Slay the Spire: I don’t just think it’s the best deck building roguelike, I think it’s the quintessential deck building roguelike. It’s such a complete exploration of the design space of the genre in terms of the options it gives the player to build their deck and the challenges it puts those decks up against. Not that there aren’t any other fun games in this genre, but they all still feel like STS, but worse and with a gimmick that doesn’t add much.

-Will edit with more in a bit.

[–] ABCDE@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Balatro has taken that mantle for the moment (over a hundred hours in under two weeks). Other similar games would be Cobalt Core (finished with all characters, don't feel the need to go back though) and... Monster Train (it's okay, not as tight as the others).

[–] Pra@sh.itjust.works 3 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I'm in love with balatro, but do you think it's better than slay the spire? I think slay the spire just feels... More of a game than balatro I guess? Maybe I feel that way just because there's not really a story set up against balatro, and slay the spire at least has you fight an entity that you feel good about.

[–] jacksilver@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

I picked up Balatro because of this thread and I agree, it's a great game and something a little fresh, but slay the spire is still probably the best.

I agree about the "more like a game" element. Baltoro feels more like playing cards than playing a video game. I think it's cause I'm using the same odds/play styles as when I play real life card games.

[–] ABCDE@lemmy.world -1 points 8 months ago

StS doesn't really have a story, but yes, it has characters instead; I don't really mind either direction, Balatro's fight-against-the-game is essentially the same thing.

They are different, and I do enjoy them both in their own ways. Balatro's heavy focus on combinations (and regular stores) means decks can shape quite quickly into something very unique. It's also more accessible as the games are shorter; StS can be an hour if successful, if not more. My comment is more that Balatro is newer and has at least satisfied the itch which - after being out for years - StS has perhaps not been able to do in such a way for a while.

[–] Bombastion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, StS really ruined me for other deckbuilders, and I'm still chasing that high. Some pretty good ones have been Power Chord and Banners of Ruin. They're both team-based games where cards are tied to certain characters, and I think that particular mechanic adds enough that it took me a while to crack the code on them.

[–] jacksilver@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Wildfrost is a really good one. It's got a lot of different play styles and has a pretty big learning curve.

Also on android there is Pirate Outlaws. It feels like a slay the spire clone, but has a good amount of content and does enough different to be worth mentioning.

Not exactly the same cause it's not a deck builder, but has a similar feel is dicey dungeons (both steam and android). It's a lot simpler and luck is a larger factor, but it's got a decent gameplay loop and being able to play on Android helped scratch that itch on the road.

[–] cafuneandchill@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

Wildfrost mention, hell yeah

I'm not too into deckbuilders, so I played it just for that gorgeous presentation lol. The art style falls under an unusual category of "cute, but I'm pretty sure that the artist also draws naughty stuff on the side"

[–] rigatti@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I liked Wildfrost, but it didn't have that much replay value after 30 or so hours, whereas I have 500+ in StS. They have updated it since I last played though, so maybe there's a bit more to do now?

[–] jacksilver@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

They've definitely added things to it over the year or so it's been out. Not sure if enough to make it worth it for you. It's also possible I'm just bad at it, as I haven't beaten it (although only 12hrs on it).

[–] rigatti@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

It's definitely a tough game. The only thing easy about it is taking your turn, missing something important, then dying.