Slay the Spire The Board Game reference sheet

Overview

• Cooperative roguelike deckbuilder for 1–4 players; each Act takes ~60–90 min [p.2 — Game Overview]
• Each player builds a personal deck throughout the run [p.2 — Game Overview]
• Win by defeating the final Boss; lose immediately if any player reaches 0 HP [p.2 — Winning & Losing]
• Core loop: traverse the map → enter rooms → fight enemies → gain rewards → improve deck [p.9 — The Map]
• Rogue-like: when you die, start over from Act I [p.2 — Game Overview]
• Characters ranked by difficulty: Ironclad < Silent < Defect < Watcher [p.2 — Your First Game]

Setup

1. Each player picks a character; take player board, mini, starter deck, card rewards deck, rare rewards deck — shuffle decks [p.4 — Setup]
2. Place cubes: Energy track → 3, Block track → 0, HP track → max printed value [p.4 — Setup]
3. Prepare decks: shuffle Encounter Act I, Elite Act I, Event Act I, Relic, Potion, Boss Relic, Curse; do NOT shuffle Summons, Daze, or Status [p.4 — Setup]
4. Keep '1st Encounter!' cards shuffled separately from the main Encounter deck [p.4 — Setup]
5. Place Act I board; randomly select a map; place map tokens face down then flip up [p.4 — Setup]
6. Randomly choose an Act I Boss; place face down on Boss icon [p.4 — Setup]
7. Place boot meeple at the bottom encounter space [p.4 — Setup]
8. Each player draws one Neow's Blessing: gain the red reward, then choose one blue reward [p.4 — Setup]
9. Solo only: also gain 2 Energy and the 'Loaded Die' relic [p.4 — Setup]
10. Set up and begin the 1st Encounter combat [p.4 — Setup]

Turn structure

Each round = Player Turn → Enemy Turn

Player Turn (all players simultaneously)

1. Reset — set Energy to 3, Block to 0 [p.12 — Start of Turn]
2. Draw — draw 5 cards (no hand size limit) [p.12 — Start of Turn]
3. Roll — roll the die once; result applies all round [p.12 — Start of Turn]
4. Start-of-turn abilities — resolve 'Start of turn', 'Start of combat', and die relic abilities in any order [p.12 — Start of Turn]
5. Play — play cards, use potions, activate abilities in any order [p.12 — Play]
6. End-of-turn abilities — resolve 'End of turn' effects [p.12 — End of Turn]
7. Discard — discard all remaining hand cards [p.12 — End of Turn]

Enemy Turn

8. Remove all enemy Block tokens [p.13 — Enemy Turn]
9. Enemies act top row → bottom row, left to right; Bosses act last [p.13 — Enemy Turn]
10. Slide Cube Action cubes down their tracks [p.13 — Enemy Turn]

Actions

Playing a Card

• Pay the Energy cost (upper left); max 6 Energy at once [p.12 — Play]
• Choose targets — players can target any enemy [p.15 — Targeting]
• Resolve effects top to bottom; triggered abilities fire after full resolution [p.12 — Play]
• Card goes to discard; Powers stay in play; Exhausted cards go to exhaust pile [p.12 — Play]

Other Actions

Combat

Dealing Damage

• Hits deal damage equal to the number shown; affected by Vulnerable, Weak, Strength [p.24 — Abilities & Keywords]
• 'Damage' effects are NOT hits and are not affected by Vulnerable/Weak/Strength [p.24 — Hit]
• AoE (row icon): hits all enemies in one row AND always hits the Boss [p.24 — Area of Effect]

Vulnerable — doubles damage per hit; remove 1 token after the hit; max 3 tokens [p.24]

Weak — attacker deals −1 per hit; remove 1 token after the full attack; max 3 tokens [p.24]

Weak vs Vulnerable — if attacker is Weak AND target is Vulnerable, both effects cancel; still remove one token of each [p.24]

Multi-hit — all hits share the same target; each hit benefits from Strength/Vulnerable; remove only 1 Weak/Vulnerable token after the entire multi-hit [p.14 — Multi-hits]

Block — prevents damage 1-for-1; does NOT prevent 'Lose X HP' effects; max 20 for players [p.24 — Block]

Death — enemy at 0 HP: flip face down, resolve 'on death' abilities; player at 0 HP: game immediately ends in defeat [p.13 — The Dead]

End of game

• Win: defeat the final Boss of the last Act you choose to play [p.2 — Winning & Losing]
• Lose: any player reaches 0 HP — game ends immediately in defeat [p.2 — Winning & Losing]
• After beating an Act's Boss: heal to full HP, gain Boss Relic rewards, then choose to continue, save, or end [p.9 — Boss]
• Optional — The Last Stand: if a player dies during a Boss fight, others may continue; surviving = beating the Act, but you cannot proceed to the next Act [p.23 — The Last Stand]
• Reset after any game end: flip upgraded cards back, return all cards to starter decks, return all tokens/items [p.23 — Game End - Reset]
• Check unlock boxes: 1 per Boss defeated + 1 extra per player [p.20 — Unlocks]

Glossary

• Block: prevents damage 1-for-1; max 20 (players); removed at start of respective turn; does not stop 'Lose X HP' [p.24 — Block]
• Exhaust: card removed from play this combat; returns to deck at end of combat (Daze/Status return to their decks) [p.24 — Exhaust]
• Ethereal: if still in hand at end of turn, Exhaust it [p.24 — Ethereal]
• Vulnerable: hits against this target deal double damage; max 3 tokens; 1 removed per hit [p.24 — Vulnerable]
• Weak: attacker deals −1 per hit; max 3 tokens; 1 removed per full attack [p.24 — Weak]
• Strength: +1 damage per hit per token; max 8 [p.24 — Strength]
• Poison: at end of Player Turn, target loses 1 HP per Poison token (ignores Block); tokens stay until enemy dies; max 30 combined [p.17 — Poison]
• Scry X: look at top X cards of draw pile; discard any; return rest in same order [p.24 — Scry]
• Retain: card is not discarded at end of Player Turn; card 'forgets' it was retained once it leaves hand [p.24 — Retain]
• Cube Action: enemy follows a fixed sequence of actions tracked by a sliding cube [p.13 — Enemy Action Types]
• Summon: enemy placed into combat from the Summons deck, in the row of the summoning enemy [p.10 — Combat Setup]
• Transform: remove a non-Curse card from your deck; add the top card of your card rewards deck instead [p.8 — Remove, Upgrade, Transform]

FAQ

• Q: Is there a maximum hand size? — A: No. [p.18 — FAQs]
• Q: Can Block prevent 'Lose X HP'? — A: No. Block only stops damage from hits and 'damage' effects. [p.18 — FAQs]
• Q: What if tokens run out? — A: The effect is ignored. Exception: Shivs can be used immediately to avoid waste. [p.18 — FAQs]
• Q: Do Weak, Vulnerable, and Poison tokens get removed at end of round? — A: No. See keyword rules for when they are removed. [p.18 — FAQs]
• Q: Do Summons flee when their summoner dies? — A: No. Unlike the video game, Summons stay in combat. [p.18 — FAQs]
• Q: Does Buffer prevent all HP loss from a multi-hit? — A: No. Each hit can trigger Buffer separately. [p.18 — Specific Card Interactions]
• Q: What happens if an effect tries to play a card that can't be played (e.g. Clash)? — A: Ignore the effect and discard that card. [p.18 — Specific Card Interactions]
• Q: Can 'Once per room' abilities be used at Events? — A: Yes, if applicable. [p.18 — Specific Card Interactions]