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Slay the Spire

Hacker Approved

Ranked 2 of 3 roguelike deckbuilders by recommenders

Well-regarded strategy roguelite that started a wave of similar games and runs well on Mac and while traveling. Critics note bugs reported in the original game.

Well-regarded strategy roguelite that started a wave of similar games and runs well on Mac and while traveling. Critics note bugs reported in the original game.

16 people gave an opinion

recommend it
14
criticize it
2
approval share
88%
Each figure is one person. RecommendsCriticizes

Recommended in 9 of 13 months

  1. November 2025: not recommended
  2. December 2025: not recommended
  3. January 2026: recommended
  4. February 2026: recommended
  5. March 2026: recommended
  6. April 2026: recommended
  7. May 2026: recommended
  8. June 2026: recommended
  9. July 2026: not recommended
  10. August 2026: recommended
  11. September 2026: recommended
  12. October 2026: recommended
  13. November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)

Why it carries the badge

  • 14 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
  • 7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
  • Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.

The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works

What people say about it

The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.

Why people recommend it

Each mark is one comment

  • Favorite game for several reviewers

    “I put solid time into Graveyard Keeper and Slay the Spire.”

    Comment from 21 Feb 2026 in “Inscryption made me nostalgic for retro card Games, so I made one”

    “STS1 and STS2 are my favorite games”

    Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “Correlated randomness in Slay the Spire 2”
  • Genre-starting strategy roguelite

    “Slay the Spire kicked off a wave of strategy roguelites.”

    Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “PlayStation 2 Recompilation Project Is Absolutely Incredible”

    “Original, phenomenal games covering damm near every genre”

    Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “PlayStation 2 Recompilation Project Is Absolutely Incredible”

    “you can succeed spectacularly with genuinely good games like Balatro or Slay the Spire”

    Comment from 18 Oct 2026 in “The game industry is broken – can we fix it?”
  • Runs smoothly, good for travel

    “I use it during travel to play indie games like Hades II or Slay the Spire, and it works really well”

    Comment from 12 Mar 2026 in “Big Data on the Cheapest MacBook”

    “very popular indie games like Slay the Spire run natively on Mac”

    Comment from 22 Oct 2026 in “Why Windows 11 still ships with Windows 95's memory manager hidden inside it”

    “Those games run with no difficulties.”

    Comment from 12 May 2026 in “Googlebook: Designed for Gemini Intelligence – Coming Fall 2026 – Googlebook”

What people warn about

Each mark is one comment

  • Bugs reported in the original game

    “They did not address it in StS1, exactly the same bugs were reported there.”

    Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “Correlated randomness in Slay the Spire 2”

Other roguelike deckbuilders people recommend

The two most recommended other roguelike deckbuilders, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.

Slay the Spire compared with 2 alternatives
ProductRecommendCriticizeApprovalMonthsOwnedBadge
Balatro31294%11—Approved
Slay the SpireThis page14288%9—Approved
Slay the Spire 29660%4——
See all 3 roguelike deckbuilders, ranked

What people said

14 of the 19 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.

“very popular indie games like Slay the Spire run natively on Mac”

RecommendsComment from 22 Oct 2026 in “Why Windows 11 still ships with Windows 95's memory manager hidden inside it”

“you can succeed spectacularly with genuinely good games like Balatro or Slay the Spire”

RecommendsComment from 18 Oct 2026 in “The game industry is broken – can we fix it?”

“play a surprisingly large number of AAA and indie games, from Resident Evil VIII to Slay the Spire”

MixedComment from 29 Sep 2026 in “PS5 Relapse Exploit”

“STS1 and STS2 are my favorite games”

RecommendsComment from 16 Jun 2026 in “Correlated randomness in Slay the Spire 2”

“They did not address it in StS1, exactly the same bugs were reported there.”

MixedComment from 16 Jun 2026 in “Correlated randomness in Slay the Spire 2”

“it can be exciting to have an outrageously unlikely starting state or early option”

RecommendsComment from 16 Jun 2026 in “Correlated randomness in Slay the Spire 2”

“Those games run with no difficulties.”

RecommendsComment from 12 May 2026 in “Googlebook: Designed for Gemini Intelligence – Coming Fall 2026 – Googlebook”

“Slay the Spire's success is proof of!”

RecommendsComment from 24 Apr 2026 in “"Ender's Game" and other stories: editors don't know why they reject stories”

“StS1 ran better under wine than natively.”

CriticizesComment from 11 Apr 2026 in “France Launches Government Linux Desktop Plan as Windows Exit Begins”

“has a wonderful modding scene”

RecommendsComment from 7 Apr 2026 in “LÖVE: 2D Game Framework for Lua”

“I use it during travel to play indie games like Hades II or Slay the Spire, and it works really well”

RecommendsComment from 12 Mar 2026 in “Big Data on the Cheapest MacBook”

“I put solid time into Graveyard Keeper and Slay the Spire.”

RecommendsComment from 21 Feb 2026 in “Inscryption made me nostalgic for retro card Games, so I made one”

“Slay the Spire kicked off a wave of strategy roguelites.”

RecommendsComment from 30 Jan 2026 in “PlayStation 2 Recompilation Project Is Absolutely Incredible”

“Original, phenomenal games covering damm near every genre”

RecommendsComment from 29 Jan 2026 in “PlayStation 2 Recompilation Project Is Absolutely Incredible”

Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.