Build the Perfect Deck in Slay the Spire Plus on Apple Arcade – CNET [CNET]

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You can play this game and many others on Apple Arcade.

Zachary McAuliffe Staff writer

Zach began writing for CNET in November, 2021 after writing for a broadcast news station in his hometown, Cincinnati, for five years. You can usually find him reading and drinking coffee or watching a TV series with his wife and their dog.

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Slay the Spire, the acclaimed deck-building roguelike game, arrived on Apple Arcade Friday, and it’s ready to take up hours of your life. If you subscribe to Apple Arcade ($5, £5 or AU$8 a month), you can play this game at no additional charge, and without ads or in-app purchases (hence this version being called “Slay the Spire Plus” on the App Store).

The game was developed by Meta Crit Games, and was nominated for a number of awards, including for outstanding achievement in game design and strategy/simulation game of the year at the 2020 D.I.C.E. Awards.

In Slay the Spire, you choose from four different characters and start at the bottom of a map, then work your way through different locations until you reach the big boss at the top. The map changes each time you start a new game, too, so each game is different.

As you make your way to the top you build your deck — each character has a different set of cards with their own unique mechanics — and fight monsters in turn-based combat, all while avoiding booby-trapped treasure along the way. Or you can try to deal with the consequences of the trap: I swiped some treasure and ran away from a boulder, like Indiana Jones, but ended up getting crushed and lost a lot of health. I would not recommend this.

Each new game takes about an hour to complete, but the changing nature of the map gives the game a lot of replayability. There’s also a daily challenge and a custom game mode if you want something more difficult.

You can access this game, and many others, in Apple Arcade for $5 a month, or $60 annually. You can also try Apple Arcade for free for one month with your first sign-up, or you can get a three-month free trial when you buy a new Apple device. To access Apple Arcade, open the App Store on your iOS device and tap the joystick in the menu bar.

Watch this: What You’ll Find on Apple Arcade

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