Slay the Spire 2: all the key details on the beloved deckbuilder’s sequel

Slay the Spire 2 is on its way in 2025, marking both the return of the king of roguelike deckbuilders and the definitive end to your free time. I’m so sorry.

After entering early access in 2017, Slay the Spire landed itself a reputation as something of an indie masterpiece, and in the process managed to kick off a trend that the Steam store still hasn’t fully recovered from. While deckbuilding roguelikes continue to have their day in the sun thanks to gems like Balatro, it’s about time we return to the game that sparked so many folks’ love affair with the genre.

To prepare you to take on the spire once again, I’ve collected everything about the game we know so far. From information on its release date, to its story and characters, to new mechanics, here’s all the key details on Slay the Spire 2.

Slay the Spire 2 early access, release date, and platforms

Slay the Spire 2 is set to enter early access on PC, Mac, and Linux in 2025. There isn’t an exact release date set yet. At the very least we can rule out anytime in December, as Mega Crit’s Casey Yano claims the month “kinda sucks for releasing games.” Though that really just sounds like a ploy to get me to spend time with my loved ones during the holidays instead of refining my Necrobinder build…

The first Slay the Spire game spent almost a year and a half in early access before its 1.0 version dropped in 2019. We don't know how long Slay the Spire 2 will be in early access for. As it’s a sequel, it’d make sense that Slay the Spire 2 wouldn’t need as much tweaking pre-launch. “It’s just the same game but bigger and better, how long could that even take?”, you might ask. Well, it’s more complicated than that.

The knowledge devs gained from Slay the Spire’s lengthy early access period should help reduce growing pains for the sequel. However, we’ve already seen some pretty major changes to Slay the Spire's design that’ll probably benefit from continual re-balancing. What’s more, the game’s development moved to the Godot Engine after Unity’s runtime fee debacle; it really wouldn’t be all that surprising to see that migration to a new engine result in extra work for the developers.

So, when can I play Slay the Spire 2 on my PlayStation / Switch 2 / Samsung smart fridge?

Slay the Spire is one of those rare games I feel compelled to own on every platform. The active modding community makes Slay the Spire on PC one of the best choices but it’s a nice perk to be able to enjoy a run or two no matter what device you’re on.

Unfortunately for folks like me, there’s no word yet on when Slay the Spire 2 will come to consoles like Xbox X|S, PlayStation 5, Switch 2, nor do we know if Slay the Spire 2 will hit iOS or Android. Judging on the release schedule of the previous game, Slay the Spire 2 will likely have ports on all major consoles within a year of its 1.0 release.

Slay the Spire 2 trailers

Our first official glimpse of Slay the Spire 2 came early last year in the form of its reveal trailer. The Merchant, the Ironclad, and the Silent made appearances, all looking suitably dramatic and battle-ready. Though we also got our first look at the Necrobinder, who really puts the ‘slay’ in Slay the Spire with just the most ridiculously sassy entrance.

Revealed as part of The Game Awards in December 2024, Slay the Spire 2’s gameplay trailer proved that the sequel would largely follow their established formula for greatness. One major change is the lineup of playable characters. The Necrobinder and ‘??????’ are introduced, but it seems like the Defect and the Watcher won’t join them.

A frame at around 1:10 shows what looks like the Defect, except their face appears embedded in vines, corroded, and swarmed by tiny flies. So, I’m not exactly holding onto the hope I’ll be able to take on the spire with my favourite automaton, at least initially.

Revealed as part of The Game Awards in December 2024, Slay the Spire 2’s gameplay trailer proved that the sequel would largely follow their established formula for greatness. One major change is the lineup of playable characters. The Necrobinder and ‘??????’ are introduced, but it seems like the Defect and the Watcher won’t join them.

A frame at around 1:10 shows what looks like the Defect, except their face appears embedded in vines, corroded, and swarmed by tiny flies. So, I’m not exactly holding onto the hope I’ll be able to take on the spire with my favourite automaton, at least initially.

Slay the Spire 2 story and characters

Slay the Spire 2 sees players return to a malevolent, living tower known as the Spire 1,000 years after the events of the first game. Once again you’ll have to fight through a procedurally-generated map of monsters using your ever-growing deck of cards.

Both the Silent and the Ironclad will appear as playable characters again, albeit with some updates to their powers, skills, and attacks. Alongside them we’ll have two new characters to choose from.

One of the new characters in Slay the Spire 2 is the Necrobinder. We haven’t received too clear a picture of this lich’s playstyle yet beyond the skeletal hand, Osty, that fights alongside her. Osty boasts its own health total and deals damage to enemies separately to the Necrobinder’s attacks. With only 35 base health, the Necrobinder could certainly use the support.

The fourth player character— known only as ‘??????’— is a mysterious customer with a regal air and uhh… no face. We really don’t know much about this character yet (we don’t even know their proper name) but their appearance has inspired some interesting theories already.

The diamond motif of this character’s design is reminiscent of the Transient monster from Slay the Spire’s third act. This could hint at them sporting a similar fighting style to the Transient: heavy hitting but limited to a set number of turns per encounter.

Wait… is the Merchant’s mat finally for sale?

I’m sure you’re familiar with the Merchant, the shopkeeper that supplies you with cards, potions, and relics throughout your run. He’s a bit of a fan favorite, afterall. While this industrious dude is willing to part with most things for the right price, he goes through great effort to remind you that you cannot, under any circumstances, buy his mat.

The Merchant is set to return in Slay the Spire 2, but it seems like he’s hard-up for gold after a thousand years without any adventurers to tout his wares to. Why else would he remove the ‘NOT FOR SALE’ tag on his beloved rug? The Merchant’s mat has always been forbidden fruit for Slay the Spire players but if taking it from him means he has to sit his blue butt on the dungeon floor, that just might be too cold-blooded for me.

Slay the Spire 2 gameplay

Slay the Spire 2 won’t deviate too sharply from the gameplay of the original because you know, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. However, Mega Crit’s monthly ‘Neowsletter’ has been delivering drips and drops of key changes that’ll appear in the sequel. Here are some new mechanics we know about so far:

Afflictions

Slay the Spire 2’s devs have turned up the sadism-o-meter by allowing enemies to afflict your cards with negative effects. For example, one type of Affliction makes it so that you lose one energy everytime you play the affected card. Yep, I can already tell this is going to hurt.

Quests

When you first pick up a Quest card, it’s an unplayable card that clogs up your deck like a Curse and Status. Don’t rush to get rid of it, though. Once you fulfil a particular task outlined on by the card, your hard work will be rewarded.

Enchantments

Enchantments are new ways to modify cards in your deck. Each one is a kind of ‘monkey’s paw’ deal that will help you in one way in exchange for hurting you in another. An example we’ve seen so far is Corrupted, which makes an attack deal 50% more damage but costs you 3 HP each time.