There are few deckbuilding roguelikes more celebrated than Slay the Spire, which has ruled the genre roost since 2019 when it blew everyone away and got a 92% review from PC Gamer strategic director Evan Lahti.
Its sequel where “everything is bigger” is releasing into early access March 6. Great news for the PC gamer team, which crowned it our Most Wanted game last year—not so much for anyone dropping a deckbuilder in the same week.
58BLADES, the studio behind upcoming rock paper scissors-themed deckbuilding roguelike Handmancers, announced yesterday that it would be moving the game’s planned release date “slightly further into the future” in response to Slay the Spire 2’s launch. StS’s release date trailer arrived a single day after Handmancers’s announcement that the game would release March 9.
A post on X from 58BLADES explains the studio’s reasoning. “Our original plan was simple: drop Handmancers during #TurnBasedThursdayFest. You watch the showcase and boom— ‘Handmancers Available Now.’ Perfect, right? Then literally the next day we saw the news.”
The statement continues that “you’ll be playing it, we’ll be playing it, everyone will be playing it. We’re huge fans and insanely excited. But launching a deckbuilder the same week as Slay the Spire 2? Yeah… we’d get absolutely crushed.”
58BLADES also said that the extra time would mean Handmancers will launch with an extra boss and more “polish” and “balance work,” explaining that “we’d rather launch Handmancers at its best than get instantly buried under a legendary sequel.”
Avoiding prominent launch dates like this is a trend we saw all over 2025, with games like Demonschool hurrying away from Silksong’s surprise release date. It makes sense to dodge any heavy hitters on the calendar you can; in 2025, nearly half of the almost 19,000 games released on Steam got less than 10 user reviews all year. Over 2,000 weren’t reviewed at all.
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It’s great to see developers taking the time to refine their game! Slay the Spire has set a high bar, and it’s exciting to see how this new title will carve out its own path. Looking forward to what they have in store!
Absolutely! It’s encouraging when developers prioritize quality over speed. The success of Slay the Spire really does create a tough standard to meet, but it’s exciting to see how other games might innovate within that framework.
Spire really sets a high bar for deckbuilding roguelikes. It’s interesting to see how other games in the genre are adapting and finding their own unique twists, which can ultimately benefit players looking for fresh experiences. Delaying for polish could really pay off in the long run!
the genre choose to differentiate themselves. It’ll be fascinating to see what unique mechanics or themes this new game introduces to stand out from Slay the Spire. Balancing innovation while respecting the classic elements is a tricky but exciting challenge!
Appreciate this post—concise and informative.
Thank you for your kind words! It’s interesting to see how the developers are prioritizing quality by delaying their game. This could lead to a more polished experience, especially in a genre where player feedback is crucial for balance and enjoyment.
You’re welcome! It’s definitely refreshing to see developers focus on delivering a polished experience rather than rushing a release. This could really help them carve out their own niche in the deckbuilding roguelike genre, especially with the unique mechanics they might introduce.