Slay the Spire: Metrics Driven Design and Balance

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  • Опубліковано 27 січ 2025

КОМЕНТАРІ • 97

  • @jonathandorozowsky4005
    @jonathandorozowsky4005 2 роки тому +215

    I love how this dude briefly summarizes questions asked in Q&A before answering. Not only does it ensure everyone heard the query, but it gives the questioner a chance to clarify if necessary. I feel like it's somehow a living example of improvement via iteration and feedback.

    • @9695tommy
      @9695tommy 2 роки тому +26

      Fun fact: I always volunteer at GDC (I was at this talk and asked the 2 questions at the 26:53 mark), and we are always remind the speakers to repeat the question, mainly for audio reasons (it wasn't always the case that the actual questions are recorded). So not really an example of iteration haha but still nice for sure.

  • @ocdashi5333
    @ocdashi5333 Рік тому +227

    16:27 "Players will naturally gravitate to the ascension level that make sense for them" no we will always play the top unlocked level and take our ass beatings thank you.

    • @TheOnlyFeanor
      @TheOnlyFeanor Рік тому +19

      Yeah i THOUGHT I’d stick around 14/15 ascension max, because after that it’s just unfair. However, turns out I’m playing all 4 characters at ascension 20 with a heart kill try every single time. I love pain and suffering and low win ratios…

    • @tomekk.1889
      @tomekk.1889 8 місяців тому +3

      ​@@TheOnlyFeanor You're crazy

    • @Bhit_Whyz
      @Bhit_Whyz 8 місяців тому

      @@TheOnlyFeanor I'm in the middle of doing the same minus the heart kill because there's no record of it haha. Gotta race the release of Slay the Spire 2

    • @Gaze73
      @Gaze73 5 місяців тому

      I skipped from 6 to 20 by editing the file because I know I can beat 20 with a busted enough run. Grinding 21 wins with every character would take ages.

  • @PetitAmiral
    @PetitAmiral 5 років тому +101

    Laughed out loud when I saw Corruption and Dead Branch pop out in the "warping" discussion :)

  • @aenpien
    @aenpien 5 років тому +105

    I was impressed by the balance of this game. It's cool to hear an explanation.

  • @rubenzs3161
    @rubenzs3161 3 роки тому +14

    One of the most valuable GDC talks for sure

  • @PurpleFreezerPage
    @PurpleFreezerPage 3 роки тому +145

    Ok I know this is random but the first thing that comes to mind for why I love this game is the speed of every action in combat. There's no Pokémon style slow attack animations - you can go PAP PAP POW WAM in 2 seconds if you want.

  • @metalmonster9536
    @metalmonster9536 5 років тому +76

    "How do you manage emotional feedbacks?" "Delete it" they nailed it.

  • @benedict6962
    @benedict6962 5 років тому +19

    Max respect for everyone in that session. Good questions, good answers.

  • @hibryd7481
    @hibryd7481 4 роки тому +5

    They did such a fantastic job. I enjoy GDC talks conceptually, but most people have worked on games I haven't played or even heard of. But I've got 245 hours logged on STS. Love this game, best thing to come along in years.

  • @antondovydaitis2261
    @antondovydaitis2261 3 роки тому +27

    It's extremely heartening to see competent and ethical development. Every programmer on Earth would do well to follow this role model.

  • @ryanbrothers5377
    @ryanbrothers5377 4 роки тому +36

    This is one of the most successful indie games ever, a true success story. Cool to hear from the dev.

  • @yourMoonstone
    @yourMoonstone 5 років тому +16

    This is SO good!!! The insight here is immeasurably valuable as I'm working on my own card game. Thank you so much for uploading this and thanks to the Mega Crit team for sharing their process!

    • @Bretinator
      @Bretinator 3 роки тому +5

      How is it going, 2 years later? ;)

    • @bluehome8193
      @bluehome8193 11 місяців тому +3

      How is it going, 4 years later? ;-)

  • @Bradbradhehe
    @Bradbradhehe 5 років тому +24

    Awesome talk, always appreciated the way StS is balanced

  • @samliveshere88
    @samliveshere88 5 років тому +40

    250 hours later I absolutly love this game and still find myself going back to playing it

    • @theheeze
      @theheeze 7 місяців тому

      How many hours today?

    • @samliveshere88
      @samliveshere88 7 місяців тому +3

      @@theheeze 350, but I also bought it on my I pad and play it more there now so I have no idea haha

  • @Mattball82
    @Mattball82 9 місяців тому +1

    You and your partner made the best strategy game ever, sir, thank you 👍

  • @MopeyN
    @MopeyN 5 років тому +40

    Bought this game 2 weeks ago (Switch release which I've waited for ages) and got 50 hours, so far. Excellent game, it has so many good different card game aspects. I didn't finish the video (yet), but as soon as it popped up as a new video on my playlist, I was smiling, already :)

    • @MopeyN
      @MopeyN 5 років тому +7

      In case you cared: 6 months later, I'm around 220 hours of playtime in and at around Ascension level 10~11. I'm still playing. I'm still in love. Thanks for the thumbs up and kudos to you, guys!

    • @kevinmoo9902
      @kevinmoo9902 4 роки тому +1

      cool bro
      planning on picking it up on the switch aswell

    • @MegamanX195
      @MegamanX195 8 місяців тому +1

      4 years later now: how long did you play for? Ever beat A20?

    • @MopeyN
      @MopeyN 8 місяців тому +2

      @@MegamanX195 Funny you'd ask! In about a week, it'll be three years since I claimed 100% achievements in this game (yes, I marked my calendar for that 🥳). I played with each character up to and through A20 and had a really good (and frustrating, of course) time 😀 I accumulated more than 500 hours playtime

  • @powerpc127
    @powerpc127 4 місяці тому +2

    7:26 They should clip that audio and play it whenever you drink a potion in one of their games.

  • @goncaloferreira6429
    @goncaloferreira6429 3 роки тому +4

    6:09 same thing aplies to limited play mtg and the whole reason why cards have diferent rareties

  • @RglMrn
    @RglMrn Рік тому +1

    Incredible game and great talk. Thanks!

  • @CE-ot1ni
    @CE-ot1ni 5 років тому +11

    That smirk and "no comment" when the co-op question came up... you know they gotta be working on it.

    • @TZerot0
      @TZerot0 3 роки тому +3

      I mean the game is based on netrunner, so something involving a second player has to have been considered from the start.

    • @whatdothlife4660
      @whatdothlife4660 10 місяців тому +1

      No

    • @bilanggoboy
      @bilanggoboy 6 місяців тому +1

      The boardgame’s co-op! Can’t wait to get it ❤

  • @Oscar-xt8hm
    @Oscar-xt8hm Рік тому +1

    I'm really curious of how they sort the feedback they received on discord

  • @Lunareon
    @Lunareon 5 років тому +12

    Great talk, great game! Even if there's no actual co-op mode (yet?), it was a fun game to play with friends, just chilling out and making collective decisions. :)

    • @solsystem1342
      @solsystem1342 3 роки тому +3

      There's a fun coop-ish challenge you can do. You have two people play on the same seed with different characters. Whenever you enter an event you must make the same choice, whenever you get card rewards you have to take the same card slot (ie both take left, middle, or right), and you must take the same path on the map. Basically, anything that happens in menus outside of battles and shops has to be done together. No other constraints apply in battles or in shops. Also, the real kicker. If one player dies the other must immediately abandon their run. We never made it very far but I'm sure better players could do a lot better.
      It's quite fun when you both get good cards and it's like "do you REALLY need to take the left card though? I'd kinda like an inflame on the right".

    • @ahuman7027
      @ahuman7027 8 місяців тому +1

      There is a mod now available on Steam, Together in Spire, you play the same fight, but choose your own reward

  • @jMattMorians
    @jMattMorians 4 роки тому

    Awesome. I was just talking with my friends about the main strength of this game and here it is a video about it.

  • @meathir4921
    @meathir4921 4 роки тому +3

    24:20 I assume this means Creative AI?

  • @RDon40
    @RDon40 Рік тому +1

    Who's asking the question at 25:00? It's such a familiar voice and it's bothering me that I can't pin exactly who it is.

  • @Bhit_Whyz
    @Bhit_Whyz 8 місяців тому

    It's interesting that some of the design processes they went through resulted in a default decision, with relics or mechanics that kept other iterations of the design in place. Like discarding your hand at the end of your turn is default, but they have Runic Pyramid and the retention mechanic to enable holding onto cards. The enemy intents are visible by default (but some are ambiguous, like buffs and debuffs), but Runic Dome reverts it to that random state. The whole balance between ascension difficulty and daily wackiness. A super interesting lesson in how to capitalize on ideas that can be situationally interesting, but not suitable for basic play.

  • @LaurentLaborde
    @LaurentLaborde 2 роки тому +1

    listening to it while playing slay the spire :)

  • @brucebrenneise430
    @brucebrenneise430 5 років тому +11

    Ironic that Anthony mentions Bob Ross as an example of happy accidents and spontaneity when it's known that Ross painted 3 iterations of every painting he did for his PBS show. So, ultimately, further proof of the point being made here.

  • @johnhobbes2268
    @johnhobbes2268 5 років тому +12

    Slay the spire has one of the best adjusted fights that I've ever seen. For every powerful combo which is possible there is one enemy which is designed to counter this combo.
    (the death branch+ corruption combo maybe one of the few exemptions.)
    And it is a good game for ever statistic nerds :-)

    • @lupeters213
      @lupeters213 5 років тому +6

      There is a curse card, which makes you lose 1 hp for every card played. The timekeeper heart boss only allows you to play 12 cards per turn. The heart deal damage to you for every card played.

    • @sirhasslich536
      @sirhasslich536 5 років тому +6

      @@lupeters213 the punishment is incomparable to the advantage. Sure, these cases require you to play carefully instead of just picking a card any card, but the reward is way above the skill floor even there. Most of my heart kills were with a DB, even on other classes.

  • @lukascook8477
    @lukascook8477 5 років тому +1

    What a great talk!

  • @Youmu_Konpaku_
    @Youmu_Konpaku_ 25 днів тому +1

    Remember this is the same guy that made "pressure points" 😂😂😂

  • @studiojavakhan9547
    @studiojavakhan9547 5 років тому +2

    Hellow ! I was wondering, what where the metric tools/library where you using ? (PS : Really love the game, still need to finish ascension level 20 on the defect)

  • @FinetalPies
    @FinetalPies 5 років тому +4

    Dang, makes a great game and is a charismatic talker? Too good

  • @Brodysseus113
    @Brodysseus113 3 роки тому +4

    he didn't talk about MATH, I wanted MATH REEEEE

  • @notrab13
    @notrab13 5 років тому

    Fantastic talk.

  • @IkomaTanomori
    @IkomaTanomori 5 років тому +2

    31:15 - I recognize that voice asking the question! Hi Alexis!

  • @quizzer
    @quizzer 5 років тому +1

    My favourite game of the year.

  • @andrewg3196
    @andrewg3196 5 років тому +13

    Excuse me while I go get 5 flexes and whirlwind

  • @SpaceDodo
    @SpaceDodo 3 роки тому

    Thanks!

  • @3dfxlegacy
    @3dfxlegacy 2 роки тому

    Hello! What tool is Ascension? Thanks

    • @austeyen5628
      @austeyen5628 2 роки тому +6

      ascension is their ingame difficulty level if thats what youre asking

  • @yrussq
    @yrussq 5 років тому

    Really nice talk!

  • @mario_actually
    @mario_actually 5 років тому

    Great talk!

  • @kosterix123
    @kosterix123 Місяць тому

    and now for the board game lol.
    sts was inspired by DC. Now that I played the board game versions, I love DC. I like StS.
    StS is basically dominion, the old-style deck building. I prefer the newer DB, the one with synergy families.

  • @jesusmcastillo8306
    @jesusmcastillo8306 4 роки тому +2

    Is it Yahtzee the dude who asks the question about "too many feedback"?

    • @mohandasjung
      @mohandasjung 3 роки тому

      Just watched at 1.5x, its just like him!

  • @miguelcampillos
    @miguelcampillos 5 років тому

    Hola Finn, espero que te guste el video :)

  • @orelyosif5852
    @orelyosif5852 5 років тому +3

    " *Every* card sholud have a place" *Setup crying intesefies*

    • @eldritchemissary4718
      @eldritchemissary4718 5 років тому +4

      Sometimes you can set up an expensive card like nightmares or wraith form

    • @solsystem1342
      @solsystem1342 3 роки тому +2

      Setup into finnaly (I think it's called. It's the silent card that does like 50 damage for free if but is only playable if your draw pile is empty) is completely busted when used in a cycling deck.

  • @magnusjakobsson7163
    @magnusjakobsson7163 5 років тому

    Was that Rami Ismail asking the first question?

  • @MehYam2112
    @MehYam2112 5 років тому

    Fantastic content and delivery, thank you.
    Also, looks like four viewers are stuck on A20.

  • @denisbachman8159
    @denisbachman8159 3 роки тому

    😎💪

  • @MattyCakez18
    @MattyCakez18 Рік тому +1

    Picasso’s 500th iteration painting: Still wrong

  • @artificialbox
    @artificialbox 5 років тому +4

    i think EA could learn a lesson here

  • @misomiso8228
    @misomiso8228 3 роки тому

    0:30 netrunner :-( F

  • @goncaloferreira6429
    @goncaloferreira6429 4 роки тому +1

    so the game sold 1.5 milion copies? are these 2 guys set up for life?

  • @marksmod
    @marksmod 5 років тому

    telemetry... yess... hahah!

  • @RuthRomeo-z2x
    @RuthRomeo-z2x 4 місяці тому +1

    Idell Flat

  • @SusanHedda-e8q
    @SusanHedda-e8q 4 місяці тому

    Wisozk Extension

  • @KittyDrew-z3t
    @KittyDrew-z3t 3 місяці тому

    Alexandra Camp

  • @IstyManame
    @IstyManame Рік тому +2

    - "Let's talk about balance" - "the game is single player so we don't really care"

  • @chuckm1961
    @chuckm1961 4 роки тому +1

    There is no “X” in the words “et cetera”.

  • @misterbeach8826
    @misterbeach8826 5 років тому +2

    it is interesting, of course, but bear in mind that slay the spire was unique when it came out. everything he said many other devs did too, i.e. subnautica, yet subnautica zero is a commercial fail with almost no active players... contrary to subnautica. what i'm saying is: IF you have a unique yet mainstreamy enough game to be commercially interesting, then it works. IF not, then all your data will not help you, even if you were successful before with another game and did 5 gdc talks about how clever you are.

    • @jigartalaviya2340
      @jigartalaviya2340 5 років тому

      Unlike u at least they did something with their lives.Think about that.

  • @mtaur4113
    @mtaur4113 4 роки тому

    ok but y shiv so bad

  • @anazron805811
    @anazron805811 5 років тому +1

    *Sniffs, snorts, slaps lips together, breaths hard into mic*
    Great talk, but this video hurts me.

    • @meathir4921
      @meathir4921 4 роки тому +7

      He’s a developer, not a public speaker.

    • @TheUltimegaMan
      @TheUltimegaMan 8 місяців тому

      At least he’s not as bad as Zizek. My goodness.

  • @desertwater8445
    @desertwater8445 5 років тому +2

    First?

  • @Khaim.m
    @Khaim.m 5 років тому +1

    Talk was good. Constantly swaying back and forth, not so much.

    • @meathir4921
      @meathir4921 4 роки тому +9

      Why does that matter? Your eyes are meant to be on the power point and he’s not exactly a public speaker.

  • @danikpri50
    @danikpri50 10 місяців тому

    Great talk!