Slay the Spire's long-awaited fourth character is entering the beta build of the game now, introducing a whole new deckbuilding option alongside the game's already established and refined trio of adventurers. Slay the Spire is the Steam smash-hit deckbuilding game that propelled itself to unexpected success following several high-profile card game streamers picking the game up and speaking highly of it, and developer MegaCrit Games has wasted little time in pouring more energy into creating something long-lasting.
So far, Slay the Spire has found glory wherever it has landed. It's official release in January 2019 marked a resurgence in popularity after its visibility wavered during early access, and a Switch port brought the game back into the spotlight this summer. For those unfamiliar, Slay the Spire is part of the deckbuilding game genre, which tasks players with navigating a series of increasingly difficult enemies - basically, AI-controlled players who also have decks - while simultaneously acquiring and sometimes discarding cards for their own deck. The result is a game with millions of permutations that has inherent replay value, something that has made its port to the Nintendo Switch, built for long periods of travel and potential bordeom, even more potent than other indie games that have made the leap to the platform.
Things will get a lot more complex soon, as Slay the Spire is also beta testing its fourth character now. The company announced on Twitter and on the game's Steam page that the Slay the Spire new character is available now, although players have to the Defect unlocked before accessing it. Alongside the addition of a new Slay the Spire fourth character, MegaCrit has added new relics and potions, while also reworking the Fire Breathing card, an item that had received some criticism from players for being imbalanced.
Not much is known about the new character and it's going to take some time for players to truly explore their potential, but it's an exciting addition to a game that's really made a name for itself in an emergent genre. Slay the Spire has been praised as one of the best deck-building games available and, provided its new fourth character doesn't imbalance the game too much, it will merely be adding more reasons to the slew of them that entice players to give the game a try every day.
Slay the Spire's fourth character is also an example of additional content done right. The beta build of the character has been added as free DLC, essentially, since the beta is available to everyone and only needs to be opted into through the BETAS tab in the game. With card games continuing to increase in popularity both at tabletop settings and on digital platforms, Slay the Spire remains poised to make a name for itself and its developer by the time the dust settles around whether or not the genre can sustain a wider fanbase.
Source: MegaCrit/Twitter
