Neurodeck Is Like ‘Slay The Spire’, But You’re Battling Your Own Fears – And It’s Coming To Switch Next Month

Anyone who’s played Slay The Spire has probably spent the last few months wondering how to get another fix of deck-building roguelite monster-slaying, right? Neurodeck might have what it is you crave.

Described as a “dark fantasy deck-builder” in which you fight your own phobias, nightmares, and fears, the cards that appear in your deck are less “hit monster with sword” and more “take a nice bath”. The monsters that appear are still as scary and daunting as those you fight in other deck-builder games, but they come from within: Agoraphobia, Mysophobia, and even Masculinity are all concepts that you’ll have to defeat in order to become a stronger person.

Neurodeck looks like it has a ton of systems and skill trees to support the gameplay, if you like your roguelites robust: reading through specific memories to understand how phobias began, additional personality traits that affect how the game plays out, and customisable stats and skills to help you in combat.

Besides being an interesting concept for a deck-builder, Neurodeck is also a meta-narrative about the struggles of mental health, and the tools in our arsenal that can defeat phobias in real life. Many games have tackled the subject of mental health in the past, with Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice employing actual specialists in the field, and other games – like the flippant comedy game Suicide Guy – handling the topic with a little less tact.

We’re intrigued to see if Neurodeck will give us any real-life tips on how to take care of our own mental health – but we also just really love a good roguelite deck-builder. Here’s hoping it will be. Neurodeck comes out on the Switch eShop on March 18th.

Is Neurodeck the Slay The Spire-like you’ve been hoping for, or does the idea of a game that works like therapy sound a bit too exhausting for you? Give us your thoughts below.