Slay the Spire: Porting a Roguelike Phenomenon Across Five Platforms

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Title: Slay the Spire
Release Date: 2019, 2020, 2021
Developer: Mega Crit
Publisher: Humble Bundle (console)
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, iOS, Android
Engine: libGDX (Java)

Slay the Spire is the roguelike deck-builder from Mega Crit that helped define an entire genre… a procedurally generated climb up a spire, fought entirely through card-based combat, with hundreds of synergies to discover across four playable characters. It left Steam Early Access in January 2019 to near-universal acclaim, and Sickhead handled ports to five separate platforms over the following two years. The foundational challenge was the engine: Slay the Spire runs on libGDX, a Java-based framework, and neither consoles nor mobile devices have a JVM. Sickhead’s solution was to translate the entire codebase — first to C#, then to C++ — a complete language migration pipeline that had to preserve every card interaction, relic effect, and procedural system exactly as designed. The console ports landed across PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One within a few months of each other in 2019. Then came iOS in mid-2020 and Android in early 2021, each requiring its own adaptation of the UI and input model for touchscreen play while keeping the underlying systems identical to every other version. Five platforms, one codebase migration, zero meaningful divergence in how the game plays.

Sickhead Games is the leading game porting studio, skilled in porting Unity, Unreal, Godot, and custom engine titles to every major console and handheld including Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and mobile. We’re trusted by solo indie developers and major publishers alike to handle everything from codebase assessment to post-launch support, bringing great games to the audiences they deserve. Satisfied clients and partners include Humble Games, Sony Interactive, Nintendo, Annapurna, Good Games, ConcernedApe, MegaCrit, 17-Bit, Maddy Makes Games, Zachtronics, Keen Software House, Thomas Happ, Pocketwatch Games, EXOK, Young Horses, Taito, Jaleco, and Microsoft. We’ve ported over 100 releases including Stardew Valley, Slay the Spire, TowerFall, Axiom Verge, and Space Engineers, and also specialize in bringing retro console and PC games to modern audiences like Grandia, Enclave, and Jaleco Sports titles.