The wonderful roguelike card battler "Slay the Spire" is probably the single best game of its kind on PC, thanks to the endlessly complex interplay of its tools and the most perfectly judged difficulty curve ever. This really is a little game with a lot of potential: we gave the game a staggering 92% score at launch and also awarded it the Best Design of 2019 award. The last rusher sucks, but aside from that, what a game.

A board game version of "Slay the Spire" was announced about two years ago and has been quiet since then, but now it has appeared on Kickstarter. The base game is $100 plus shipping, the collector's edition is $145 plus shipping, and the "Neow's All-In" pledge is $210 for an all-singing, all-dancing version full of accessories.

$100 is not unreasonable for such a gorgeous board game, and "Slay the Spire" has received considerable enthusiasm from its biggest fans; the Kickstarter has far surpassed its initial goal of around $50,000 and has now raised over $1.4 million.

The game is a cooperative deck builder for up to four players and includes clever elements such as upgradable cards and miniatures that reflect various game characters. The video below explains how the board game works and shows how much effort has been put into making this game consistent with its excellent digital predecessor.

I particularly like the tilt toward the Claw meme, where every backer will receive a special Claw Pack as part of the game; the Kickstarter FAQ says "Claw is Law, so everyone gets it." The Claw Pack is a pack of at least 8 Claw cards, which can be used at will to augment Defect's card pool (if it follows the law).

The game can be ordered here. The Kickstarter runs through November 18.