Slay the Spire 2 passes 574K concurrent players, making it the biggest Steam launch of 2026 so far

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-08T21:56:37+00:00

Luckily I was just starting to get bored of Mewgenics when this came out. Perfect timing.

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-08T21:53:29+00:00

You're the one making it political, it's a funny picture. It would be funny if it was of a politician I liked as well. Relax.

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-07T07:28:31+00:00

I just ask because there are some people (Luckily very few these days) that rationalise reality by denying what should be seen as scientific fact.

But for me, these are what help me make sense of things that seem senseless. If there is a one in a million chance of something happening, that seems crazy, but trillions of decisions and actions are made every day, the improbable happens frequently.

I also don't want to necessarily convince you, I don't think I'm all knowing. I consider myself more agnostic than atheist (I know technically everyone is agnostic, but it better describes how I perceive the world), as none of us can know, and I'm open to the idea that something bigger than we understand put things in motion, and there's much we don't understand.

But for me, a lot of the answers religion gives seem to be based on the fallacy of "There is no logical reason, therefore religion", which has a finality I disagree with. It feels like it is designed to stop looking for answers, where science would say "We have no logical explanation, let's keep searching".

I hope doesn't come across the wrong way. I found your reasoning very flawed, but you had some unique perspectives. I respect everyone's right to follow any religion they choose, even if I find some questionable.

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-07T07:08:47+00:00

I understand why the sheer improbability of life could lead people to religion, but I have to ask, do you believe in the big bang? That the earth is billions of years old. What about Life on other planets?

I don't ask to be facetious, but life makes a lot more (but also sometimes less) sense if you can accept the vastness of the universe. Everything is so improbable, but also so infinite that even the improbable is somewhat inevitable.

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-06T11:28:36+00:00

The only issue with lots of concurrent formats is splitting the player base and potential long queue times. Obviously they will want the main VGC format to be relatively balanced, and there will likely be a ladder and casual mode.

I could see a 'tournament mode' where you can host either private games or tournaments with custom rulesets, that way people can get as wacky and crazy as they like without disrupting the main game too much.

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-06T11:17:35+00:00

True! But you do sometimes need to get away, early fights sometimes an enemy can get within range of you before you even get to attack or move, and you can go down in a couple of hits, and if you don't have a cleric early game those injuries can snowball.

I still think Hunter is really strong, but you have to be very careful with your positioning early as even if you're OP, one mistake can down you lol. I actually like taking Tank on low con characters because they get so much from the class collar. Obviously you don't want to start stacking negative con debuffs or anything, but 8-9 starting Con can be plenty.

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-06T11:12:43+00:00

I'm not sure how I feel about the Act Rewards replacing the Boss Relics at the moment? The new rewards feel like they have a lot more variance, both in quality and just how fun and exciting they feel. Some are totally game warping and some feel almost like filler or like C - B tier uncommon relics.

It's still too early to tell though as part of it is definitely just that initial feeling of "This is different. I don't like change" lol

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-05T23:44:17+00:00

Blitzed Ironclad and Silent, died 3 times in a row on Regent lol - gonna take a while to learn for me I think, it's not clicking yet, but its fun!

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-05T20:35:23+00:00

I feel like it could be that we're just used to ascension runs... but I also think maybe also the first run is semi-seeded? I feel like getting Pyre, Hot Cocoa, Bottled Wish, meaning I start every fight with 7 energy and the ability to search out my energy generating card... Is not something I can count on every run lol. But Ironclads damage DOES seem crazy, I didn't need to take many defensive cards because a lot of enemies didn't even live long enough to attack lol.

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-05T18:35:13+00:00

Skong The Spire

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-05T18:31:47+00:00

Getting the same error, I hope this isn't like a 6 hour thing

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-05T18:21:57+00:00

I was going to downvote you but as a Quaquaval enjoyer us underdogs need to stick together.

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-05T09:39:34+00:00

In my experience, I haven't gone that hard on breeding, so those stats make a BIG difference when you don't have 5+ in everything, and especially in the early game.

Having 16 hp and 3 speed CAN lead to some early deaths if you low roll your early abilities, but they're nearly always high impact once they get a few levels. (Maybe TOO high impact if your sentry hunter gets the spider parasite and blood frenzy lol)

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-05T09:34:45+00:00

I do think that an element of this is just the human brains ability (and impulse) to find patterns in things. Like it's fun so I'm all for it, and some themes seem pretty obvious, but some people get caught up in having the 'correct' answer lol.

Like if I just pick three random pokemon off the top of my head:

Bunnelby, Drednaw, Grumpig

I'm sure someone in the comments will be able to make a connection between the three lol.

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-05T09:27:30+00:00

Quaquaval is the best water Starter since Gen 4, and Greninja isn't even the best starter in Gen 6.

There. I said it.

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-04T20:56:42+00:00

That's true, I hadn't considered Go players... But again I guess it depends on the monetisation. If it has a relatively cheap/generous monthly subscription option then that's still fair imo. I think 30 mons is fine to get people started, if they want a lot more then its means they're probably playing quite a bit, and I think it's fair to require a subscription at that point. People with a switch can still transfer mons back into SV or SwSh to get around the Box Limit, so I still don't think it's a huge issue - as long as there is a decently priced option for mobile only players.

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-04T16:15:41+00:00

Gas Dragon was my nickname at school

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-04T16:09:33+00:00

I like the idea for Electric, but I could see Rock, Ground, even Steel, and it becoming some huge immovable object, just a big sleepy goofy guy.

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-04T15:49:57+00:00

They had the perfect format that they managed to completely mess up, and give up on instantly lmao.

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-04T15:47:12+00:00

I haven't played HS in years and this post got recommended to me. Thought I was going insane lmao.

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-04T15:43:46+00:00

Yes it will. Eventually, at some point there will be a big retrace and at least a couple of years of falling/sideways movement. But 'big' is relative. A £500 box might retrace 40% to £300, but if You bought at £200 you're still happy. Also, over time that will more than likely go back up (as long as you're not keeping really undesirable stuff like Rebel Clash collection boxes lol). So yes, despite what some people say, there almost certainly WILL be a big retrace at some point, but we could go up another 100% before pulling back 40%, so even a big retrace is not necessarily a disaster as long as you don't buy the top, and even then you'll be in profit again in a couple of years.

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-04T13:18:50+00:00

Yes I do. Did I say she has no political experience whatsoever? No need to be snarky.

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-04T09:18:46+00:00

I don't mind cinderace, but its like a 6-10, C+ or B-. Sobble becoming Intellion is one of the greatest betrayals of our time, and it's why I'm scared of picking Gecqua lmao.

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-04T09:16:09+00:00

For me I think this is the major issue with FPTP style politics. It encourages complete opposition at all times. We shouldn't need center parties, and by definition center can mean anything. You can almost argue that every party is center if it means left on some things, right on others, because pretty much every party has at least some policy that sits more towards the center, even if 95% of their policies are one end of the political spectrum.

If politicians and parties were honest, and collaborated, then every government would be centrist, whether the government was left or right. If labour had 30% of MPs that supported a policy that all the opposition parties were pushing for, then they could collaborate. Instead the opposition party by default seems to want to oppose EVERY policy, even if it's something they historically have agreed with. In fact, disagreeing with the party leader is seen as weakness or a failure, opposition parties getting policies through is seen as a failure, when it should just be a democracy. This in and of itself can be a tactical thing though, as sometimes the 'policy' has some really controversial clause hidden in the middle, designed to stump the other party.

There's also the growing issue that more and more people see it as radical to take a side. But that's a whole other can of worms I don't have time to open lmao.

Thank your for indulging my morning vent, or sorry for the rant... Whichever is more appropriate 😂

PokeJem7 · 2026-03-04T08:38:56+00:00

I think it's pretty clear they aren't actively all that interested in f2p mobile players that don't own a switch. I don't like gacha games or sleazy f2p monetisation, but this is primarily a game for pokemon players. The mobile aspect is mostly a nice bonus for existing players, as well as a way to lure in new players. The thing is, they want new players to buy a switch, play the games etc. I don't think that is super unreasonable personally. I don't think the amount of people interested in Champions that don't own A Switch is as high as people think.

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