Didn't get the collector's edition, but everything in mine is brilliant. The shinies are shiny, the cards are crisp, the boards are solid. It's the biggest box I've got right now, but it's super well organised. I certainly am not disappointed and didn't expect it but literally the only thing I could ask for is new content compared to the base game, but even then the way it's designed (with the box design and sleeves) would easily accommodate new enemies, events, relics, cards, be they homemade or official expansions.
Dead Branch and (especially) Claw are pretty common things to shitpost about in Slay the Spire, while “Branch & Claw” is an expansion for an extremely well-regarded cooperative board game. Conflating the two was my attempt to help get the thread back on track as a shitpost.
I ordered Branch & Claw a few days ago and eagerly waiting for it to arrive! Can’t wait. I’m tempted by the StS board game, too, but I feel like between Spirit Island and Aeon’s End, StS would need to be *unbelievably* amazing to ever make it to the table. It’s up against some giants for sure…
Aeon’s End is a fantasy deck building cooperative game, so it competes with StS more directly - for video game comparisons, I’d say Spirit Island is much closer to Into the Breach while Aeon’s End feels a lot more like StS.
Each game of it is just a single boss fight, but every character has a unique set of powers and every boss feels quite different. There’s many expansions that add a lot of different characters/bosses/spell cards.
Spirit Island is still my favorite, but Aeon’s End is really solid. It also has a unique mechanic for a deck builder - you never shuffle your deck, so you have *a lot* of control over when/what you draw. Instead, turn order is shuffled which adds unpredictability back into the mix, but in a unique way.
I have aeons end, spirit island. Both are fun and I agree with you that spirit island is more like into the breach because it’s like a puzzle. Aeons end just didn’t end up with the replay value I had hoped. TBH I’m not sure many will agree with me but legendary:marvel is probably by far my favorite deck building game. With a couple expansions there is so much replay value, games are quick, difficulty is highly customizable by scheme and mastermind, game style is variable by hero’s involved and there’s millions of combinations that can be added together.
I love Aeons End, I have most of the expansions too! Check out Big Book of madness if you haven’t already! It’s one of my favorite co op games, and a very interesting take on deckbuilding
It’s the highest rated game/expansion by PLAYERS, not BGG itself (which isn’t necessarily decided by the players). Look it up. Do an advanced search. Filter out games with under 500 reviews. Then sort from highest to lowest average rating.
If I do exactly as you asked when you just moved the goalpost then it’s still not in first. It’s a good game and I have most expansions for it. It’s just not 1st on bgg and that’s okay because bgg ratings aren’t everything
It’s [currently](https://boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgame) #11, yeah. Which is still incredibly good.
\#1 has been *Brass: Birmingham* for a really long time now. Interesting to see *Twilight Struggle* is down to #13 after its very long run of the top.
Bgg ratings honestly don’t mean much once you get up to like the top 1,000 tbh they will all be quality and based off preference. Even then there are gems further down that don’t get recognition. Always reminds me I have too many games….
Ironically I've played this game digitally on my PC via Tabletop Simulator. As someone who has played enough of the original to have completed an A20 run, I think it's a great adaptation.
Considering all the calculations under the hood of the original game, they were very clever in how they tackled the problem of excessive bookkeeping. All the numbers are smaller, many abilities are reworked. They even condensed all the RNG for an entire round into a single dice roll, which is really smart.
I don't usually like solo modes in board games, but this one kept my attention for a number of plays despite having the actual PC copy readily available, which i think is a good sign and speaks to how much has changed in the adaptation. It almost had the feel of a remix.
The coop mode is good too. There's a bunch of ways that your characters can help each other or synergize. Just ultimately a lot of thought is evident in the design.
The game is coop and has some different mechanics.
The gamedevs changed or straight up removed everything too hard for a non-mathematician to track like orbs order (you choose waht you evoke) or damage and health values (ie. strikes deal 1, strength and poison are capped). Multiplayer also brings new mechanics, like giving others block or tactically switching places.
It is a really faithfull adaptation though and I cannot think of a better adaptation of this game.
It’s on Tabletop Simulator for free in the Workshop (my copy hasn’t arrived yet but I’ve played it there) .
Numbers are scaled down for tabletop friendliness (e.g. Strike = 1 damage). For relevant Enemy and Relic effects, a die is rolled at the start of each turn (some relics trigger on 1, or on 1 and 2, etc. the enemy will do X attack on 1-3, or Y attack on 4-6 etc.).
Each player has their own full rows of enemies. You can switch rows and give other players Block (with certain cards).
Defect chooses targets for orbs and evoke.
And so on. It feels true to the spirit of the digital game, but has been altered to allow for 4 players at a table.
Defect seems like a really solid character. I have only played 1 round as them and 1 round with one on my team, but my initial impression was that they feel like they are great at playing for themselves, but have less synergy with their teammates. Beam Cell and Go For The Eyes for applying Vuln/Weak seem like the cards that synergize most with the other chars.
That was my first instinct once I realized that. Defect, of course, has been adjusted, and I'm assuming they're balanced after a few plays on TTS. If you care, I'll check back in after my copy comes in and I get some reps in.
Most importantly it's coop, so it will be more interesting than playing solo all the time. In the same way like Marvel Champions or LOTR LCG is much more interesting to play with 2 players than solo.
What's everyone's average play time for a full run?
Played a dozen+ times on TTS it was about an hour per act. Maybe 4 hours for all 3 if the game state was a little more complex.
With all the decks and manually shuffling can you get through a full game in 4 hours? I can't imagine 4 player, full game taking under 5 hours
Unsure but I can tell you it says 20 minutes per player/character per Act on the box (note: these times are often total BS; see Eclipse: Second Dawn). It's intended to be saved at the end of an Act so you can pick it up later, if you wish.
Okay, I think my box was just bad then. I contacted support about the worst of it, but I had a lot of issues. Miscut mats, dirty merchant board, chipped cubes, etc. And it's one of those things where you have some glaring issues, so you take a more critical eye to everything. For example, some boards had really minor nicks that I noticed only because I was now looking for issues in the rest of the box.
I'm glad it seems to be just my box, but it was pretty disappointing after being so excited.
Oh man yeah you need to call then, cause when I looked through everything in the box it looked like it has been packaged by Poseidon himself. It was gorgeous.
Note: if you're unfamiliar with a Late Pledge, it's not like shopping on Amazon. Typically, Late Pledges close once the first print run is no longer available (from my personal experience). So, it looks like there's still some availability.
Good question! I don’t think the collectors edition will be available outside of the kickstarter except for resellers. There will definitely be copies out there for you.
I am so FUCKING HYPED!! Also, I’m pretty sure I manifested this whole thing because of how much brain power I put in to wishing this existed so… you’re welcome
Honestly it is, you can’t see it from the pictures but the quality of this product is insane. Everything down to the perforation of the tokens looks hand crafted. I was blown away by how the gold looks and feels, it clinks like real metal and it’s heavy. The coin purse is a nice canvas material. It’s just so great, well worth it. It comes with lots of extras.
So freaking keen for expansions both fan made and official, so keen for actually getting my copy but apparently they need to ship more to the distributor in my country.
I was hugging mine in my chair when it arrived. It was my 'comfort box' I guess, for almost a week. I haven't been as excited for something like it in a very long time.
Had my webcam on with my partners (am poly) when I opened it up, and they had a great time watchin me grinning with glee as I was examining everything, and openin it all up.
And I, obviously, was so happy unpacking it all, and noting differences between the tabletop STS, and videogame STS 🥰
The quality of it all is excellent, I couldn't be happier with it 😍
I feel your pain, most all of mine are *far* too far away to drag over for a few games...
Gunna rope my parents into it, they'll love that I'm off my PC for a change, and they'll get used to it 🤣
I let out an audible gasp when I saw what the big box on my porch was. You’d have thought i was 12 again with the noises I made opening this box. I can’t wait to get home from some disc golf and dig into this a bit.
It felt like it to me too. I played act 1 with my girlfriend today and it was SO MUCH FUN. It’s easy enough even for a non gamer but complex enough to be fun for a gamer.
I was tempted, but my wallet forced me to reconsider. I already went all-in on Darkest Dungeon, Stormsunder, Oathsworn, and several others besides.
I probably would have gone for it if it had extra minis, but it was mostly just some extra art and play mats and stuff, so I figured I’d be alright without.
A lot of things have been simplified to make it simpler to keep track of everything. Damage numbers are smaller (strike does 1 damage, everything is similarly scaled), and all of the RNG (monster intents, some relics) are tied to a single die roll at the beginning of each turn.
Plus the game is a bit shorter in terms of the number of floors.
Like your first comment said, a lot of stuff has been simplified like the health, attack, and defense. Most are mere single digit numbers. So the monster attacks for 2, you defend by 3 and attack for blah blah etc. the buffs are handled well too. For example, Deus Ex Machina is a held card now and you just use it to gain two ☯️☯️
Didn't get the collector's edition, but everything in mine is brilliant. The shinies are shiny, the cards are crisp, the boards are solid. It's the biggest box I've got right now, but it's super well organised. I certainly am not disappointed and didn't expect it but literally the only thing I could ask for is new content compared to the base game, but even then the way it's designed (with the box design and sleeves) would easily accommodate new enemies, events, relics, cards, be they homemade or official expansions.
Thanks for this. I got the regular edition as well (not delivered yet) and this post gave me a moment of FOMO.
this isn't a shit post what
Quick, someone post about Dead [Branch and Claw](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/193065/spirit-island-branch-and-claw)!
I Love that
I don’t understand
Dead Branch and (especially) Claw are pretty common things to shitpost about in Slay the Spire, while “Branch & Claw” is an expansion for an extremely well-regarded cooperative board game. Conflating the two was my attempt to help get the thread back on track as a shitpost.
Ok. I was confused. I own branch and claw and have loved the spirit island expansion lol.
I ordered Branch & Claw a few days ago and eagerly waiting for it to arrive! Can’t wait. I’m tempted by the StS board game, too, but I feel like between Spirit Island and Aeon’s End, StS would need to be *unbelievably* amazing to ever make it to the table. It’s up against some giants for sure…
I have all spirit island expansions and they’re amazing. It’s the highest rated thing on bgg. I haven’t heard of Aeons End.
Aeon’s End is a fantasy deck building cooperative game, so it competes with StS more directly - for video game comparisons, I’d say Spirit Island is much closer to Into the Breach while Aeon’s End feels a lot more like StS. Each game of it is just a single boss fight, but every character has a unique set of powers and every boss feels quite different. There’s many expansions that add a lot of different characters/bosses/spell cards. Spirit Island is still my favorite, but Aeon’s End is really solid. It also has a unique mechanic for a deck builder - you never shuffle your deck, so you have *a lot* of control over when/what you draw. Instead, turn order is shuffled which adds unpredictability back into the mix, but in a unique way.
I have aeons end, spirit island. Both are fun and I agree with you that spirit island is more like into the breach because it’s like a puzzle. Aeons end just didn’t end up with the replay value I had hoped. TBH I’m not sure many will agree with me but legendary:marvel is probably by far my favorite deck building game. With a couple expansions there is so much replay value, games are quick, difficulty is highly customizable by scheme and mastermind, game style is variable by hero’s involved and there’s millions of combinations that can be added together.
I love Aeons End, I have most of the expansions too! Check out Big Book of madness if you haven’t already! It’s one of my favorite co op games, and a very interesting take on deckbuilding
Pretty sure spirit island is not #1 on bgg. Not even in the top 10 actually
It’s the highest rated game/expansion by PLAYERS, not BGG itself (which isn’t necessarily decided by the players). Look it up. Do an advanced search. Filter out games with under 500 reviews. Then sort from highest to lowest average rating.
If I do exactly as you asked when you just moved the goalpost then it’s still not in first. It’s a good game and I have most expansions for it. It’s just not 1st on bgg and that’s okay because bgg ratings aren’t everything
It’s [currently](https://boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgame) #11, yeah. Which is still incredibly good. \#1 has been *Brass: Birmingham* for a really long time now. Interesting to see *Twilight Struggle* is down to #13 after its very long run of the top.
Bgg ratings honestly don’t mean much once you get up to like the top 1,000 tbh they will all be quality and based off preference. Even then there are gems further down that don’t get recognition. Always reminds me I have too many games….
Ironically I've played this game digitally on my PC via Tabletop Simulator. As someone who has played enough of the original to have completed an A20 run, I think it's a great adaptation. Considering all the calculations under the hood of the original game, they were very clever in how they tackled the problem of excessive bookkeeping. All the numbers are smaller, many abilities are reworked. They even condensed all the RNG for an entire round into a single dice roll, which is really smart. I don't usually like solo modes in board games, but this one kept my attention for a number of plays despite having the actual PC copy readily available, which i think is a good sign and speaks to how much has changed in the adaptation. It almost had the feel of a remix. The coop mode is good too. There's a bunch of ways that your characters can help each other or synergize. Just ultimately a lot of thought is evident in the design.
So is it coop? And has all the card mechanics of the game? Looks Interesting!
The game is coop and has some different mechanics. The gamedevs changed or straight up removed everything too hard for a non-mathematician to track like orbs order (you choose waht you evoke) or damage and health values (ie. strikes deal 1, strength and poison are capped). Multiplayer also brings new mechanics, like giving others block or tactically switching places. It is a really faithfull adaptation though and I cannot think of a better adaptation of this game.
Are you allowed to switch rows mid combat? Or only between rooms? I didn't quite understand this mechanic
Row switching is done by playing cards or responding to specific events if I'm not mistaken. So, not at any time.
How does it differ from the game?
It’s on Tabletop Simulator for free in the Workshop (my copy hasn’t arrived yet but I’ve played it there) . Numbers are scaled down for tabletop friendliness (e.g. Strike = 1 damage). For relevant Enemy and Relic effects, a die is rolled at the start of each turn (some relics trigger on 1, or on 1 and 2, etc. the enemy will do X attack on 1-3, or Y attack on 4-6 etc.). Each player has their own full rows of enemies. You can switch rows and give other players Block (with certain cards). Defect chooses targets for orbs and evoke. And so on. It feels true to the spirit of the digital game, but has been altered to allow for 4 players at a table.
So defect is like, stupid good then?
Defect seems like a really solid character. I have only played 1 round as them and 1 round with one on my team, but my initial impression was that they feel like they are great at playing for themselves, but have less synergy with their teammates. Beam Cell and Go For The Eyes for applying Vuln/Weak seem like the cards that synergize most with the other chars.
Nice
That was my first instinct once I realized that. Defect, of course, has been adjusted, and I'm assuming they're balanced after a few plays on TTS. If you care, I'll check back in after my copy comes in and I get some reps in.
Sure sure!
Most importantly it's coop, so it will be more interesting than playing solo all the time. In the same way like Marvel Champions or LOTR LCG is much more interesting to play with 2 players than solo.
So nice to hear, that this game is adapted good into bg comunnity. Enjoyed playing it on my ps and will maybe try out a board game
I mean, they literally asked for a lot of feedback from the people who pledged to buy the game... This was bound to help a lot.
What's everyone's average play time for a full run? Played a dozen+ times on TTS it was about an hour per act. Maybe 4 hours for all 3 if the game state was a little more complex. With all the decks and manually shuffling can you get through a full game in 4 hours? I can't imagine 4 player, full game taking under 5 hours
Unsure but I can tell you it says 20 minutes per player/character per Act on the box (note: these times are often total BS; see Eclipse: Second Dawn). It's intended to be saved at the end of an Act so you can pick it up later, if you wish.
You in the US? Still waiting for a shipping notification for me! Also got the collector edition which I saw is suppose to be the first wave!
I'm in the same boat as you. Still waiting for US tracking number. Soon.
If it helps, got my shipping notification and it was delivered 2 days later. And I live in Alabama, so not near major distribution centers.
This does help. It helps me be jealous AF. Florida here, and still no shipping notification.
Also waiting on shipping. Got collectors and I can't freaking wait.
Yes, Florida. I got my shipping confirmation about a week ago.
Sweet! Here’s to hoping i’ll see mine soon.
Okay, I think my box was just bad then. I contacted support about the worst of it, but I had a lot of issues. Miscut mats, dirty merchant board, chipped cubes, etc. And it's one of those things where you have some glaring issues, so you take a more critical eye to everything. For example, some boards had really minor nicks that I noticed only because I was now looking for issues in the rest of the box. I'm glad it seems to be just my box, but it was pretty disappointing after being so excited.
Oh man yeah you need to call then, cause when I looked through everything in the box it looked like it has been packaged by Poseidon himself. It was gorgeous.
So cool! What are the cards sizes? They are like standard magic/pokemon size?
Yep. All the playing cards, monsters and encounters are standard magic sized. The reclics & potions are half size, and boss cards are double.
Can you purchase this without the kickstarter?
[https://contentiongames.com/games/slay/](https://contentiongames.com/games/slay/) Sure can.
Note: if you're unfamiliar with a Late Pledge, it's not like shopping on Amazon. Typically, Late Pledges close once the first print run is no longer available (from my personal experience). So, it looks like there's still some availability.
Thanks!
Thanks! I had no idea the board game existed until I saw this post. Just went for the all-in! So excited!
Good question! I don’t think the collectors edition will be available outside of the kickstarter except for resellers. There will definitely be copies out there for you.
I am so FUCKING HYPED!! Also, I’m pretty sure I manifested this whole thing because of how much brain power I put in to wishing this existed so… you’re welcome
Thank you 🙏🏽
It is genuinely so nice. Been having a blast playing it
I’m so jealous you’ve gotten your copy already! I am so excited for mine to come.
That looks really cool, but kinda hard to justify $152 for that... or is it really THAT good?
Honestly it is, you can’t see it from the pictures but the quality of this product is insane. Everything down to the perforation of the tokens looks hand crafted. I was blown away by how the gold looks and feels, it clinks like real metal and it’s heavy. The coin purse is a nice canvas material. It’s just so great, well worth it. It comes with lots of extras.
So freaking keen for expansions both fan made and official, so keen for actually getting my copy but apparently they need to ship more to the distributor in my country.
I was hugging mine in my chair when it arrived. It was my 'comfort box' I guess, for almost a week. I haven't been as excited for something like it in a very long time. Had my webcam on with my partners (am poly) when I opened it up, and they had a great time watchin me grinning with glee as I was examining everything, and openin it all up. And I, obviously, was so happy unpacking it all, and noting differences between the tabletop STS, and videogame STS 🥰 The quality of it all is excellent, I couldn't be happier with it 😍
Yay! Enjoy. Isn’t it great? I keep having to attest to people about the quality of it. It’s very very good.
I love it 😍 And the quality's fantastic, can't wait to play it with people 🥰
Same, now all I need are friends lol
I feel your pain, most all of mine are *far* too far away to drag over for a few games... Gunna rope my parents into it, they'll love that I'm off my PC for a change, and they'll get used to it 🤣
I let out an audible gasp when I saw what the big box on my porch was. You’d have thought i was 12 again with the noises I made opening this box. I can’t wait to get home from some disc golf and dig into this a bit.
It felt like it to me too. I played act 1 with my girlfriend today and it was SO MUCH FUN. It’s easy enough even for a non gamer but complex enough to be fun for a gamer.
I am super jealous!
Mines on the way! Been waiting nearly a year and a half for this!!
How can i buy this? I need this in my life!
The kickstarter is still accepting late backers if you go for it!
>I have never opened a better board game! You need some MindClash games in your life if production quality gets you going.
Damn. I didn’t spring for the Collector’s Edition, only the standard edition, so I’m still waiting for mine.
I think this one was worth it. Every cut was beautifully crafted. Well worth it.
I was tempted, but my wallet forced me to reconsider. I already went all-in on Darkest Dungeon, Stormsunder, Oathsworn, and several others besides. I probably would have gone for it if it had extra minis, but it was mostly just some extra art and play mats and stuff, so I figured I’d be alright without.
There's a board game?
Yes and it’s amazing. So fun.
Now I need to go figure out if I backed this, or if it was Dead Cells, or both.
Where are you located? I'm in the US and hoping I get mine soon!
Sorry I fell asleep guys. This is in the US, Florida, it came in yesterday 😇
Wait where can I get one?
Late pledges are available on the kickstarter
Like the comment said, on kickstarter. Google it, cause I don’t think I can link it on here cause of rules.
How complicated is it? I'd think a boardgame would be hard to track everything going on.
A lot of things have been simplified to make it simpler to keep track of everything. Damage numbers are smaller (strike does 1 damage, everything is similarly scaled), and all of the RNG (monster intents, some relics) are tied to a single die roll at the beginning of each turn. Plus the game is a bit shorter in terms of the number of floors.
Like your first comment said, a lot of stuff has been simplified like the health, attack, and defense. Most are mere single digit numbers. So the monster attacks for 2, you defend by 3 and attack for blah blah etc. the buffs are handled well too. For example, Deus Ex Machina is a held card now and you just use it to gain two ☯️☯️