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The Neowsletter - February 2025



Winter has arrived in Seattle❄️... in February!

While it's intermittently snowing, it is not sticking. Pft, typical Seattle weather (please don't actually snow too much, I don't have time to shovel the driveway). Did you hear the news that a Nintendo Switch 2 is coming?? Expect an email from us, Nintendo :)

[h3]Back to Work[/h3]

We're back on the work wagon after our nice restful break. We're spending the early part of this year ensuring that a handful of major experimental features are good for Early Access. They won't be featured in this month's Neowsletter but let's take a look at another feature some of you may have already noticed.

[h3]Enchantments[/h3]

In Slay the Spire 2, you may run into a new modifier to your cards called Enchantments. As probably surmised from the name, enchantments are modifiers to cards in your deck which are applied for the duration of that run! While the majority of common Enchantments will give you a slight edge here and there, the more meaningful and potentially run-defining Enchantments can be discovered in rare Events and things like REDACTEDs throughout the game.

Enchanted cards have a little icon and additional effects are added to the card in purple.

[h3]Merch Madness[/h3]



You may have heard by now... but THE DEFECT AND THE WATCHER ARE BACK!! In figure form :) Last week the second part of the YouTooz x Slay the Spire collection dropped, meaning you can now complete your own collection with figures of all 4 heroes!! We don't recommend putting them in your mouth as some fans have expressed the desire to do, but hey, we don't judge.



In some newer news, you will soon be able to ascend to the status of True Gamer with some peripherals that Slay! Namely, these keyboards, keycaps, and deskmats by MKRO & Infinikey, each themed around a different hero of the Spire so you can rep your main AND have some StS swag right at the tip of your fingers. The collection launches this Friday, February 14th, so remember to check it out and grab the ultimate Valentine for yourself or that special Slayer in your life ❤️

[h3]Spire Spotting[/h3]



Last month we tasked you, dear readers, with illustrating your hypotheses as to what this ~shadowy~ creature could be. So, Spireologists, let's see what you've come up with...



The award for funniest guess goes to Kodiak_Krew, who created a particularly defective-looking abomination charming creature :) We appreciate the wishful thinking!!



And the award for most accurate guess goes to ssorgatem, who imagined our mystery monster as a Jaw Worm-like creature! And it's... kind of scary how accurate it is actually. Either you are living in our walls or you're just particularly talented at clocking our tea.

Though we couldn't feature them all here, thank you for all of your (often cursed) contributions!! It seems we are finally able to lift the veil and see what our friend actually looks like:



Ah yes, why it's a Nibbit! A feisty little monster you'll see often in the Spire.

But what's this? Another wild shadow has appeared! What could it be?? Just like last time, post your artistic theories on Discord, Reddit, Twitter, Bluesky, etc, and we'll feature the most accurate--and most amusing--submissions in next month's Neowsletter!



[h3]Q&A with C&A[/h3]

Hello everyone, yet another new section to the Neowsletter has been added (do we need to cut some sections?). This is 🥁... Questions & Answers with Casey & Anthony! Myself (Casey) and Anthony (other co-founder/designer) will be picking and answering a handful of your burning questions to answer each month, as well as the occasional guest. Let's get right into it.

Harribo asks: What did you learn from making Dancing Duelists and how did those lessons manifest in StS 2?
Casey: Excellent question! For those not in the know, we released Dancing Duelists, a deckbuilding autobattler game jam game in October 2023. Slay the Spire 2 wasn't yet announced, and we were considering an engine switch for a host of reasons. Made in 3 weeks in the Godot Engine, which none of us have developed in before, it was a technical exploration to assess the viability of switching from the Unity Engine to Godot. I guess we learned that Godot seems like a viable game engine! But for more details around the situation and learnings from that project I published a blog post on the topic around the time Dancing Duelists was completed.

oblivionsweet asks: Will Clash return in sts 2?
Anthony: No

Keystone asks: What does Enchant mean?
Casey: Oh right, we haven't explained this yet. Well now it's been answered above!

Will asks: Will there be a 'sell' feature at the Merchant in StS2?
Anthony: No

Cosmosis asks: Can we know more about the pumpkin looking guy? He sparks my branium
Casey: No, but soon

Mage Ferago asks: How is music design involved with the development of the game? For example, is a boss's design created first, and the music track made based on its vibe? Is it any different for making music for rooms/acts? Additionally, why does the Merchant's theme in the full OST have a huge portion that isn't used in game?
Clark, our composer: In my book, music is support and serves the gameplay, so I’m absolutely looking for ways to write the soundtrack based on the vibe of the boss, environment, etc… A good example of this’d be the Corrupt Heart boss fight from Slay the Spire, where the music had pulsating heart-beat motifs to echo the boss’s design. In Slay the Spire 2, I’m aiming to take that a step further with dynamic music to have the music adapt as the gameplay and situations you find yourself in change.

In the differences between the Acts music and Boss fight music, at its most broad, it’s a feeling of intensity and scale. I’ve definitely died enough to enemies while moving up the map, so the threat level needs to feel present as you’re climbing, but when you reach the Boss, that threat level needs feel amped up. That amping up can be found in the orchestration, harmonies, tempo, and restating motifs found in the main Act music in new ways.

As you'll have seen in the gameplay trailer, the Merchant is back with some lovely new digs, so you can expect new arrangements of that extended version on all your shopping sprees this time around.

---

That's all for this month! We used to have this section in our Discord server but felt that choosing the top questions we receive and answering them here would be better. If you wish to submit questions for next month's Neowsletter, post it in the #ask-the-devs channel in our Discord or shoot us an email at [email protected] with the Subject: Question for Casey and Anthony or something similar. Be sure to include an alias!

[h3]Connections Section[/h3]



And now, it's time for us to show our ~love~ for you all with this month's Slay the Spire Connections puzzle! ❤️

[h3]Community Roundup[/h3]


A lovely illustration of the Slay the Spire 2 gang by MagusOfArc / @inanitasDei4


Some beautiful Year of the Snecko envelopes made by GM_Whitose


The latest (and coziest) ModTheSpire anniversary project by our incredible modding community, Spire Cafe

Needless to say we have a LOT of talented artists in our community--and we've got another way to showcase that! If you would like your own art featured as the Neowsletter's cover image next month, submit it to us either via our Discord or [email protected] by Friday, March 7. The image must contain no text (since we localize the covers) but should have room for the title & issue text to be added, and the dimensions must be 800x450px. We can only choose one submission of course, but if people like the idea we'll continue it for future issues going forward! The March Neowsletter cover image prompt is: "Neow admiring the cherry blossoms."

[h3]Localization Info[/h3]

I've added a little section here to say that we're still slowly onboarding translators for the Neowsletter and eventually the game! The following languages currently have translators: French, German, Korean, Russian, and Simplified Chinese.

While positions for these languages have been filled, we might require more work or have other opportunities in the future. If that happens, we encourage you to apply again at that time.

For the languages that do not yet have translators, thank you for your patience- I'm very slow here and will hopefully be able to get more translators 🐌. But wanted to make sure that the filled positions are known publicly.

Again, thank you for all who have applied and I hope you enjoy Slay the Spire 2 when it's out!

Phew, that was our longest Neowsletter yet, hope it makes up for the last couple of shorter issues! See you in the next one!

The 23 best Slay the Spire mods

What are the best Slay the Spire mods? Whether you've exhausted the game and are looking for extra content, or just want to make some small changes to an otherwise perfect experience, the best Slay the Spire mods can fit the bill.


The roguelike card game has official Steam Workshop mod support and a fantastic community, meaning there are tons of mods available to easily integrate into the indie game. These mods range from making the map easier to read to huge expansions featuring brand-new characters. There are hundreds to choose from on Steam, but we've picked out the very best mods in Slay the Spire just for you.


Read the rest of the story...


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The Neowsletter - January 2025



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!

Slay the Spire 2's First Official Gameplay Trailer Is Here!

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:

The Neowsletter - December 2024



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 :)