Let’s get one thing out of the way: I’m not a fan of digital card games.

When I saw some of my friends flocking towards games like Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering Arena, I didn’t even feel slightly interested. When I first saw gameplay of Slay the Spire, I wasn’t impressed either.

Then I gave it a try and oh boy, I’m glad I did.

Slay the Spire is another one of those genre soup games. At its core, it’s a deck-building card game but it also has turn-based RPG and roguelike elements. It’s a strange combination that ends up working very well in building a captivating game.

The player’s objective is to climb up the titular Spire and attain the bountiful rewards found at the top. On your way up, you’ll meet a variety of interesting and challenging foes. Like most roguelikes, dying means you start from the beginning but you also keep some of the rewards you gained.

What truly makes Slay the Spire‘s deck-building addictive is the sheer simplicity of it. Don’t get me wrong, there’s depth in the game, especially when you get a good card engine and combo going with zero-cost cards.

I died a lot but each time I did, I learnt something new and it kept me wanting to go for another climb. That’s the price for climbing the spire: death, rewards, and insight on how to eventually break the game. It’s what the developers would have wanted.