Why Slay the Spire 2’s Familiarity Works Right Now

When Slay the Spire 2 was announced, there was no question of whether I’d play it. I knew I would in an instant. The original had taken up an unreasonable amount of my time across a variety of platforms, and getting more of the same experience felt like an easy “yes, please”.

After spending time with it, that hasn’t changed. What did surprise me, though, was just how positively other players seemed to be responding to it.

We Used to Be Much Harder on Sequels

My surprise doesn’t come from the fact that it’s not good, but because I am not convinced it would’ve landed the same way before. Not too long ago, games would be regularly picked apart for not doing enough. We’ve seen it happen with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, where even a massive continuation and expansion of previous ideas led to endless discussions about how the games feel too similar.

Even Hades II, despite building on one of the most beloved indie games in the past decade, didn’t fully escape conversations around similarity, even though it had a lot of differences from its predecessor. Either way, many players have an underlying expectation that a sequel needs to justify its existence by being noticeably different.

A lot of the change in discourse comes down to how different the current gaming landscape feels. New AAA releases are getting more expensive. On top of that, we’ve seen plenty of live service experiments failing to find their footing, early access titles that promise more than they can deliver, and a barrage of AI slop, served up by some of the biggest developers. This strengthens the general sense that not every game is worth committing to.

A few years ago, players were more willing to take risks. When games didn’t push far enough beyond what came before, they were more critical. Familiarity was often equated with a lack of ambition, and it most definitely wasn’t seen as a strength. Whilst this mindset hasn’t disappeared entirely, it has lessened. Instead of pushing against familiarity, many players are actively looking for it.

How the State of the World Impacts the State of Play

I believe that the economic uncertainty a lot of us are facing plays a much bigger part in this than we might initially think. Between rising costs of living and wages that aren't quite keeping up, we are influenced in how we spend our money. Games are not exempt from this, making us ultimately more selective about what we spend on.

Slay the Spire 2 fits into this shift perfectly because it doesn’t ask us to take risks, but it doesn't need to. The original has proven just how addictive the core gameplay loop is, which carries a lot of weight when you're trying to decide where to spend your money and time. New cards, new enemies, and new characters are revolutionary enough to keep things interesting without disrupting what made the game work.

At the same time, what we play on matters a lot more than maybe ever before. The idea of having a fully up-to-date gaming setup is becoming less realistic for many, with how unpredictable hardware pricing has become. GPUs and RAM aren’t getting cheaper, and even smaller upgrades feel like a huge investment.

This becomes more complicated when we consider the diversity in setups. A lot of players are playing on older laptops, Steam Decks, or even their phones. I know that I have spent a surprising amount of time with Slay the Spire on my phone, as it’s one of the rare games that feels just as natural there as on PC.

Lowering the barrier to entry is most likely going to become even more important in the future. When a game works across multiple platforms, it lowers the barrier of entry. That’s something a lot of bigger titles struggle with, even when they’re not particularly demanding on paper. Slay the Spire 2 doesn’t rely on cutting-edge hardware; it exists comfortably within the limits most people already have, making it easier to engage with.

Familiarity Feels Different Now

All of this ties back into how we look at sequels in a broader sense. “Too similar” was one of the most common criticisms a sequel could receive; anything that didn’t evolve a formula in a significant way was a missed opportunity, and whilst that expectation still exists, it does so on a much smaller level.

The gaming market is so saturated that it’s not just about whether a game does something new, but whether it does something well. There’s a growing appreciation for games that are thoughtfully building on their existing ideas instead of just chasing constant reinvention. And for a gaming market where most game studios have to work increasingly harder to survive, this is a huge relief. Darkest Dungeon 2 tried shaking things up, but ultimately failed to capture its audience in the same way the predecessor did.

You can see a similar pattern in the growing popularity of remakes. Nostalgia has been on the rise for years, and companies understand this. Look at Nintendo, with their recent release of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, or Square Enix with their ever-growing list of Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy remakes. Ultimately, recapturing a certain feeling and providing escapism in times when life felt simpler is much needed. It’s easy to dismiss that as playing it safe, but it’s undeniable that it’s also meeting a lot of players where they are.

Slay the Spire 2 does that. It builds on something familiar, expands it enough to keep it engaging, and delivers a consistent experience, all whilst being in early access. In a time when many games ask you to take a risk before they prove themselves, Mega Crit understood what players needed without overcomplicating it.