Slay the Spire

Slay the Spire is the game that defined the deck-building roguelike. You climb a tower one floor at a time, building a deck of cards from what you find, and every run is a different set of choices about which cards, relics, and risks to take. Mega Crit released it into Early Access in late 2017 and finished it in January 2019, and years later it is still the reference point every game in the genre gets measured against. It is also on almost everything: PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, iOS, and Android.

The catch is the one that bites portable players hardest. There is no cross-save anywhere, and the mobile version is worse than that: the standalone iOS app will not even sync between your own iPhone and iPad. Climb to a high Ascension level on one device and that progress lives on that device, full stop.

Game overview

Each run is a climb through three acts of a tower, fighting up through monsters, elites, and a boss on each act. Combat is turn-based and built on the cards in your hand: you spend energy to play attacks and skills, the enemy telegraphs its intent, and you respond. Between fights you collect new cards and relics that reshape how your deck plays, and a single good relic can turn a struggling run into an unstoppable one.

The depth is in the progression. Beat the game and you open Ascension levels, twenty rising tiers of added difficulty that change how you build and play, plus a daily climb and custom runs. There are four playable characters, each with a different card pool, so the game keeps opening up for a long time after the first win.

It is single-player. The PC version has community multiplayer mods on the Steam Workshop, but those are unofficial and unsupported.

Where you can play it

Almost everywhere, which is part of the appeal and part of the trap.

On PC it is on Steam, across Windows, macOS, and Linux. It is Steam Deck Verified now, after the V2.3 patch in 2022 added full controller support through Steam Input. On the Deck it is excellent.

On console it is on Switch (since June 2019), PS4 (since May 2019), and Xbox One (since August 2019). The PlayStation and Xbox versions run on PS5 and Series consoles through backward compatibility rather than native builds, which is fine for a game this light but worth knowing. Humble published the console versions.

On mobile it is on iOS and Android as full ports, not trimmed ones. The iOS and Android apps are one-time purchases. There is also a separate Apple Arcade edition, Slay the Spire+, which is a different app included with the subscription. The touch interface is reworked for phones and works well.

One clarification, because the names are close: this page is the original Slay the Spire. Slay the Spire 2 is a separate, newer game that entered Steam Early Access on PC in March 2026. The original is the one that has shipped to every console and phone, and it is complete.

Cross-saves and keeping your progress

This is the honest flag, and it is the most misremembered fact about the game.

There is no cross-platform save transfer in the original Slay the Spire, on any platform. Steam Cloud syncs your save only between your own PCs and the Steam Deck. Console saves stay on their console family. And mobile is the sharpest edge of all: the standalone iOS app does not sync between your own iPhone and iPad, let alone to a PC or a Switch. Android keeps its own cloud save inside Android, with no bridge out.

So if you reach a high Ascension level on your Switch or your phone and assume you can continue that climb on your PC later, you cannot. The progression is tied to the device you earned it on.

There is one community workaround, an unofficial GitHub tool that copies saves between PC and Android. It is third-party and unsupported, and it is not something to trust with a run you care about. The reliable approach is to pick the platform you play on most and keep your climb there.

Within a single device the saving is excellent. The game saves mid-combat, so you can quit in the middle of a fight and resume on the same turn. That is what makes it such a good fit for short, broken-up sessions.

Features that matter on the move

• Pause-anywhere, mid-fight. It saves inside combat, so a commute or a boarding call never costs you a turn. Close it, reopen it, carry on.
• Steam Deck Verified. Full controller support since the 2022 patch, and a light game that sips battery.
• Full game on every platform. The console and mobile ports are complete, including the Ascension ladder and the daily climb, not cut-down versions.
• No real-time pressure. It is turn-based and the enemy shows its intent, so it plays well in noisy, distracting places.
• Single-player and offline. No connection needed once installed, on any version.

Recommended setup

On PC or Steam Deck, the 8BitDo Pro 2 is a strong pad if you prefer a controller to mouse-and-keyboard; the Steam Input scheme is clean. On Switch, the Switch Pro Controller is the comfortable docked option, though handheld with the Joy-Cons is fine for a game with no reflex demands.

The real setup decision is which platform becomes your home for it, because your Ascension progress cannot move. If you play across a PC and a Steam Deck, Steam Cloud keeps those two in step and that is the most flexible choice. If a phone is your main device, buy it there, and accept that the climb lives on it.

See our controllers guide for the full multi-device pad picks, the cross-saves guide for how Steam Cloud and console cloud backups compare across the portable library, and the Steam Deck vs Switch 2 cornerstone for choosing the handheld to make your main one.

Verdict

Slay the Spire is the deck-builder everything else copies, and it is still the best of them: deep, replayable, and built to be played in short bursts on whatever you are holding. It is on every platform that matters, it is Steam Deck Verified, and the mobile ports are the full game. The one thing to get straight before you start is that none of those versions share a save, and the iOS app will not even sync your iPhone to your iPad. Pick the device you will climb on, commit to it, and you have one of the great portable games. Spread yourself across platforms and every device starts you back at the bottom of the tower.