You know that feeling. It’s 2 AM. You’ve got three energy left, a hand full of Shivs, and a Time Eater looking at you like you’re a snack. You lose. You immediately click "New Run." That loop—that specific, agonizing, "just one more floor" addiction—is what everyone is chasing when they look for a games like Slay the Spire.
MegaCrit didn't just make a game in 2017; they basically built a new genre out of cardboard and math. Since then, the Steam storefront has been absolutely flooded with deck-building roguelikes. Some are brilliant. Some are basically just Slay the Spire with a fresh coat of paint and worse UI. Honestly, finding the good stuff is getting harder because the market is so saturated.
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People think the magic is just "cards + map + permadeath." It isn't. The magic is in the balance. It’s the way a single Relic like Dead Branch can turn a mediocre run into a god-tier power trip. If you’re looking for that same high, you have to look past the art style and see how the math works under the hood.
Why Monster Train is the Only Real Rival
If we're talking about the heavy hitters, Monster Train is usually the first name people drop. For good reason. It’s probably the most successful games like Slay the Spire because it doesn't try to copy the "one lane" combat. Instead, you're defending a train with four different floors. It’s vertical. It’s chaotic.
The scaling in Monster Train is much faster than in Spire. In Spire, doing 50 damage is a big deal. In Monster Train, if you aren't doing 500 damage by the final boss, you're basically dead on arrival. Shiny Shoe, the developers, leaned into the "broken" feeling. They let you imbue units with the powers of other units. It feels like you're cheating, but the game is balanced around you being an absolute monster.
It’s less about "slow and steady" and more about "how fast can I break this engine?" If you find Spire a bit too dry or punishing, this is the logical next step.
The Roguelike Deckbuilder Identity Crisis
The genre is currently having a bit of a moment where it's trying to figure out what else it can be. Take Wildfrost, for example. It came out and immediately punched everyone in the face with its difficulty. It’s cute. Adorable, actually. But it is brutal.
Unlike Spire, where your character is a static thing that plays cards, Wildfrost focuses on unit positioning. It’s more like a tactical board game. You have a "Counter" system where units only attack every few turns. If you miscount by one, your leader gets smashed and the run ends. It’s less about deck bloating and more about precision.
Then you have Balatro.
I can't talk about games like Slay the Spire without mentioning the poker-shaped elephant in the room. Balatro proved that you don't even need "combat" to make a deckbuilder work. You’re just playing poker hands. But the Jokers—those are your Relics. The way they interact is pure Spire DNA. LocalThunk, the developer, mentioned in several interviews that he didn't even play many deckbuilders before making it, yet he tapped into that exact same dopamine loop. It's about the multiplier. The "X Mult." It’s math, but it’s math that feels like winning at a slot machine.
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Balatro's Secret Sauce
What makes it feel like Spire isn't the cards; it's the "skips." In Spire, you might skip a card reward to keep your deck thin. In Balatro, you might skip a whole blind to get a specific Tag. That tension—giving up immediate power for a potential future explosion—is the core of the genre.
Wildcards and Weird Mechanics
Across the Obelisk is what happens when you want to play Spire but you have three friends who also want to play. It’s a co-op deckbuilder. It’s incredibly deep, maybe too deep for some. You’re managing four different decks at once. It’s a lot. But it fills a niche that Spire never touched: the RPG party dynamic.
And then there's Inscryption.
Daniel Mullins is a genius, frankly. Inscryption starts as a creepy deckbuilder in a cabin, but it's actually an ARG (Alternate Reality Game) wrapped in a meta-narrative. If you want a games like Slay the Spire that will actually make you feel slightly uneasy and question your life choices, that’s the one. The mechanics are solid, but the atmosphere is what carries it. You’re sacrificing squirrels to play wolves. It’s dark. It’s tactile. You can almost smell the old wood and dried blood.
Tactical Spinoffs
- Midnight Suns: This is Marvel's take on the genre. High budget, big names, but the core is deck management. It’s more of a tactical RPG, but the "card draw" RNG is what dictates your strategy every turn.
- Griftlands: Klei Entertainment focused on the "story" part. You can talk your way out of fights using a separate "negotiation" deck. It’s two games in one. It’s brilliant, though it can feel a bit wordy if you just want to kill monsters.
- Cobalt Core: Think Slay the Spire but you’re in a spaceship and you have to dodge left and right to avoid enemy lasers. It’s short, punchy, and the music is incredible.
The Math Behind the Fun
Why do we keep coming back? It's the "Perfect Information" vs. "RNG" balance. In Slay the Spire, you see exactly what the enemy is going to do. The "Intent" system was revolutionary. Most games like Slay the Spire use this now because it removes the frustration of "unfair" deaths. If you die, it’s usually because you built a bad deck or played your cards wrong, not because the game cheated.
Expert players like LifeCoach or Baalorlord can win at the highest difficulty (Ascension 20) with incredible consistency. That’s the hallmark of a good deckbuilder. It shouldn't be a coin flip. It should be a puzzle that you occasionally don't have the pieces to solve, but usually, you just missed the solution.
Many newer games fail because they make the cards too complex. Spire’s "Strike" card does 6 damage. That’s it. It’s simple. Complexity should emerge from the interaction between cards, not the text on a single card. When a game requires you to read a paragraph for every card in your hand, the flow breaks.
What to Play Based on Your Mood
If you want something fast and "broken," go with Monster Train. The DLC adding the Divinity boss is a must-have, honestly.
If you want to feel like a mathematical genius, Balatro is the play. It’s the "purest" version of the deck-building high we’ve seen in years. Just be prepared to lose your entire afternoon to it.
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If you want a challenge that feels like a tactical puzzle, Wildfrost or Cobalt Core. Both require you to think about "where" your units are, not just "what" they are.
For those who want a long-form RPG experience, Across the Obelisk or Tainted Grail: Conquest. The latter is a weird, dark-fantasy hybrid that feels a bit like Diablo met Slay the Spire in a dark alley. It’s atmospheric and clunky in a way that actually kind of works.
Actionable Steps for the Aspiring Deckbuilder
Stop looking for a "perfect" clone. You won't find one. MegaCrit caught lightning in a bottle. Instead, look for the "twist" that appeals to you.
- Check the "Recent" Tab on Steam: Roguelike deckbuilders are a dime a dozen, but look for "Overwhelmingly Positive" reviews. The community is very vocal about balance issues.
- Master the "Skip": In almost every game in this genre, the biggest mistake beginners make is taking too many cards. Learn to say no. A lean deck is a consistent deck.
- Watch the Pros: Before you give up on a game because it feels "too hard," watch a high-level run on YouTube. Usually, there's a mechanic you're ignoring (like Exhaust in Spire or Burn in Monster Train) that is actually the key to winning.
- Try the Demos: Because this genre is so popular with indie devs, almost every games like Slay the Spire has a free demo during Steam Next Fest. Use them.
The genre isn't dying; it's evolving. We're seeing it merge with fighting games, racing games, and even dating sims. But at the end of the day, it all comes back to that one core question: "If I play this card, do I survive the next turn?"
The answer is usually "maybe," and that's why we keep playing.