The best PC games of 2018: Slay the Spire

There’s rarely a right answer when it comes to Slay the Spire. Every decision has the potential to make or break a run in the roguelike deckbuilder, and a choice made half an hour ago can come back to bite you when you least expect it. It’s a game that takes away more than it gives, which only makes it more difficult to explain why it’s so hard to stop playing. But when things do go right, the game can quickly transform from cruel overlord into a combo-driven power fantasy, more ruthless than any other card game I’ve played this year. Each run starts with a choice of character class. The powerful Ironclad comes with a healing passive that allows for aggressive, high-cost moves. The deadly Silent is a master of fast, low-cost attacks, but can also wield an arsenal of deadly poison cards. And the Defect is a machine gone rogue, requiring a careful balancing act of its Orb abilities to whittle down its opponents. Each of these classes has its own unique cards that play to its strengths, but managing these cards and learning the game’s synergies are crucial if you’re to find success.