Slay the Spire, the acclaimed deck-building roguelike game, arrived on Apple Arcade Friday, and it’s ready to take up hours of your life. If you subscribe to Apple Arcade ($5, £5 or AU$8 a month), you can play this game at no additional charge, and without ads or in-app purchases (hence this version being called “Slay the Spire Plus” on the App Store).
The game was developed by Meta Crit Games, and was nominated for a number of awards, including for outstanding achievement in game design and strategy/simulation game of the year at the 2020 D.I.C.E. Awards.
In Slay the Spire, you choose from four different characters and start at the bottom of a map, then work your way through different locations until you reach the big boss at the top. The map changes each time you start a new game, too, so each game is different.
As you make your way to the top you build your deck — each character has a different set of cards with their own unique mechanics — and fight monsters in turn-based combat, all while avoiding booby-trapped treasure along the way. Or you can try to deal with the consequences of the trap: I swiped some treasure and ran away from a boulder, like Indiana Jones, but ended up getting crushed and lost a lot of health. I would not recommend this.
Each new game takes about an hour to complete, but the changing nature of the map gives the game a lot of replayability. There’s also a daily challenge and a custom game mode if you want something more difficult.
You can access this game, and many others, in Apple Arcade for $5 a month, or $60 annually. You can also try Apple Arcade for free for one month with your first sign-up, or you can get a three-month free trial when you buy a new Apple device. To access Apple Arcade, open the App Store on your iOS device and tap the joystick in the menu bar.
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