It's February, everyone. You know what that means... SLAY THE SPIRE 2 IS OUT NEXT MONTH!!

That also means if your goal was to hit A20 on all characters before StS2's release, you're running out of time.

That also also means that this Neowsletter is a little lighter again. So no major content teases right now, but perhaps something else is just around the corner that will make up for it. In the meantime, we heard you missed the Q&A section last time around, so we've brought it back!


The Singaporean Smoke Machine asks: Will the default hand size limit still be 10? Will there be any way to increase the hand size limit?
Casey: The default is still 10. There's no way to increase it at this time.

A few different people have asked: Will StS2 be available on MacOS on launch?
Casey: Yes

KevsterZ asks: Will there be an unlock all button for when you buy the game on other platforms in STS2?
Casey: No. But we're aiming to have some form of cross-platform saving.

The Fox asks: Is the bread a relic because it has been teleported?
Casey: Bread has always been a relic

Thomas asks: Will Neow still work on the same mechanic that if you die before reaching the first boss you won't get as good choices?
Anthony: no


Thank you to everyone who has applied so far to join our localization team! We now have translators onboarded for the following languages:

- Chinese (Simplified)
- French
- German
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Polish
- Portuguese Brazilian
- Russian
- Spanish (Castilian)
- Spanish (Latin America)
- Thai
- Turkish

If you applied for any language not listed above, then stay tuned for updates as we plan to onboard more languages at a later date.


And now, at long last, it's time to take one more look at our final mystery monster silhouette.

So which hypotheses came the closest to discovering the truth? Or at least made us laugh?

The award for most ??? guess goes to leda789, for this Snecko Eye playing a game of *squints eyes* ...Jongo!

The award for most *insert Metal Gear Solid alert sound* guess goes to Delphine!

The award for most orb-y guess goes to myles--you really ~channeled~ a certain automaton with this one!

The award for most accurate guess goes to snumodder! Many came close, but you were the first to point out that this creature was already teased in the Ironclad's new Anger card art!

Shoutout to the many other submissions we received this time around! Though we couldn't include them all, here's a selection of them:

Credit from left to right: 唠个beaker, 李华不吃牛肉, 水角神, Tattered Feather, Dpart, Arika, icetea, stickfight2, Merghio, Grief Hammer, PAseer, Phill, Dan K, pedroff_1, Максим, Soren

Now, finally, it is time for the unveiling. Thank you to everyone who has contributed their creative creature hypotheses over the past year--we've gathered more than enough intel by now! It's been a long journey, but your roles as Explorers will soon be upgraded once more to Slayers. So without further ado...

Aha! It seems to be some sort of construct similar to the Spire's old Sentries! Though geometrically they differ quite a bit--let's call it a Cubex Construct!

Hmm. Generally I'd advise you to hide at this point... but this one in particular seems to be for more than just physical security of the Spire. Looks like there's something displayed on its interface...

PR3C1L6 RR8C4L12 RR9C3L1
BR10C4L2 GR14C5L1 PR9C3L5
BR14C5L7 BR3C4L1 RR14C5L1
GR12C1L9 BR13C2L5 GR13C3L15
PR6C5L4 RR15C1L1 RR9C5L6 GR7C1L6

How odd... well, never mind that, I'm sure it's nothing! On with the rest of the Neowsletter!


Our Valentine's present to you: a new Slay the Spire Connections[custom-connections-game.vercel.app]!


Thank you to Mars for this month's lovely cover image, and shout out to Sorisaurus for their runner up submission:

Next month's theme is: Slay the Spire 2 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[discord.gg] fanart channel, have dimensions of 800x450px, feature no text, and leave room for a title!

Now let's check out some community highlights!

The 8th (and likely last!) StS1 Mod the Spire Anniversary mod, Spire Quests, created by our wonderful modding community!

Incredible cosplays of The Ironclad and The Silent by ZHENG/SNAKE!

Some classic "Ooh Donut!" achievement fanart by momiage[x.com]!

And that's it for this month's Neowsletter. By the time the next issue lands in your mailbox... Slay the Spire 2 will be out already!!

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...


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.


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[docs.google.com]!


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[discord.gg] fanart channel!


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!


New year, new Neowsletter, new Slay the Spire Connections[custom-connections-game.vercel.app]!


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[x.com]!

A painterly illustration of some wintery gremlins by taydungeon[www.tiktok.com] (timelapse on TikTok)!

A festive Snecko Eye cookie baked by Steeve_rules!


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[discord.gg] 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[space.bilibili.com]!

An illustrated exploration of what the other StS1 slayer's Orbs might look like by Maria/electrohoneys[www.tumblr.com]!

Stunning 3D art of The Ironclad facing off against some giant Sentries by babymango[bsky.app]!

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