You can’t go wrong with cute warrior animals going on adventures in a world where swords and sorcery are the main currency. It’s what’s made Here To Slay the most expansive and all-around delightful card game experience in Unstable Games’ portfolio. There’s just something right about playing as an axe-wielding unicorn or a wizarding bunny rabbit in an environment that would make even the most jaded RPG fan blush.
Here To Slay is first and foremost a competitive game about party-building and monster slaying. It’s gotten multiple, fan-backed expansions that build on mechanics and winning conditions to keep the game alive and dynamic.
Now, the game takes on a new form, one that ditches competition for cooperation. Enter Here to Slay Dungeons, a coop variation of the base game that asks players to band together rather than go at it alone to venture into dungeons in search of massive monsters in need of slaying.
Dungeons tasks 2-4 with navigating dangerous terrain filled with angry (but still cute) monsters as they level up and search for loot to prepare for an epic showdown with the dungeon boss. Heroes can equip special items and build on their strengths to make it to the final stage of the game.
Here To Slay Dungeons will feature three standalone core base games, each with their own characters, bosses, abilities, and dungeons. They can all be mixed and matched to the players’ liking. The variety makes sense. The game is meant to run between 60-90 minutes, so there’s clearly a lot of material here to push that time frame.
The project is currently accepting pledges on Gamefound, where it has amassed nearly $7.5 million out of a $50,000 goal. Clearly, coop was something fans were secretly hoping for. Unstable Games is going to make a lot of them very happy when the pledges get fulfilled in early 2027, as per their Gamefound page.
I corresponded with Ramy Badie, the CEO of TeeTurtle (under which Unstable Games falls), to talk Here To Slay’s adaptability, how easily it lent itself to coop, and what could be in store for the game in the future.
RICARDO SERRANO: Here To Slay has gotten a lot of attention regarding expansions and characters. This new DUNGEONS format seems like a big moment for the game, especially as it points to its ability to adapt into new versions of itself. What keeps you coming back to Here to Slay?
RAMY BADIE: When we first designed Here To Slay, our goal was to create a role-playing game that would serve as a good entry point for newcomers to the genre. But as we developed the Heroes and Monsters, we kept finding ourselves wanting to explore more… The original game really only gives you a small peek into the world we were building, and we had so many more stories we wanted to tell. And when we launched in 2020 and saw the fan reaction, it confirmed pretty quickly that we weren’t the only ones who felt that way.
SERRANO: The shift from competitive to coop comes with key changes to the core game, down to presentation. Which elements from the original game did you want to make sure made it to DUNGEONS?
BADIE: From the start, we knew three things were non-negotiable: Heroes, Monsters, and 6-sided dice. Those felt like the heartbeat of the original game, and we weren’t willing to let them go. From there, the challenge became figuring out how to honor the world fans already knew while genuinely building on it, not just reskinning it. Tying the original Classes to Schools of Abilities in DUNGEONS is a good example of that; it’s a meaningful connection for longtime fans, but it opens up a whole new layer of strategy. Our team went through so many iterations on this game before we landed where we did, but we knew this one was worth the effort.
SERRANO: What new mechanics are you hoping longtime fans connect with in DUNGEONS?
BADIE: I hope fans will love the opportunity to level up their Heroes, gaining access to new and upgraded Abilities, while facing escalating difficulties as the game progresses. I also love that the Dungeon is different each time you enter it, making the game infinitely replayable. Plus, there is the added excitement of mixing and matching Heroes, Monsters, Dungeons, Schools, and Items across the three base games for fans who collect all three!
SERRANO: What’s your take on bringing Here To Slay to the trading card game arena? Is there a place for it there?
BADIE: A trading card game would be an absolutely massive undertaking, and it’s definitely not one we are ready to commit to quite yet. I have been a longtime fan of multiple TCGs, so it’s been a dream to consider this for the future at some point, but we don’t want to do it unless we’re confident we can do it right. But if inspiration strikes, it’s not off the table. Let’s just leave it at that.
