Slay the Spire is the undisputed king of deck-building Roguelikes and has held onto that throne for over five years!
Few games have mastered the balance of simplicity and complexity quite like Slay the Spire, and with such a passionate fanbase, it should be no surprise that there are mountains of custom content for the game.
There are mods for just about everything. Whether you’re after UI changes, Quality of Life features, or complete overhauls.
The Developers at Mega Crit Games seem happy to leave the game’s future in the communities hands, and they’ve answered that call with some amazing high-quality content.
Embark on a thrilling journey through the ever-shifting halls of Slay the Spire, where strategic deck-building meets intense roguelike action. With its dynamic challenges and endless combinations, test your skills and adaptability to ascend to greatness.
Best Slay the Spire Mods: Bottom Line Up Front
Slay the Spire has a thriving modding scene with additions ranging from simple recolors to entire campaigns. If you’re new to the modding scene, you can’t go wrong with Quality of Life mods like Minty Spire.
When you’re ready to dive in properly, there’s an ocean of content ready to explore in the form of unique characters and ambitious overhaul mods.
Before you Begin
Before you start downloading mods, you need to install a few prerequisites. Nothing will work without these. Fortunately, this is nice and easy on Steam. You can download mods by ‘Subscribing’ to them in the Workshop.
How Do I Use My Mods?
Select the Play With Mods option when you open Slay the Spire on Steam with the above files installed. This will open ModTheSpire.
ModTheSpire is a mod launcher that lets you select which mods to start the game with. You’ll need to turn on StSLib and BaseMod for most mods to work, and once you’ve done so, you won’t need to worry about them again.
Selection Criteria
There are some incredible mods available for Slay the Spire, but with over 600 available on Steam, there’s a massive variance in quality. With this in mind, every mod on this list must have the following:
- Must have at least a 4 Star Score on the Steam Workshop.
- Must have a proven update history.
- Must have at least 2500 subscriptions.
Steam workshop scores aren’t as reliable as something like Metacritic, but 4 Stars or higher usually means the mod is high quality. The subscription amount ensures the rating is a general consensus and not just a few players’ opinions.
Finally, I feel update support is just as important as the mod itself. The best mods have numerous updates to fix bugs and sometimes even add multiple languages. Plenty of mods promise the earth, but without aftercare and updates, they are liable to be ridden with bugs.
The Mod Showcase
In this section, you’ll find some of the best mods available for Slay the Spire. Each mod has a download link that will take you to the Steam Workshop page.
For ease of use, I’ve split this list into sections. Quality of Life/ UI mods, Characters, and Full Expansions. Many of these mods can be combined to make Slay the Spire your own.
Quality of Life/ UI mods
These mods are typically low-impact and offer comfort or gameplay tweaks. Most of these are compatible with other mods and can be used to fine-tune your experience in Slay the Spire.
Achievement Enabler
Creator: (Gk) Erasels
If you’re dipping your toes into modding, I can’t recommend this enough. Slay the Spire automatically disables Achievements if you play with mods. Achievement Enabler overrides that, so you can continue earning them.
You can argue there are gray areas with this one as certain mods make Slay the Spire very easy, but ultimately, you’re free to mess around with Achievements as you see fit. This mod only affects your own Achievements and has no effect on Leaderboards.
Minty Spire (QoL Compilation)
- Download
- Creator: (Gk) Erasels
Minty Spire offers dozens of small QoL changes you never knew you needed. These range from improving visibility to helping with counting.
For example, Perfected Strike is an attack that gets stronger with more Strikes in your draw pile. Minty Spire tells you how many Strikes you have without needing to check. Many in the community see Minty Spire as a ‘must have,’ and all the changes are well thought out.
Check the download link for a complete list of changes.
Bestiary
- Download
- Creator: ojb
Slay the Spire has a large, colorful assortment of enemies, and knowing what they do is essential if you want to make it to the end. Bestiary offers simple footnotes on what each enemy does.
This won’t make you a better strategist, but if you’ve taken a break from the game or need a refresher, it’s nice to have this info. To use the mod, hover over a monster with your cursor and press Shift + Right Click.
Run History Plus
- Download
- Creator: modargo
Slay the Spire runs can be won with a single inspired choice. They can also be ruined by a single bad one.
If you want to analyze where it all went wrong, Run History Plus adds plenty of handy information to the end screen, including what items you picked and what you left behind. This mod also shows how long battles took, and you may just learn something for deckbuilding in the future.
Block Reminder
- Download
- Creator: Blank The Evil
I debated putting this one on the list because it’s not perfect, but it’s a valuable mod, and it’s one I usually have on.
Block Reminder attempts to calculate how much Block you’ll gain at the end of a turn. This is especially useful if you’re trying to keep track of dozens of relics and things like Plated Armor. I must stress that this mod doesn’t always get it right, so if your calculations differ from what Block Reminder suggests, go with your gut.
A Better Third Choice
- Download
- Creator: Nichilas
A Better Third Choice attempts to spice up some of Slay the Spire’s events, particularly where the options are either ‘Do this’ or ‘leave’. As the name implies, this mod adds an additional choice to these scenarios and gives the player more options.
I love these changes as the new options still feel like authentic Slay the Spire scenarios but going by the comments in the Workshop, these aren’t for everyone.
A Better Note
- Download
- Creator: Nichilas
A Better Note completely redesigns the ‘A Note For Yourself’ event. By default, the event lets the player store a card for use in future runs. The issue is, if you get this event early on, you have no good cards to use. On top of that, storing one of your best cards can hurt your current run, which never feels good.
To solve this, A Better Note lets you store a copy of a card and makes it so the event won’t show up in Act One. This is a straight buff to the event, making participating more attractive.
Highlight Paths
- Download
- Creator Nana
Especially in higher Ascensions, picking your route across each act is almost as important as how you perform in combat. Highlight Paths allows you to circle icons on the map to plan your moves ahead of time.
This mod is handy if you need to step away mid-session, as nothing is worse than throwing a perfectly good run down the drain because you forgot where you were going.
Colored Map
- Download
- Creator: timeracers
While we’re on the subject of the map and navigation, why not give the icons a little color with Colored Map? This isn’t a huge change, but it changes the color of every map icon so they can quickly be identified.
This mod is handy for counting events and works well with Highlight Paths. You also have complete control over the icon colors.
Colored Powertips
- Download
- Creator: (Gk) Erasels
Colored Powertips is a subtle, low-impact mod that changes the color of buff and debuff text boxes. By default, the mod changes buffs to green and debuffs to red, making them easy to identify.
At first glance, this mod has limited uses, but it’s ideal for new players and helps demystify modded characters. As with Colored Map, you can change the colors in the mod config menu.
Googly Eyes
- Download
- Creator twanvl
This is the best mod for Slay the Spire, and if you disagree, your opinion is wrong! Seriously though, this is a goofy mod that puts a nice fat pair of googly eyes on almost everything in the game, from the heroes to cards and relics.
There’s not much else to say about this one. We all know how punishing Slay the Spire can be, and the Googly Eyes mod takes the sting out of those painful losing streaks we all end up on from time to time.
The Ironcluck
I promise this is the last goofy mod, but this is a community favorite, and I wouldn’t feel right not including it. The Ironcluck turns the Ironclad into a chicken. It’s something you never knew you needed in your life until now.
Naturally, this mod is compatible with Googly Eyes and even the Cowboy Hat mod
Go on, try them all together… I hope you’re proud of yourself.
New Characters
If you want to shake up your Slay the Spire experience without changing the fundamentals, new characters are the perfect way to do just that! Characters vary wildly in power and quality and can dramatically shake up the entire game.
Marisa
- Download
- Creator: Multiple
I have a confession. I’m not a massive fan of most community-made characters, as they often stray away from what makes the existing roster so good. Oftentimes new characters are too complicated or disgustingly overpowered…
And then you have characters like Marisa that have me eating my own words. Marisa is from the Touhou series and is an offensive powerhouse where the timing and order you play your cards can be the difference between victory and defeat. Marisa feels like an official DLC with a superb, balanced deck.
Rhythm Girl
- Download
- Creator Whebon
I’m biased with this entry as I’m a huge rhythm game fan, but Rhythm Girl is a fantastic character with a decent, unique mechanic.
Whenever Rhythm Girl plays a card, she gains a Beat. Those beats can be spent on enhanced abilities on her cards, so you must pay attention to the order you’re playing your hand. This character falls off a little in higher Ascensions, but if you’re playing casually, she’s a fun addition to the roster.
The Duelist
- Download
- Creator: Nyoxide
The Duelist mod adds Yu-Gi-Oh! Protagonist Yugi Moto to the roster, and he comes with a whopping 1400+ cards! These are all based on actual cards, so if you’re into the TCG, you’re in for a treat.
The Duelist functions differently than the other characters. There’s been an attempt to integrate Yu-Gi-Oh! Mechanics like Tribute summoning with varying levels of success. The Duelist is complex and will take a while to get the hang of, but if you’re up for something different, he’s worth trying.
The Hermit
- Download
- Creator: AlexMdle & PureQuestion
The Hermit is another community favorite with a deck full of gorgeous card art and a simple mechanic to understand and take advantage of for explosive plays.
Several of The Hermits cards have the ‘Dead On’ keyword, which gives them enhanced effects if played from the center of your hand. This, and many other Hermit effects, sell the ‘Gunslinger’ vibe, and it’s clear a lot of thought went into making the character feel great to play.
The Hierophant
- Download
- Creator: Corax
The Hierophant has been around for a while and is always recommended as one of the best modded characters.
This character is a mix of several archetypes and has four major mechanics you’ll need to master. This makes for an active playstyle that feels like a delicate balancing act. The Hierophant is beautifully animated, and experienced players will find a lot to love.
The Packmaster
- Download
- Creator: (Gk) Erasels
At the time of writing, this is a very new mod but is creating quite a buzz in the community. As it’s new, expect a few bugs, but it’s always great to be one of the first to try something fresh!
The Packmaster is a unique character sporting over 700 new cards. These cards have a slew of new mechanics, but the most notable is the ‘hat’ and ‘pack’ systems.
You pick packs of cards at the beginning of a run, and if you win, you earn the hat associated with the pack. This is one ambitious character and a lot of fun once you understand the mechanics.
Full Expansions
In this section, you’ll find some of the most ambitious and impressive modded content for Slay the Spire. Rather than graphical tweaks and characters, these mods flip the script entirely and offer brand-new ways to enjoy the game.
Conspire
- Download
- Creator: twanvl
Conspire is one of the oldest mods on this list, coming out at the beginning of 2019! This mod adds several new monsters, cards, relics, and bosses. The amount pales compared to other expansions, but this is an excellent introduction to custom content of this type.
This mod hasn’t been updated in a while and doesn’t feel as balanced as other expansions, but it’s still worth a try. The small number of additions are easy to manage alongside cards and relics you’re already used to.
Gensokyo
- Download
- Creator: Darkglade & ayxsa
There’s a surprising amount of Touhou-related mods for Slay the Spire. If you’re a fan and want to see some content besides new characters, you’ll find a lot to love in Gensokyo.
This mod replaces the original acts with three new Touhou-inspired ones. Each has its own pool of bosses, enemies, and events. It’s no mean feat making balanced stages, but the creators did a stellar job. Gensokyo works perfectly with the Marisa character mod if you want the full Touhou experience!
Hubris
- Download
- Creator: Bug Kiooeht
Hubris is often overshadowed by the likes of Downfall, but it’s a superb, well-balanced mod that adds new relics, cards, events, and bosses into Slay the Spire. If you’re looking for an injection of content that doesn’t change the formula too much, Hubris is what you’re looking for.
According to comments on the Steam Workshop, players have noticed a few bugs and complications with the mod, so you may run into a few issues. I’m not a fan of one of the new bosses, but the new relics and cards make Hubris an easy mod to recommend.
Replay The Spire
- Download
- Creator: The_Evil_Pickle
According to the Workshop page, Replay The Spire is “Spire’s #1 content mod since 2018”. That’s quite the claim! In all fairness, Replay The Spire is a fantastic mod and adds incredible content to the base game, including a mountain of new cards and relics.
Out of all the ‘expansion’ mods, Replay The Spire makes the game feel fresh while retaining classic Slay the Spire vibes. The sheer quality of this mod makes it feel like an official expansion and is a marvelous example of what can be achieved with community content.
Spire With Friends
- Download
- Creator: Rocket & Chronometrics
If you ever wanted to tackle the Spire with your pals or battle each other 1v1, now you can! Spire With Friends is an ambitious mod that lets you take on the perils of the Spire with other players. There’s matchmaking and a lobby system if you’re looking for others to play with, and there’s an active Discord server to meet new people.
Slay the Spire has always been a single-player experience for me, but against all odds, this mod does a delightful job of making it multiplayer.
Downfall Expansion Mod
- Download
- Creator: Multiple
To finish this list, I’ve got a real treat for you! The Downfall Expansion Mod is phenomenal and is probably the closest thing to a Slay the Spire 2. It’s such an impressive mod; it even has its own Steam page, independent from the Workshop.
Downfall offers a brand-new campaign, new characters, and the ability to play as bosses! This is on top of a generous assortment of shiny new cards, potions, and relics.
Is Downfall better than Replay the Spire? That’s hard to answer, as Replay the Spire feels like an enhancement of Slay the Spire. Downfall is closer to a standalone experience, and it’s clear how much love and care has gone into its development.
Embark on a thrilling journey through the ever-shifting halls of Slay the Spire, where strategic deck-building meets intense roguelike action. With its dynamic challenges and endless combinations, test your skills and adaptability to ascend to greatness.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: Can I use Mods on Console Versions of Slay the Spire?
Answer: Unfortunately, no. Even in 2023, modding and community-made content is almost entirely relegated to PC. If you’re like me and are patiently waiting for the day you can play the Downfall mod on your Nintendo Switch, it’s unlikely that will happen soon.
Question: Can I Run Multiple Mods at Once?
Answer: It depends. Popular mods, like Replay The Spire, have crossover content with other mod projects, but conflicts can occur in some circumstances. You can have issues with many mods running, but you should be fine if you only have a handful turned on.
Question: Why do Some of my Mods Appear in Red in the Mod Launcher?
Answer: This usually means the mod is outdated or incompatible with the current version of Slay the Spire. You’ll have to wait until the mod gets updated in this situation. Remember, most modders create these wonderful things for free in their spare time. You can usually check progress on the mods workshop page.
Useful Resources
A couple of Nichilas’s ‘A Better’ mods made it onto this list. You can find more mods like this in their ‘The BetterMod Series’ which you can check out here
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