The Neowsletter - January 2026

Happy Slay the Spire 2 year, everyone!

Tomorrow, January 23rd, 2026, is the 7th anniversary of Slay the Spire's 1.0 launch! Also, in just a couple of months, it will have been 8.5~ years between the early access launches of Slay the Spire 1 and Slay the Spire 2. If you've been with us since the very beginning of this journey then that means you're at least 9 years old, probably. Maybe even 10. Thank you to all of the Slayers who have stuck with us for all of these years and to those who are just now tuning in. The next phase of Spire slaying is just around the corner!

In the meantime, let's take a look at...

The Evolution of Slay the Spire 2's Content

Since it's been over a year since we started teasing StS2 content, we figured now is a good time to check back in on what some of it looks like now. We did warn you it was all subject to change! Things will evolve even further with all of your feedback throughout early access, of course, but we figured we'd let you get some last minute speculation in.

One of the very first new cards we teased back in November of 2024 was "Gold Axe." While it excited people even in its initial state, it's since seen a buff with the removal of its Exhaust keyword and a reduction in its Energy cost. Not pictured: we still have shiny VFX based on the rarity of card rewards, though it has been toned down from what you see on the left.

On the other hand, "Rolling Boulder," a card we teased this past July was indeed seeming a bit too OP. Its base damage and scaling damage have now both been slashed in half. We'll see what you all think of it soon enough--that is if it doesn't get changed again in the meantime.

This "Bodyguard" card that we showed off this past October was actually The Necrobinder's unique starter card, but it has since been totally reworked. While it has the same art, it now goes by a new name, "Unleash," and has a completely different mechanic. Perhaps we'll see the old card again in some form or another... and perhaps the new card will undergo its own evolution someday.

On a slightly different note, the placeholder event art that we teased for our war historian friend Repy has been updated (as well as the event text and options)! The original art certainly had its own charm, though. RIP beta Repy, gone but not forgotten.

And last but (maybe) not least, let's take a look behind the curtain at some out of context alpha patch notes, since you soon will in fact have the context for them.

Localization Applications

We have begun to localize Slay the Spire 2 into several different languages already (French, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Thai), but we are now looking to onboard some translators for other languages. If you are interested in helping to localize Slay the Spire 2 as well as our Neowsletters and potentially other important announcements, please apply here!

Spire Spotting

Now it's time to take a trip to the Spire to revisit last month's mystery monster!

Let's see what hypotheses you all submitted this time around...

The award for most out-of-the-box guess goes to eneija for this... aardvark-like creature!

The award for most accurate