Slay the Spire News

Happy New Year everyone 🎉

Some of you keen-eyed players are aware that we're launching Slay the Spire 2 into Early Access this year! The rumors are true, we're still on track to release. But what day? What month?? Well, we can't say for sure yet. More news will follow sometime this year. If you want to stay up-to-date you can get the Neowsletter straight to your inbox by signing up on our website. But you can also get notified on Steam, Twitter/X, and Bluesky!

For those who missed the gameplay trailer, you can view it right here by clicking that play button. We have the technology 🤖.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttVtllHkb4E
I know we brought it up already but we worked hard on it, okay?

[h3]A Holiday Break[/h3]

We took a nice break during the second half of December so there isn't too much news to share, but if you have any burning questions that aren't covered in our FAQ, then you can visit the Slay the Spire Official Discord and ask away in our #ask-the-devs channel where I'll personally refuse to answer your spoiler-related questions :)

[h3]No News, Have an Image[/h3]

We were on break for some of December so I didn't prepare anything new to highlight. We worked on a trailer the last few months anyways. Here, have this nice screengrab of the main menu background.



[h3]Spire Spotting[/h3]



This is the part where our Spireologists would normally tease a new enemy, but it seems that a strange pall has fallen over the Spire and the monsters are now ~shadows~ of their former selves! Our research indicates that this enemy in particular will become unobscured by next month, but in the meantime we would appreciate any predictive depictions and/or descriptions for our records. Post your artistic theories (regardless of skill level!) on Discord, Reddit, Twitter, Bluesky, etc, and we'll feature the most accurate--and most amusing--submissions in next month's Neowsletter! Something tells us that another mysterious creature will be in need of unveiling by then…

[h3]StS Connections[/h3]



And now the moment you’ve all REALLY been waiting for… this month’s Slay the Spire Connections puzzle! You’re welcome!

[h3]Community Roundup[/h3]

Thank you to everyone who showed your Critmas spirit last month with art, crafts, decorations, custom cards, and even cooking! Here are a few of our favorite festive fan submissions…


An adorable, pixel-y illustration of Osty lending The Necrobinder a helping hand with decorating their tree by @boysensyrup


Another adorable illustration of a different, mysterious new character enjoying the holiday season by @chizifsd


Delicious-looking holiday cookie art of some Slay the Spire icons by Pebble on Discord

That’s all for this month’s Neowsletter, but we’ll be back soon for February’s edition!

You didn’t think yesterday’s Neowsletter was *all* we had for you, did you? ;)

It’s been 1000 years since the Spire last opened its doors… and since we first announced that Slay the Spire 2 was in development! At long last, the gameplay reveal for the sequel to the original, iconic roguelike deckbuilder is here, as revealed earlier today at The Game Awards.

Step into the newly evolved Spire, a twisted labyrinth teeming with strange and deadly foes. With a new and returning cast of characters, adapt to an arsenal of brand new cards, relics, and potions, each offering game-changing possibilities—or dangerous consequences.

What new strategies and challenges await…?

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Looking for even more ways to get Slay the Spire 2 updates? Join the flock:

• Twitter
• Bluesky
• Discord

Let us all welcome winter in this month's Neowsletter! *applause* An end-of-year wrap-up seems appropriate so let's keep it simple and focus on that. Still, looking back at all the work which was accomplished by the team is a good reminder that yes, things are happening. Progress is being made. I have confidence that a beautiful video game will be spawned into the universe soon. ✨

[h3]Mega Crit 2024: A Retrospective[/h3]

• Announced Slay the Spire 2 to the world via an animated trailer during the Triple-i Initiative. Many thanks to Evil Empire for the opportunity.
  
• Many copies of Slay the Spire: The Board Game were shipped out :). Great job, Contention Games!
  
• Started The Neowsletter, what you're reading right now! A lot of extras like the fan art and upcoming merch are handled by our community manager Demi, thank you!
  
• Worked with other game devs to set up bundles and great discounts, thank you to the IndieBI team.
  
• Lots of new merch this year with a lot of collaboration with Makeship and The Yetee.
  
• Hired one more person, hooray team growth!
  
• Fully migrated engine for Slay the Spire 2 and made significant progress. Great work, Mega Crit dev team.
  

That was a lot of thanking! I guess this is actually the Thanksgiving Neowsletter. 🦃

Because so much of our work isn't yet publicly available, we can't give a deeper recap until next year. Something to look forward to in next year's December Neowsletter!

[h3]A Million Thank Yous[/h3]

We recently topped 1 million wishlists on Steam and it's maddening to see so much faith in the sequel and us as a company. The only way for us to thank you is to do our best every day and make a good video game so that's what we'll keep doing next year.

It's truly a privilege for us to be independent game developers and I'd like to keep saying, "I make video games for a living." As a thank you, I drew a celebratory Cultist. Please enjoy.



[h3]Enemy Preview... WAIT, BEES?![/h3]

When working on sequels we ask ourselves how we can introduce new and creative ways for you to die horrifically and we whispered, "...what about bees?"



[h3]Mega Crit-mas![/h3]



Demi here, bringing good tidings: Mega Crit-mas is back!! For those of you who weren’t around last year, this is your opportunity to spread some holiday-themed Slay the Spire cheer. Tag us on Twitter or Bluesky with any original festive fan creation, be it art, writing, mods, a video, some Spire-y holiday decorations, etc, and we just might spread the cheer, too! AND if you share your work in the event channel on our Discord, you’ll get an exclusive role to wear with honor throughout the season!

And no holiday ambience is complete without the official Slay the Spire Yule Log, featuring some cheerful renditions of classic StS boss themes to accompany the crackling rest site flames!

And one last plug: if you’re looking for some last-minute gift ideas, you can always check our site’s merch page!

[h3]StS Connections[/h3]



*Merchant voice* Ho ho ho! This month brings a more festive (though hopefully still somewhat fiendish) Slay the Spire Connections puzzle!

[h3]Community Roundup[/h3]


Gorgeous pixel art of The Defect channeling his own inner artist by
@boysensyrup


An amazing illustration of The Defect in a Hades-inspired style by @coryharris.jpg


Another incredible pixel version of Slay the Spire that we wish we could play, this time by @aspabot

Happy holidays from everyone at Mega Crit to you! Be sure to tune in next year for the next Neowsletter :)

It's the November Neowsletter!

Unsurprisingly, work continues on Slay the Spire 2. Though we're not quite ready to reveal gameplay footage yet, let's have a sneak peek at some quality of life and UI changes that come with StS2. Do keep in mind that the Early Access release is still a bit off (it's not going to be released January 1, 2025). Any screenshots and the contents within are a work in progress.

[h3]Shinier Shinies[/h3]

Okay, so it sounds obvious, but rare things should be shiny! Working in a fancier game engine allows us to make effects easier so that's been fun. VFX work is behind as it's lower priority and rarely introduces bugs (we tend to work on scarier/buggier things first) but I felt inspired ✨.

I warned you about work in progress; these two new cards have already been reworked...

[h3]Map Changes[/h3]

One day, I tried playing Slay the Spire on my phone and it was hard to click on the little icons on the map. Differentiating some of the room types was also quite hard on these tiny screens. As I don't play video games on the phone, I wasn't aware of this... until now (or about 4 years ago, to be exact). So we slapped some color on there and bumped up the size of the icons.

There's a Colored Map mod for Slay the Spire 1. Somebody showed me that you can also draw on maps and I said, “That's a fun idea. Let's steal it.” That's right modders, that's what you get for not filing Game Mechanic Patents (that is a joke, don't actually do that).



[h3]Top Bar Changes[/h3]

Sure, this is in the screenshots of the game but there are some small changes here. The height of the bar has gone from 64px -> 80px. That's a 25% increase in hitbox size for things in the top bar, making it easier to select potions, open the map, etc. We also made it less wordy. Goodbye names, people were censoring their names in screenshots anyways. We like privacy too! There will be more things in this top area but for now, keeping it nice and roomy feels good. Oh oops, let's censor these relics for now…

The icon next to the stair icon indicates what type of room you're in

[h3]Run Info Panel[/h3]

A nice little pop-up to let you know what run you'll be continuing! Neato.



[h3]Enemy Preview Time[/h3]

This month we show off a cute little gummy bear looking creature. How adorable :). We hope everyone will love this cutie. Definitely not an enemy that will upset you in the future.



[h3]Translators Update[/h3]

We're starting to onboard some translators but it's been a bit slow as it's the season of sickness. Apologies for the lack of response to many of you. The amount of responses to the localization sign up form has been quite a lot more than expected. This has been great, but a lot of work. I'm trying my best! As some non-English speakers will notice–this Neowsletter is translated on Steam! Wahoo!! How do you translate "Wahoo"?

Also, we're also getting some translations of our previous Neowsletter up as well :). If that's been helpful do let us know, even if we can't read your comments (lol).

[h3]So Much Merch[/h3]

Ok, now Demi’s section begins! First things first, we’ve got some big merch drops to tell you all about!



This plushie of The Champ may be tiny, but he is also MIGHTY!! He’s also VERY limited edition; there’s less than a week left on the campaign, so be sure to grab your own from Makeship here before November 12!



Also, The Yetee recently released a bunch of stickers, including sticker sheets of EVERY relic in the game and some very boss-looking boss stickers! And (as their namesake would imply) the drop also includes a t-shirt, featuring Neow and the Corrupt Heart in a metal concert tee style! Get your hands on these and lots of other items from our Yetee collection here.

[h3]StS Connections[/h3]



Another Neowletter, another Slay the Spire Connections puzzle! Last month’s was on the easier side, so let’s see if we can up the difficulty rating a little with this one…

[h3]Community Roundup[/h3]

If you tuned in last month, you’d know that we just held our annual Mega Crit-or-Treat event! We got LOTS of spooky submissions via Discord and Twitter, and while we couldn’t possibly show them all, here are just some of the highlights of what our community created last month!


Another resplendent rendition of The Ironclad in his fiery, spooky Demon Form by @JoQuerol


A very cute illustration of a Halloween costume party at the Spire by @chizifsd


A super detailed Ironclad cosplay, featuring a belt of homebrewed potions and glowing eyes by TheGuyFromThatThing

That’s it for this Neowsletter, tune in next month for more details on this year’s Mega Critmas event and, as always, more behind-the-scenes looks at Slay the Spire 2’s development!