Playing Slay the Spire 2 and Esoteric Ebb on my ROG Ally all weekend turned me into a happy lump of swaddled gamer joy

Playing Slay the Spire 2 and Esoteric Ebb on my ROG Ally all weekend turned me into a happy lump of swaddled gamer joy | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these Gaming Industry CEO of Kitfox Games reckons hundreds of hours playing Civilization could be the secret to the Dwarf Fortress publisher’s success: ‘Maybe Kitfox wouldn’t be as successful if I didn’t know how to alternate between science trees and army defences’ RPG Esoteric Ebb isn’t just the best Disco since Disco, it’s the closest anyone’s come to the magic of tabletop D&D in a videogame Roguelike Slay the Spire 2 dev celebrates its instant success by reminding players to support ‘small indie passion projects’ like Marathon too RPG It’s only March, but I’m calling it: Esoteric Ebb is 2026’s best RPG and the first worthy successor to Disco Elysium RPG This bizarre CRPG features claymation graphics, beat ‘em up combat and the option to send defeated enemies to a prison colony, and it just left early access after a massive final update Games The best PC games to play right now Handheld Gaming PCs Best handheld gaming PC in 2026: my recommendations for the best portable powerhouses RPG Cara Ellison, senior narrative designer on Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 before Paradox switched developers, discusses her love of Troika’s original RPG: ‘Everyone on the team helped really make that maximum goth’ Card Game Slay the Spire 2 is the #1 seller on Steam, above Marathon and Resident Evil Requiem Card Game ‘It’s kind of like you’re a butcher’: Hundreds of Slay the Spire 2 card ideas were cut during development in an ‘incredibly destructive process’ Roguelike I got stuck in a 13-day stalemate with an eldritch god in Bloodletter, and now it’s my new favourite deckbuilder World of Warcraft After playing a bunch of Midnight, I don’t think I miss WoW’s combat addons or my old class design at all RPG You’ve never heard of it, but a Russian studio made a fantasy take on original Fallout way back in 2001, and it honestly kind of rules Games The best indie games on PC Handheld Gaming PCs Best handheld gaming PC in 2026: my recommendations for the best portable powerhouses. PopularNEW: PC Gamer Clips!MarathonArc RaidersBest PC gearQuizzes Games Card Game Playing Slay the Spire 2 and Esoteric Ebb on my ROG Ally all weekend turned me into a happy lump of swaddled gamer joy Features By Andrea Shearon published 9 March 2026 And now I must ask: What are you playing on your handheld gaming PC? When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Mega Crit) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter PC Gamer Get the PC Gamer Newsletter Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. 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I thought I would sample a little of this, a little of that, and go on about my weekend business after a few hours with both. I was wrong.I did nothing all weekend. Well, I did play Slay the Spire 2 and Esoteric Ebb, but I did nothing else seeing as those two absolutely gobbled up my free time.In my defense, I somehow dodged the original phenomenon that was Slay the Spire, and didn’t know it was that damn good. As for the latter, my colleague and good-RPG-taste-haver, Ted Litchfield, tried to warn me that the Disco-like was phenomenal in his Esoteric Ebb review, so I have no excuse there.Article continues below You may like Esoteric Ebb isn’t just the best Disco since Disco, it’s the closest anyone’s come to the magic of tabletop D&D in a videogame What games did you play over the holidays? Tabletop gaming saved videogame RPGs I’m weak, the games are good, and I have a ROG Ally. They weren’t the game releases I had my eye on in March, but I’m so pleasantly surprised by how good they feel to play on a handheld that I can’t shut up about the combination. And now I’d love to hear the same from you, PC gamers—is there anything you’re deep into right now that just feels especially good to play on the go?Perhaps I’m extra enthusiastic after what feels like a longer slump for my own gaming tastes, but it’s been a while since the RPG gears clicked into place for me and I can’t recall the last time I was this into a deckbuilder. It’s not that there