The Killing Stone mixes occult contract law with card-battling

The Killing Stone pairs an occult contract-law premise with a card-battling deckbuilder played around a mansion. Its structure echoes Slay the Spire’s dungeon paths, letting you upgrade cards, add new pacts to your deck or choose between minor fights and elite battles, but the actual play feels distinct: there are no defend cards, block is uncommon, and creatures on one side are often wiped in a single turn while a big eyeball behind them tracks the owner’s health.

Gameplay includes a reserve mechanic that lets you place cards above creatures on the battleline — a spare creature can slot down when the one beneath it dies, or an incantation can buff the creature underneath. Creatures in reserve still trigger effects, so a Flask of Thoughts will heal every turn from reserve.

The reviewer recounts a moment of uncertainty over whether replacing a creature would trigger an on-death Derelict Fortress effect, which shows how consequential and unclear some interactions can be.

killing stone, occult contract, card battling, deckbuilder, mansion, dungeon paths, upgrade cards, reserve mechanic, derelict fortress, battleline