website says the board game will be co-operative, and for one-to-four players. The Slay the Spire computer game isn’t co-operative, however, so I’m intrigued to see how a one-player game will become, potentially, for four. Otherwise, Slay the Spire should translate fairly simply, though keeping track of all the upgraded cards and relics and in-play abilities could be a faff. Nevertheless, if there are lovely little pieces in the box, and lovely maps, I’ll probably find it hard to say no. The Slay the Spire board game will be Kickstarted this coming spring. All will be laid bare then. If you haven’t played the Slay the Spire computer game, you absolutely should. We consider it one of the games of the generation. And by we, I don’t just mean us on Eurogamer, but critics for other publications and game makers as well. Here’s Gunpoint and Heat Signature developer Tom Fancis putting it better than I ever could: “Slay the Spire is a miracle of game design, specifically for its balance. Not in the sense that all the cards it offers you are equally effective - they’re not, and it’d be a boring game if they were. The times you get offered a wildly powerful card, one that clicks exactly with what you already have in some terrifying explosion of damage maths, are what makes it. And what makes it last, what’s made it become my most played game of all time, is the careful alchemy of when those moments pop up. Too often and they lose their meaning. Too rarely and the runs between feel like a slog. “Slay the Spire doles them out just rarely enough that you’re pushed to find new killer builds in the seemingly weaker cards you’ve been dealt. Just often enough that some runs make you laugh out loud, the absurdity of the damage machine you’ve constructed going to your head. That kind of balance is rare, and it’s a hell of a thing when a game gets it this right.” Slay the Spire is available on PC (currently half-price on Steam), consoles, and was recently launched on iOS. There’s an Android version planned but it’s not out yet, so beware of fakes.
