The Neowsletter - August 2025

Greetings! This month's issue marks the 1-year anniversary of The Neowsletter!! Thank you to everyone who has been reading along since the beginning.

The Mega Crit team is still hard at work on the sequel. We're on that grindset >:( But also striking a good work/life balance >:)

The main focus lately has been content. It has to be fresh, challenging, and complex while also making sure that the game is accessible to new players and retains that Slay the Spire feel and magic. That was a bit too vague to be interesting news... let's take a sneak peek at some relics and potions instead!

Relics & Potions

Here's an assortment of relics (top row) and potions (bottom row) coming in the sequel! Relics retain their classic look but you may have noticed that potions got a little makeover; they each have their own distinct sprites. Very rare potions can look quite exotic too.

1. Wongo's Bargain Ticket: Here we see a standard bargain ticket from a Wongo's. Only patrons of Wongo's can find out what this means.
2. Stone Humidifier: This handy little device ensures that you gain a great night's sleep.
3. Joss Paper: Mysterious sheets of incense paper... what could it be for?
4. Heart of Iron: This is also in the first game but I wanted to show off how a classic potion got an art do-over :).
5. Ship in a Bottle: We're not quite sure if you're drinking this one, but there's a feeling that it can get you to safety.
6. Foul Potion: We're not sure who or what is making a potion called Foul Potion. What is it for? How foul is it!?

Okay, we hope you enjoyed this sneak peek.

Q&A with Casey & Anthony

Alex asks: What is your favourite beta art from Slay the Spire 1?
Casey: Certainly TURBO
Demi: Popping in to say Tantrum was the first one to come to mind. It's cute :)

Akroo asks: I'd like to know if you are planning on improving even further the modding possibilities of STS2 ?
Casey: We're creating more entry points in the game but I don't know about improving modding possibilities... in STS1 you can rewrite any part of the game already. You could put a game in the game or order a pizza already.

Oscar asks: Will some cards have pun-based art?
Casey: Preferably not. If STS2 has puns, I've failed.

Brandon asks: Do the characters have canon names? Like, sure, they're the Ironclad, but is his real name Steve? What about watcher? Is her name Jasmine? Cause that's a pretty name
Anthony: no

Delta asks: If all the artifacts are made of bronze… does using Feed to kill Donu turn the Ironclad into Bronzeclad?
Anthony: no

Thaan asks: What can we expect from general UI Improvements? My wish list includes a turn counter display that doesn’t disappear after two seconds and a way to know how much you have spent on card removal so you can budget your next one.
Casey: Yes

Spire Spotting

Demi here! That means it's time to continue our journey through the much-evolved Spire.

Let's take a look at last month's mysterious silhouette:

And now, let's check out our researchers' hypotheses:

The award for saddest theory goes to alex1729, who drew Neow trapped in vines at the bottom of the ocean... poor Neow :(

The award for most accurate theory goes to PrincexKoi, who drew an organic-looking, viny, quadrupedal monster!

Shout out to all of the other submissions (many of which seemed to center around Neow or another character becoming trapped/corrupted actually...)

Credit from left to right: ssorgatem, gummyfungi, Marmoth, popnfresh24, GooseEle, Multi-Man, Ada, Mound Sand, Podunk22, Nevve1776, mainasuarafa, ironstove, B.D., PorpleKnight, 2kiye, Trevor.

Without further ado, let's have a drum roll for the unveiling...

Agh! It's an enormous, shambling monster seemingly made of vines?? This publication is currently referring to this creature as a Vine Shambler, which we thought was apt.

Of course, there are always further discoveries to be made--yet another shadowy creature has emerged! If you have any guesses as to what this creature could be, be sure to submit them via [email protected] or in our Discord's fanart channel!

Connections Section

Cant seem to beat the heat? Have a Slay the Spire Connections puzzle as a treat!

Community Corner

Thank you to Osakana for our incredibly beautiful cover image this month! And a very special shoutout to all of the other artists who ALSO submitted incredibly beautiful potential cover images... it was so hard to choose, as always!

Credit from left to right: WildeChelsy (timelapse on Instagram!), HAN, tide, and 周恒辉!

Next month's theme is: Neow in an autumnal forest! If you'd like to submit your art for consideration, reminder that it must be submitted to us via [email protected] or in our Discord's fanart channel, have dimensions of 800x450px, feature no text, and leave room for a title!

Ok, let's take a look at some of this month's top community highlights!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVE4SlP02d8
An amazing Slay the Spire parody song/animation by PixelPenguin (released in honor of the 1-year anniversary of their "Drawing badly until StS2 comes out" project!)

A pixel Ironclad as well as a mini pixel Ironclad by Lamily!

A Binding of Isaac x Slay the Spire crossover mousepad made by GM_Whitose!

Alright, that's it for this issue. Cheers to one whole year of Neowsletters! Be sure to tune in, as always, next month!