Home › 100 Questions › Multiplayer, Co-op & Crossplay
How to start a party, what the host owns, which resources are personal, and what crossplay does not currently mean.
First principle: Treat co-op as a shared map with separate economies. Coordinate targets and routes, but do not assume that gold, cards, Energy, or saves are shared.
Short answer
Not in the current Early Access setup. The game is distributed on Steam for Windows, macOS, and Linux/SteamOS, and the official FAQ describes online play as Steam-friends-only; console and mobile crossplay has not been announced.
What to do in a run
For a party, put everyone on the same Main or Beta branch and add each other on Steam. Do not promise a console-to-PC or mobile-to-PC party until Mega Crit publishes an account and crossplay policy.
Short answer
Yes. Slay the Spire 2 has online co-op for up to four players, with a shared climb but individual characters, decks, Energy, gold, cards, and relics.
What to do in a run
Coordinate the map and enemy target priorities, but do not assume one player's gold or Block can be spent by another. A good party covers immediate damage, defense, and scaling rather than simply picking four high-damage characters.
Short answer
Add the group on Steam, choose Multiplayer from the main menu, have one player select Host and create a multiplayer save, then have the others select Join. The host's save is the campaign the party returns to.
What to do in a run
Choose the host before starting a long run. Make sure everyone has the intended character unlocked and the same branch installed; switching one player to Beta while the others stay on Main is a version-mismatch problem, not a strategy problem.
Short answer
Slay the Spire 2 uses Steam friends rather than a public matchmaking queue. The host creates the multiplayer save and the other players join from the Multiplayer menu or the Steam invitation flow.
What to do in a run
If a friend cannot join, check Steam friendship, the host's save, branch selection, and whether the run already has its party. Recreating lobbies without checking those four facts usually hides the actual cause.
Short answer
The maximum party size is four players total: one host and up to three other players. Each player controls one character in the shared run.
What to do in a run
Party size changes encounter pressure, so a two-player plan should not be copied unchanged into a four-player run. Re-evaluate damage, Block, target order, and reward competition when the group size changes.
Short answer
No public matchmaking system is currently documented. Mega Crit's FAQ says online co-op is for Steam friends, and current co-op setup guides describe Host and Join rather than a queue.
What to do in a run
If you need teammates, use the official community channels or friends list, but never treat a community LFG post as an official matchmaking guarantee. State the branch, party size, and desired Ascension before starting.
Short answer
No native local co-op is currently documented. The Steam listing advertises Online Co-op, and the detailed co-op guide explicitly describes the current mode as online rather than couch co-op.
What to do in a run
Do not plan a shared-screen session around Remote Play or a controller workaround unless you test that exact setup yourself. The reliable current path is separate Steam clients connected through the online mode.
Short answer
No split-screen or shared-screen mode is currently announced. The supported feature to rely on is online co-op through Steam.
What to do in a run
If split-screen is the requirement, wait for an explicit store or Mega Crit announcement. Do not infer it from the fact that the game supports four players; party size and local input are separate features.
Short answer
Remote Play Together is not listed as an official co-op feature on the current store page. The documented mode is online co-op, so Remote Play should be treated as an unverified workaround rather than supported cross-device functionality.
What to do in a run
If you test it, record the Steam client, input device, game branch, and whether each player can target cards reliably. A workaround that opens a second input stream is not the same as a maintained local multiplayer mode.
Short answer
Host creates the multiplayer save and owns the campaign file; Join lets the other Steam friends enter that campaign. Everyone chooses a character after joining, and the party then moves through one shared map.
What to do in a run
Think of Host as save ownership, not a combat leader. The host should be the player who can reliably resume the campaign, while the party agrees on route and target priorities together.
Short answer
The host owns the save and each profile can host one campaign at a time. Current co-op guidance says all players should be present from the beginning, a replacement player cannot be added midway, and the party must return to the host's save to continue.
What to do in a run
Choose a stable host and keep the party roster fixed. If someone leaves, do not abandon the save until you have confirmed that the original group can resume; the cost of a casual lobby reset is losing the campaign itself.
Short answer
Current co-op guidance says an abandoned slot cannot simply be filled by a new player midway through the campaign. The party should save and quit, then have the original host re-host the same save with the original roster available.
What to do in a run
Treat the player list as part of the save contract. Before a long run, agree on a host and a resume window; that small coordination step prevents a disconnect from becoming an unrecoverable party change.
Short answer
Multiplayer Ascension is separate from single-player Ascension. It is unlocked by completing three-act co-op runs, applies across multiplayer characters, and the party uses the lowest multiplayer Ascension level unlocked by its members.
What to do in a run
When a party cannot select the level you expected, check the least-progressed player first. Build a stable two-to-four-player team and unlock the co-op track together instead of assuming solo wins transfer.
Short answer
Yes. Current co-op guidance reports that every player can choose the same character, including all players choosing Silent.
What to do in a run
Duplicate characters are legal, but duplicate roles are not automatically good. Before locking four copies of one character, check whether the party can still answer the next area with enough Block, damage, draw, and scaling.
Short answer
There is no fixed best team. A reliable party combines immediate damage, dependable Block, a long-fight engine, and at least one way to help the group stabilize; each player still owns a personal deck and resource pool.
What to do in a run
Draft for coverage before synergy: one player must solve the next Elite, another must prevent shared enemy damage from snowballing, and a third can invest in scaling once the run is safe. Use support cards on the player whose next turn actually converts them into a kill or survival.