The Neowsletter - January 2026

Happy Slay the Spire 2 year, everyone!

Tomorrow, January 23rd, 2026, is the 7th anniversary of Slay the Spire's 1.0 launch! Also, in just a couple of months, it will have been 8.5~ years between the early access launches of Slay the Spire 1 and Slay the Spire 2. If you've been with us since the very beginning of this journey then that means you're at least 9 years old, probably. Maybe even 10. Thank you to all of the Slayers who have stuck with us for all of these years and to those who are just now tuning in. The next phase of Spire slaying is just around the corner!

In the meantime, let's take a look at...

The Evolution of Slay the Spire 2's Content

Since it's been over a year since we started teasing StS2 content, we figured now is a good time to check back in on what some of it looks like now. We did warn you it was all subject to change! Things will evolve even further with all of your feedback throughout early access, of course, but we figured we'd let you get some last minute speculation in.

One of the very first new cards we teased back in November of 2024 was "Gold Axe." While it excited people even in its initial state, it's since seen a buff with the removal of its Exhaust keyword and a reduction in its Energy cost. Not pictured: we still have shiny VFX based on the rarity of card rewards, though it has been toned down from what you see on the left.

On the other hand, "Rolling Boulder," a card we teased this past July was indeed seeming a bit too OP. Its base damage and scaling damage have now both been slashed in half. We'll see what you all think of it soon enough--that is if it doesn't get changed again in the meantime.

This "Bodyguard" card that we showed off this past October was actually The Necrobinder's unique starter card, but it has since been totally reworked. While it has the same art, it now goes by a new name, "Unleash," and has a completely different mechanic. Perhaps we'll see the old card again in some form or another... and perhaps the new card will undergo its own evolution someday.

On a slightly different note, the placeholder event art that we teased for our war historian friend Repy has been updated (as well as the event text and options)! The original art certainly had its own charm, though. RIP beta Repy, gone but not forgotten.

And last but (maybe) not least, let's take a look behind the curtain at some out of context alpha patch notes, since you soon will in fact have the context for them.

Localization Applications

We have begun to localize Slay the Spire 2 into several different languages already (French, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Thai), but we are now looking to onboard some translators for other languages. If you are interested in helping to localize Slay the Spire 2 as well as our Neowsletters and potentially other important announcements, please apply here!

Spire Spotting

Now it's time to take a trip to the Spire to revisit last month's mystery monster!

Let's see what hypotheses you all submitted this time around...

The award for most out-of-the-box guess goes to eneija for this... aardvark-like creature!

The award for most accurate guess goes to Joanna, though the real beast this time has no fungi, as you'll see.

Shoutout to all of these other weird and wonderful submissions!

Credit from left to right: 晓星, Kamrat, Leo, Turtledunkz, bomo73, Dpart, Snowbyte, Mitlon, leda789, Mailboy002, Brave, koiking213, TheSos, Dolly, skryzhal, PhantomExitus

Now for the grand reveal...

EEK--it's a rat! With two tails! In other words, a two-tailed rat. Despite the silhouette not leaving much to the imagination, you all still managed to be very imaginative!

And now, my dear intrepid explorers, this month's issue marks a very special moment. Our research indicates that the secretive veil that has obscured so many of the Spire's creatures is soon to lift, so this may well be the last creature we need to uncover via these methods. With that said, let's take a look together...

Aha! It appears to be mostly rectangular in shape, but there's some sort of sphere suspended in the middle... Our detection equipment seems to experiencing some sort of interference, so in the meantime we'd greatly appreciate your help in deciphering this strange being! Be sure to submit your guesses via fanmail@megacrit.com or in our Discord's fanart channel!

Collab Land

Looks like Snecko Eye has snuck its way into another game?? The team behind Turnbound, a brand new inventory management PvP autobattler, has included a Slay the Spire-themed item and free, early-access-exclusive cosmetic in their game! To celebrate this collab, Turnbound and Slay the Spire will bundled together for a 10% discount starting on their early access launch day... which just so happens to be today!

Connections Section

New year, new Neowsletter, new Slay the Spire Connections!

Mega Crit-mas Recap

Now that the holiday season is over, let's take a look at some of your Mega Crit-mas creations!

An adorable drawing of iconic StS character gathered around a tree by Soobsidian!

A painterly illustration of some wintery gremlins by taydungeon (timelapse on TikTok)!

A festive Snecko Eye cookie baked by Steeve_rules!

Community Corner

Thank you to Okasana for this month's beautiful, sparkly cover image, and shoutout to Boltman and Alcalmy for their awesome submissions, too!

Next month's theme is: Valentine's Day Neow! If you'd like to submit your art for consideration, reminder that it must be submitted to us via fanmail@megacrit.com or in our Discord's fanart channel, have dimensions of 800x450px, feature no text, and leave room for a title!

Now for our usual community highlights!

A gorgeous illustration of The Watcher underneath some wisteria by 鸡翅好吃喵!

An illustrated exploration of what the other StS1 slayer's Orbs might look like by Maria/electrohoneys!

Stunning 3D art of The Ironclad facing off against some giant Sentries by babymango!

And that's all for the first Neowsletter of 2026! See you all next month!