I'm asking because I notice a lot of spiritual successors/ copies of Slay the Spire fail and now that I'm not trying to do a Slay the Spire clone; still trying to do a Downwell spiritual successor, this question still sticks with me and I want other perspectives.
My two cents: pinpoint what makes the original game addictive, and rebuild from there. "What makes the original game addictive" can be as abstract, minimalistic and personal as you want; e.g. some people like management games only for the "big number gets bigger" feeling. Hopefully I'm not being too vague!
R❤️🍑
The thing about slay the spire spiritual successors is that slay the spire does not need a spiritual successor. It's cracks aren't showing, it hasn't aged badly, and, most importantly, it's still supported by the developers to some extent.
Failure is largely inevitable if you simply remake a game you liked playing. A good spiritual successor should be born from seeing the cracks in a game you love that appear when you spend enough time with it. A good spiritual successor is something that can only exist thanks to the original laying the ground work. It should be a response to the game it's made after rather than a simple "yes, and'.
I'd say that if you have a clear and strong idea of where Downwell missed the mark, you're good to go.
If you're trying to remake a modern game, then you're already doing it wrong.
At 1/15/26 07:25 AM, RosieUV wrote:If you're trying to remake a modern game, then you're already doing it wrong.
I'm not trying to remake a modern game; I just want to take it in a different direction. I just think you can do a lot with dropping down vertical focused gameplay.
