Slay the Spire 2 players love the MS Paint placeholder art – and want it kept in the final game
Slay the Spire 2 launched into Steam Early Access on March 5, 2026 – and one of the first things players noticed was a set of charming MS Paint-style drawings used as temporary placeholders for artwork that isn't finished yet.
Player BuyMyBeans posted a screenshot from the Chapter 4 loading screen for "Underdocks," showing a rough hand-drawn sketch in place of the final illustration. A small "Placeholder" label sits in the bottom-right corner – though many players admitted they didn't catch it at first. Some assumed the crude style was an intentional artistic choice.
"When I saw the first one, I thought it was an Early Access bug. Then I noticed the 'placeholder' text at the bottom."
Another player said they spent a while trying to find a story reason for why the game was showing what looked like children's drawings.
For veterans of the series, this isn't entirely new territory. The original Slay the Spire used similar placeholder art during its Early Access period – and later turned it into unlockable cosmetics.
That so-called "beta art" could be enabled after beating the final boss, and many cards looked absolutely ridiculous in it. Now the community is asking Mega Crit to do the same with the sequel's placeholders – bring them back as an unlockable mode in the finished game.
"Getting a perfect run and unlocking the full Paint art set – now that would be a reward."
The community has also appreciated what the placeholders say about the studio's approach. At a time when developers are increasingly criticized for using generative AI even for temporary assets, rough hand-drawn sketches read as a deliberate stance.
"Way better than AI slop. At least you can tell a real artist is still working on the final version."
Others pointed out that placeholders like these show the development process in real time, making Early Access feel more transparent and genuinely interesting to follow.
Beyond the placeholder art, Slay the Spire 2 already offers a solid amount of content in Early Access. Three returning characters from the original have been joined by two brand-new ones: the Regent and the Necrobinder.
There's also a four-player co-op mode where enemies attack all players simultaneously and enemy health scales with the number of participants. On the map screen, each player can draw their preferred route with a colored marker – and based on comments, that feature has already become a reliable source of chaos.
On Steam, the game holds an "Overwhelmingly Positive" rating based on over 29,000 reviews.
Mega Crit plans to stay in Early Access for one to two years, adding new content, a final ending, additional modes, and balance improvements. In the meantime, players are enjoying the Paint scribbles – and hoping at least some of them make it to the full release.
