The Slay the Spire: Downfall expansion campaign on Kickstarter enters its final 24 hours today with over $6.7 million raised from more than 33,000 backers. That puts it on track to close at nearly double the $3.9 million the original Slay the Spire board game raised back in 2022, when 29,661 backers funded the base game.
Downfall, developed by Contention Games, lets players flip the script on the beloved deckbuilding roguelike. Instead of climbing the Spire as heroes, you play as its bosses and monsters, battling adventurers who dare enter your domain. The expansion is based on the Downfall community mod for the Slay the Spire video game, which became one of the most popular mods on Steam Workshop.
The growth from the original campaign to this one says something about how board game adaptations of video games can build momentum. Contention Games delivered the base game to strong reviews, earning the community's trust. That trust paid off: the Downfall campaign hit its $50,000 goal in just 10 minutes on 24 March, and the funding has climbed steadily since.
For backers who haven't jumped in yet, the campaign closes on 9 April. The Collector's Edition, which includes exclusive content not available at retail, has a deadline of 12PM PDT on that date. Delivery is estimated for April 2027.
An expansion nearly doubling the base game's total is unusual for crowdfunded board games. For context, most board game Kickstarter sequels see a drop-off from the original campaign, not growth, making Downfall's trajectory a genuine outlier.
Sources: Kickstarter | Kicktraq | Mega Crit Games
