Slay the Spire 2 lifts class restrictions on some cards with colorless update

Slay the Spire 2 looms large over the horizon. It's already been a good year for roguelike deckbuilders, with Monster Train 2 proving a big winner and other new faces such as Malys and 9 Kings making a name for themselves. There's no question that Mega Crit's mighty champion remains the biggest talking point, however, and every new detail we get has me a little more excited. In a new developer update, the studio talks about its changes to colorless cards, which will see some old class favorites made available to all.

With its predecessor a proud stalwart on our lists of both the best roguelikes and best card games, Mega Crit is taking its time to make sure that Slay the Spire 2 lives up to the name. With a bold new art style led by Marlowe Dobbe, who previously worked on the slick stylings of Dicey Dungeons, and new mechanics such as enchantments and companions, there are a lot of fresh reasons to be excited. But Mega Crit isn't forgetting the fundamentals, either; in a new blog, co-founder and game designer Anthony Giovannetti talks about colorless cards.

Colorless cards will be familiar to Slay the Spire veterans, appearing across all classes to offer some more general benefits. They're most commonly found at the Merchant, but can also appear from other rewards if you snag a Prismatic Shard. They'll be making a return for StS 2, and Giovannetti says Mega Crit is "making a bunch of new colorless cards, tweaking some old ones, and even changing some old cards to now be colorless."

I'm most intrigued about that last point. The example we get to see is Scrawl, a skill card that previously belonged to the Watcher. It looks just the same here; pay one, draw cards until your hand is full, and then exhaust it. The only difference is that it can now appear for anyone, granting all classes access to a particularly potent source of card draw. It also features fresh artwork.

Among the other teases, we get a look at the colorless attack card Thrumming Hatchet: "Pay one energy. Deal 12 damage. At the start of your next turn, return this to your hand." Simple, but incredibly consistent. Rolling Boulder is a three-cost Power card: "At the start of your turn, deal ten damage to all enemies and increase this damage by ten." Harder to build around, perhaps, but a true potential powerhouse in the right deck.

Finally, we get a glimpse of Automation. This one-cost power card causes you to gain what looks to be one colorless energy for every ten cards you draw. Giovannetti doesn't give any more details, so it's possible this will shift to match the energy color of your chosen class. I'm eager to see more of the additions, but we'll probably have to wait for the Slay the Spire 2 release date to discover the full list.

Rounding out the blog, fellow co-founder Casey Yano steps in to note that yes, there will be more lore and worldbuilding in Slay the Spire 2. We also get to peek at a tiny sliver of a new Necrobinder skill card; there's no name, no cost, and only half of the description: "Gain six block. If you applied doom this…" Consider me tantalized.

While we wait on confirmation of when we'll get to play Slay the Spire 2, find yourself something among our pick of the best indie games in 2025. Alternatively, you might enjoy some of the best turn-based strategy games on PC.

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