SPIRELIKES
The evolution of Spirelikes
There aren’t many developers who can say they invented an entire genre. Anthony Giovannetti, though, along with his Mega Crit collaborator Casey Yano, can stake a claim. As Giovannetti points out, Slay The Spire was predated by the likes of Shandalar and Dream Quest, but “we really popularised the melding of deckbuilding and Roguelikes, and became the formula that other games seem to follow.”
That formula involves the player picking a randomly-shuffled path through card-based battles, interspersed with the option to gain new cards, until they either reach the finale or it all comes crashing down. It’s a very specific itch but, since Slay The Spire brought it to our attention, one that’s become increasingly easy to scratch.