What the Mixed Steam Reviews Actually Say

Slay the Spire 2's Steam page shows a Mixed rating, and if you searched that phrase before buying, here is the honest picture, with numbers.

The raw numbers

As of mid-July 2026, the game sits at 60% positive: 114,588 positive reviews against 75,007 negative, out of 189,595 total, at a $24.99 early access price. For the sequel to one of the best-reviewed games in the genre, that number is the story, and it is worth understanding rather than waving off.

What changed, and what Mega Crit did about it

The sequel launched into early access as a bigger, harder, more systemic game than the original: five characters, co-op, Ancients, enchantments, and a full rebalance rather than a content pack. Big rework sequels split their audiences, and this one did.

What the review score does not show is the response rate. Major Update #2 removed the Doormaker fight outright, the boss the community argued about most. The same cycle reworked the Ironclad card players disliked most and eased the lower Ascensions where new players were bouncing. And when asked for deadlines, the studio published a roadmap without dates, saying exacting deadlines produce sloppy, uninspired work. Whatever you think of a Mixed score, the patch record reads like a team that is listening. The news page tracks every update as it lands.

What the players who stayed are doing

Review scores measure sentiment; run data measures engagement. Spire Codex has received over 830,000 community-submitted runs, and the pool grows daily. The game is genuinely harder than its predecessor, solo players win 19.1% of runs overall, and the difficulty is a real part of the review split. But the depth is also real: the community stats show a meta still shifting patch to patch, and the tier lists rebuilt from scratch as the balance moves.

Should that score stop you?

If you loved the original for its readable, tight balance, early access will still show you rough edges, and waiting for 1.0 is defensible. If you want more Spire with more systems and can live with a live balance sheet, the game underneath the score is the deepest deckbuilder Mega Crit has made, for $24.99. Either way, decide on current information: the reviews aggregate two years of patches, and the game you would install today is not the one the oldest reviews describe.