Casey Yano

Co-founder of Mega Crit and co-creator of Slay the Spire

@caseyyano Seattle, United States Indie Game Makers

Casey Yano at a glance

Known for: Slay the Spire and Slay the Spire II
Based in: Seattle, United States
Active products: Slay the Spire and Slay the Spire II

Facts checked 2026-10-22

About Casey Yano

Casey Yano is an American game developer in Seattle who co-founded Mega Crit with Anthony Giovannetti. Together they created Slay the Spire, the roguelike deck-builder that kicked off a whole genre.

Slay the Spire entered early access in November 2017 and sold only about 2,000 copies in its first weeks, until a Chinese streamer's video triggered a surge. It passed a million copies by June 2018 and 1.5 million by March 2019, around its 1.0 launch, and became a staple of 'best roguelike' lists. Yano has spoken about the pain of its Java/libGDX tech, which pushed the team to a new engine for the sequel.

Mega Crit started Slay the Spire II in Unity, then switched to Godot in 2023 after Unity's runtime fee announcement. The sequel launched in early access on 5 March 2026, peaked above 400,000 concurrent Steam players and sold more than three million copies in its first week.

Products by Casey Yano

Slay the Spire

store.steampowered.com

Roguelike deck-builder that popularised the genre.

1.5M copies by March 2019

Slay the Spire II

store.steampowered.com

Sequel with new characters and four-player co-op, built in Godot.

3M+ copies in first week of…

Timeline

2017 — Launched Slay the Spire in early access, selling only about 2,000 copies in its first weeks.
2018 — Sales took off after a Chinese streamer featured the game; passed 1 million copies by June.
2019 — Released Slay the Spire 1.0 and console versions.
2023 — Moved Slay the Spire II from Unity to Godot after Unity's runtime fee announcement.
2026 — Launched Slay the Spire II in early access on 5 March, selling 3M+ copies in a week.

How Casey builds

Use telemetry and expert playtesters to balance cards.
Show enemy intents so every turn is a fair puzzle.
Pick tools you control after platform risks bite.

Casey Yano FAQ

Who is Casey Yano?

Casey Yano is an American game developer in Seattle who co-founded Mega Crit with Anthony Giovannetti. Together they created Slay the Spire, the roguelike deck-builder that kicked off a whole genre.

Who made Slay the Spire?

Slay the Spire was made by Mega Crit, the Seattle studio co-founded by Casey Yano and Anthony Giovannetti. It entered early access in 2017 and fully released in January 2019.