Slay the Spire 2 won't get an endless mode like Balatro because it limits "infinite strategies," but creator says "maybe a modder will think of a way to make it work"

Now that Slay the Spire 2's been out for a little while, experienced players are starting to look for a greater challenge. Sadly, whatever new obstacles are inserted, some variation on letting you play for as long as you can survive is unlikely, simply because the RNG isn't there mechanically.

Casey Yano, co-creator of Slay the Spire and co-founder of studio Mega Crit, explains why this is in a post-launch QnA. "Probably not, the deckbuilding gets less exciting the longer a run goes on," he says, to start.

"I think games like Balatro do a better job due to infinite strategies being possible less often," he elaborates. "The scaling of their game's mechanics feels more natural - whereas it's not really the case for us."

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I can see what he's saying. Both Slay the Spire games benefit from offering more definition to their runs, making the experience wider through card combinations and your understanding of how the game works than outright length. Balatro is something distinctly built to seem nigh endless, if you get the right pull and know what you're doing.

But that doesn't mean we'll never see it, just that Mega Crit isn't considering it right now. "Still, you never know how inspiration strikes," Yano adds. "Maybe a modder will think of a way to make it work!"

Never say never, and modders often step in where the regular devs can't or won't. I could see an endless mode mod becoming quite popular, given how many hours some community members sank into the first game. It's not unlikely a couple of them are hard at work already. In the meantime, you have the additions as part of the established roadmap to sink into.

Slay the Spire 2 avoids becoming "Sloppy Spire 2" by keeping the roguelike's roadmap light on dates