Slay the Spire the Board Game review: "A pitch-perfect tabletop adaptation"

There’s something very ‘art imitates life, life imitates art’ about the concept of Slay the Spire the Board Game. Which is essentially a pretentious way of saying that deckbuilders are already aiming to digitize the experience of playing a tabletop card game. So, STS’s transition to the physical realm feels like something it’s really well primed for. 

Despite this fact, and despite how beloved and critically acclaimed Slay the Spire is in general, there's still no guarantee that the board game adaptation will live up to the promises of its source material. I won’t be coy though. You’ve already seen my rating, so I’ll just come out and say it. Slay the Spire the Board Game is not only a superb translation of the original game’s aesthetics and mechanics, but makes for for a legitimate best co-operative board games contender even without the IP attached to it. 

If you have any experience with Slay the Spire, you’ll know what to expect from its board game counterpart. However, given you can pick up the OG on sale for as little as $6, its tabletop adaptation has to deliver something different to avoid feeling redundant and to rationalize its $115 asking price. Thankfully, Slay the Spire the Board Game manages to infuse enough unique new elements into the gameplay experience to justify adding it to your collection even if you've played STS to death already. 

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Slay the Spire the Board Game — Features & Design

Let me give you a little peek behind the curtain when it comes to my review process. When faced with a hobby board game (read: an expensive board game), there are two main questions I ask myself when trying to justify its place in that category. Some of the best board games may eat a chunk out of your bank balance but they make up for it by delivering an experience that truly feels worth the cost of admission.

First up: does the feel of the components match up with the game’s proposed value? My sample of Slay the Spire the Board Game happened to be the Collector’s Edition, but upon examining the list of contents for both, it’s clear that even the standard release doesn’t compromise on quality. No matter which edition you opt for, Slay the Spire the Board Game is chock full of durable, beautifully designed game pieces. And, with a whopping 730 cards to keep track and take care of, it’s a mercy that the box innards help keep every element meticulously organized. 

I’m so used to seeing fans fill the gap in the market for hobby board game accessories but – in a loss for niche Etsy stores and Thingiverse enthusiasts – everything you need to maintain the longevity of the game’s components is included as standard. Sectioned card holders? Check. Token tray? Check. Dividers? Check. Card sleeves? Check. It’s evident that the gang at Contention Games have really put the work in to make sure that misplaced tokens or damaged cards don’t get in the way of your journey to Act Three and beyond. 

Thanks to all of this prior planning, it’s rather simple to set up a new session or continue a previous one. Whether you’re diving into a full playthrough from Act One or just hoping to do a couple of pick-up-and-play encounters, it’s as easy as choosing the board with the required map and taking out the required cards. As a board game that stays true to STS’s roguelike origins, this makes it all the more tempting for players to start again when they die – and yes, trust me, you will die. 

There’s no doubt that Slay the Spire the Board Game can be deadly in sections and its difficulty isn’t uniform, but that’s something that works in its favor. For example, Neow the Whale returns to dole out player’s starting blessings and these can really make or break a run. Meanwhile, to mimic the procedural generation of Slay the Spire’s maps, each Act’s board has large randomized sections, which players randomly fill in using tokens representing merchant visits, elite monster encounters, treasure chests, or unknown events. Having to restart a run eventually is something that is encoded into STS’s DNA, but thankfully its design accommodates that wonderfully.

Practicalities aside, Slay the Spire the Board Game is just a joy to see laid out on the table. From the charming token and card art to the colorful, detailed miniatures, Slay the Spire the Board Game brings the quirky world of the Spire to life in a way that feels immensely familiar. Yet, thanks to the new tactile elements, it manages to breathe a new lease of life into the whole experience.

Slay the Spire the Board Game — Gameplay

Then there’s the second important question: just how enjoyable – and replayable – is Slay the Spire the Board Game? Afterall, a premium game that you can see yourself playing over and over again winds up costing less per play than a cheaper title that simply gathers dust on your shelf. If you’re an established fan of Slay the Spire, the answer is simple – the board game version is just as moreish as the original.

The core gameplay system remains unchanged: you choose a character with their own unique deck of power, skill, and attack cards and spend energy to play those cards and defeat opponents. As you ascend further up the Spire, you’ll have opportunities to find new cards for your deck, as well potions and relics that can be used to buff you throughout your run. You’ll also come across gold, which can be cashed in at the Merchant to pick up everything you need to improve your chances of survival (just don’t try to buy his mat, that is 100% not for sale).

One main difference between Slay the Spire and its board game is the latter’s introduction of multiplayer and cooperative play. I’m fairly sure I’ve accumulated hundreds of hours of playtime on Slay the Spire across Switch, PC, and Mobile. So, with all that time sunk into the game, am I actually even that good at it? Uhh … next question. The tragic gap between my enthusiasm and skill level means that I’m more than happy to join up with my fellow spire-slayers to devise the best strategy possible. But even if this isn’t your bag, Slay the Spire the Board Game makes for an equally satisfying single player experience and is really easy to balance in accordance with your player count thanks to the detailed yet simple-to-understand setup instructions.

All players share a turn within the larger turn order so whether you want to coordinate your plays one by one or just have your whole party go in guns blazing, that’s really up to you. In my experience, it can be a tad stilted and slow to go one by one, especially if you’re playing with the maximum number of players. To keep up the tempo while strategizing smartly, it’s best to quickly communicate your gameplan with your fellow slayers or ask them if they can deal any effects that synergize with cards in your hand. Once you’ve all agreed on a game plan, you can play in your turn in a way that feels truly cooperative and integrates the strengths of each character’s decks.

While I certainly got a taste of all four dungeon delvers during my testing period of Slay the Spire the Board Game, my character choices tended to be very much true to form for me. That’s to say I spent a whole lot of time playing as The Silent. Some benefits to this spooky huntress being my slayer of choice (other than the cool shiv tokens I get to add to my board) is that her character is one of the few that deviates the least from the original game.

Nothing about characters’ core archetype is disrupted and you can still run all of your established STS builds, but in the interest of refining the board game’s balance, some of the values on their cards are changed slightly. This is no biggie for a new player, but if you’ve played Slay the Spire so much that you can calculate your damage and defense without even reading card descriptions, you’ll probably have a bit of brain fart while adjusting to these subtle differences. In the meantime, my advice would be to not rely on your game knowledge and instead embrace the old adage of “reading the card explains the card.”

Should you buy Slay the Spire the Board Game?

Do you have tens of hours of playtime on Slay the Spire? Do you have room in your heart and on your bookshelf for a new co-op board game? Do you have $115 you can afford to spend on said board game? If you’ve answered yes to all three of these questions, add Slay the Spire the Board Game to your basket immediately. I’m serious, put it in. It belongs there. You won’t regret it.

As for everyone else, the answer is just a tad more complicated. Intuitively, there’s a little less of a draw for STS newbies, but I have no doubt they would have plenty of fun playing Slay the Spire the Board Game. The manual provides a gentle ramp for players to become deckbuilding experts and thankfully, Slay the Spire isn’t particularly lore-heavy so you can enjoy all the bizarre monsters and NPCs at face value.  

Regardless of your experience with the source material, if you enjoy deckbuilders, strategy games, the luck-of-the-draw, and that intoxicating “one more round” feeling, Slay the Spire the Board Game is for you.

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How we tested Slay the Spire the Board Game

Our reviewer played multiple sessions of Slay the Spire the Board Game to get the most comprehensive impression of how the game functions. They worked to replicate, as far as possible, the average player’s experience and in doing so they played with those who were familiar with the source material and those who were not. As well as this, they made sure to trial both the single player and multiplayer versions of the game.

You can learn more about our process via the GamesRadar+ review policy, or by visiting our guide to how we test board games.

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