I’ve somehow already sunk almost 300 hours into Slay the Spire 2. Even I’m not entirely sure how that’s possible, considering the game has only been out for three months, but Mega Crit’s steady influx of balance patches has certainly helped to keep me engaged. Plus, the game is incredible, so that’s mostly to blame.
However, it might be too incredible. I love deckbuilding games, but Slay the Spire 2 has almost ruined the genre for me, because I can’t think of another game that’s on its level–well, other than the first Slay the Spire. There are a lot of deckbuilding roguelikes that come close, though, and if Slay the Spire 2 is your first foray into the genre, then you may already be on the lookout for something comparable. Luckily for you, I clearly have way too much free time, because I’ve played most of them.
Now, before anyone gets mad at me in the comments, I want to state for the record that I’ve chosen to avoid talking about some of the more obvious picks here, such as Balatro, Vampire Crawlers, and Monster Train 2. They’re great games, but I have a feeling that the majority of people reading this article already know that, so I’m gonna focus on some of the less discussed picks instead. Plus, a couple of incredible games dropped just after Slay the Spire 2, and you’ve probably been too busy playing Slay the Spire 2 to have noticed. Trust me when I say that I sympathise.
Rune Dice
This one is the most recent title on this list, as developer Smart Raven Studio released Rune Dice towards the end of last month, on May 19. Personally, I still play Slay the Spire 2 almost every day, so it almost passed me by entirely until Steam’s algorithm decided to not-so-randomly recommend it to me earlier this month.
It’s sort of a deck-builder, except, well… you build a deck of dice instead of a deck of cards. The aim of the game is to combine your dice with your other dice by shooting them at each other, which results in you dishing out damage to enemies and potentially earning some bonus effects. While the core gameplay isn’t too comparable to Slay the Spire 2, the roguelike progression through the map is very similar, requiring you to weigh up the pros and cons of which route to take as you decide which enemies and which rewards you want to take along the way. More importantly, you’ll also get a nice hit of dopamine every time you manage to shoot a six into another six.
Black Jacket
I wasn’t lying when I said that Rune Dice was the most recent title on this list, but only barely, as Mi’pu’mi Games’ Black Jacket was released a mere week earlier on May 12. Also, to be completely upfront with you, Black Jacket has a lot more in common with Balatro and Inscryption than it does with Slay the Spire 2, but I’m including it anyway, as I’ve been desperate for an opportunity to talk about this game for a while now.
In the same way that Balatro is a poker deck-building roguelike, Black Jacket is a blackjack deck-building roguelike. However, don’t let that reductive sort of comparison put you off, because the game’s story is what helps it distinguish itself from its competition. It almost feels like a bizarre thing to say about a deckbuilding game, but I highly suggest going into this one completely blind, because Black Jacket features a surprisingly engaging and well-written narrative that more than earns its $15 price of admission.
Griftlands
Klei Entertainment is easily one of the most underappreciated developers out there at the moment, as it’s released so many back-to-back bangers in the last two decades. Mark of the Ninja, Oxygen Not Included, Rotwood, Invisible Inc, and, of course, Don’t Starve–these guys are truly incapable of missing. Yet, despite this, I rarely hear anyone talk about what is potentially my favorite of Klei’s titles: Griftlands.
Now, there may be a good reason for that: Griftlands is not as deep or as mentally taxing as other deckbuilders, and you can finish its campaign in under 30 hours. However, it’s a really, really solid 30 hours, and there’s enough replayability in here to justify playing through the campaign an extra three or four times. Oh, and I forgot the best part: much like the combat sections in the game, conversations in Griftlands are also decided by card battles. It’s an endearingly silly experience, but it’s also very tightly paced. I hope Klei returns to this one by making a sequel at some point, because it deserves a second look.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns
While some of you might balk at the idea of including a AAA title based on one of the most recognizable IPs in the world in a list of indie titles, there’s a pretty solid, airtight counter to that argument: nobody played Marvel’s Midnight Suns. According to pretty much everyone on the development and publishing side of this game, including Take-Two’s CEO Strauss Zelnick, Marvel’s Midnight Suns was a commercial failure–and that’s a shame, because this game absolutely slaps.
It’s an interesting mix of the turn-based tactics from developer Firaxis Games’ XCOM series and the standard deck-building formula, but there’s not really any roguelike elements to speak of. Instead, you get some light Mass Effect-style RPG morality and dialogue systems in their place, which results in a genuinely unique style of deck-building game that nobody has really tried to mimic since. And hey, considering how terribly it sold, there’s probably a good reason for that.
9 Kings
Sad Socket’s 9 Kings is easily the weirdest game on this list. It’s a deck-building roguelike, yes, but it’s also kind of a real-time strategy game, yet also simultaneously an autobattler, and it’s all wrapped up in an isometric pixelated art style. It’s a hell of a lot simpler to play than it is to explain, as the gameplay mostly boils down to placing your buildings from your hand of cards and letting your troops battle it out with the enemy.
Probably the only thing that I can fault 9 Kings for is its difficulty, as it’s pretty easy. However, that’s also kind of a compliment at the same time, as the devs designed it this way on purpose. It is laughably simple to create a busted deck in 9 Kings, to the point that it feels like the game is coaxing you into doing so at times. I played 9 Kings on release, over a year ago now, and absolutely loved it, yet the game has received over 20 patches since then–and it’s still in early access. Sad Socket also just released a multiplayer update for it last month, so there’s never been a better time to give the game a go than now.
Fights In Tight Spaces
As a result of the game receiving a few DLC expansions over the past four years, I’ve found myself going back to Fights In Tight Spaces now and again. And, every single time, I ended up hyperfocusing on it for a solid week, because something about Fights In Tight Spaces just feels stupidly satisfying.
I think it’s a combination of things that makes this one stand out. The card balancing feels tight, the animations are crisp and punchy (pun intended), and the Into the Breach-style positioning angle to the combat adds an extra puzzle-like layer to the gameplay. I haven’t played the newly released sequel, 2 Fights in 2 Tight Spaces, but it does add multiplayer support if you want a game to play with a buddy instead. The sequel doesn’t let you control a dog in combat, though, which unfortunately means that it’s an inferior experience by default.
Chrono Ark
It’s been a couple of years since I first played Chrono Ark, but I distinctly remember not enjoying it for the first few hours. The game just drops you into things without much explanation or tutorialization, so I kind of just aimlessly wandered around the map and got my ass beat for a while. Then, a hundred hours passed.
Yeah, this is a real timesink once you get to grips with it, and I actually think the lack of hand-holding is what got me hooked here. Chrono Ark’s beautiful early 2000s 2D JRPG-inspired art and its morose story certainly help, but the fusion of deckbuilding elements and RPG Maker-esque gameplay makes for an oddly engaging combo that kept me invested. Plus, the difficulty feels just right, and your party’s progression is well-balanced to the point that you never feel overpowered or weak. Considering that Chrono Ark was its debut title, I’m thoroughly looking forward to seeing what developer Al Fine cooks up next.
Across the Obelisk
If you’ve ever wanted to reach through your PC monitor and strangle your co-op buddy after witnessing them make the dumbest possible decision during a round of Slay the Spire 2’s multiplayer, then Across the Obelisk might be for you. It’s sort of like playing Slay the Spire 2, except instead of letting your stupid buddies do stuff like playing four skills in a row against the first phase of the Test Subject, you can actively control them yourself!
Across the Obelisk might be the most directly comparable game to Slay the Spire 2, as the deck synergies and even some of the enemies feel very, very similar, but it sets itself apart by letting you build several different decks at once. It’s a bit overwhelming to get your head around at first, but once it clicks, mastering Across the Obelisk’s combat will make you feel like a genius. Small caveat here: I haven’t tried any of Across the Obelisk’s DLC, because there’s just way too much of it, and buying it all would set me back around $120. Still, I got plenty of playtime out of the base game and didn’t feel like owning the DLC was necessary at any point, so the base game feels like a steal at only $20.
Inscryption
I know I said in the intro that I was going to avoid some of the more obvious recommendations, but I had to include this one on the off chance that someone reading this hasn’t played Inscryption. And I also know I said that no deckbuilding roguelike is on the same level as Slay the Spire 2, but Inscryption might be the one exception to that statement. Apologies in advance to the many diehard Monster Train 2 fans out there.
In many ways, Inscryption is Slay the Spire 2’s deckbuilding polar opposite. It’s story-focused, progression is more about buffing singular cards than building huge synergistic decks, and it’s a lot more morbid and hell of a lot less whimsical. It’s also quite short for a roguelike, too, as you’ll probably be fully satisfied with the game after roughly 30 hours.
But what a 30 hours it is. Inscryption is more concerned with offering you a fully realized story with a satisfying conclusion than it is with being infinitely replayable, and every element of that one playthrough is bolstered by its brilliant writing, which is in turn also bolstered by the uniquely surprising ways it mixes up its mechanics and gameplay throughout each act. Inscryption more than deserves its spot on the Mount Rushmore of deckbuilders, nestled neatly in between Balatro and Slay the Spire.
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