Slay the Spire is probably one of the most addictive games that I've ever played regardless of genre. The gameplay is complex and the presentation is attractive. One of the best things about it is how fast you can make headway in the game--it can give an amazing sense of flow. I've played it for about 107 hours, putting almost 72 hours of that time into the Ironclad character, with about 12 hours in the other three character types. I've got about half of the achievements, though honestly I'm not the kind of player who really goes in for them much. I would describe myself as an experienced though not especially talented gamer, having played many games on both PCs and consoles. I feel like I'm representative perhaps of the high-mid tier of gamer, and I play 20 hours a week, sometimes more. Now, after playing this game for so much time, I have only gotten 13 victories and 205 deaths--just over a 5% success rate. Considering there is no real progression system like say Dead Cells or Neon Abyss, so when you lose, you have little to show for it considering the unlockables are all sorted after the first 10 hours or so. Basically, I hate this game--specifically, I hate the emotional experience of playing this game. Most of the time, I end runs wanting to scream in frustration; or actually screaming. I have seen reviewers say most of their losses to their own lack of skill and yes, I admit this is true. I'm no genius. Most of my deaths were surely due to my own mistakes. But the RNG (random number generation) elements of the game lead to a great amount of my losses in 2 areas: Oftentimes I can tell by THE MAP that I'm doomed to fail. Other times, I get TERRIBLE DEALS, even early on in Act 1 before deck-building can be a factor. Addiction isn't enjoyment. I don't play games for constant failure; that is what real life is for. I play them for power fantasy or as stress relief. I only recommend this if you are OK with losing 90%+ with no tangible progression.
