The Spirit Lift: Beginner's Guide to Surviving the Haunted Hotel

Welcome to "THE SPIRIT LIFT," a unique blend of retro horror, deckbuilding roguelike, and dungeon-crawling mechanics set in a haunted 1990s hotel. As a group of teenagers who stumbled upon a magic elevator, your goal is to fight your way through 13 floors of supernatural threats to reach the penthouse and escape. This guide will provide essential information to help new players navigate the dangers of the Vexington Hotel.

Game Overview

"THE SPIRIT LIFT" immerses players in a high-school thriller narrative, combining dungeon-crawling with roguelite deckbuilding. The framing narrative involves piecing together events at the Vexington Hotel through fragmentary footage. The game features turn-based, card-driven combat where strategic decision-making is key to overcoming the hotel's ghostly inhabitants. Each run is designed for replayability, offering new challenges and opportunities to unlock lore and content.

Assembling Your Team

At the start of each run, you'll select three teenagers to form your party. Initially, three characters are available, with more unlocking as you progress through the game. Each teen possesses unique starting cards and gear, which define their distinct playstyle and identity. For example, Tobias the jock might start with cards related to a baseball bat and a basketball, while Briar, an art goth, utilizes a palette knife, oil paints, and sage.

Characters and their cards are categorized into gameplay styles: Physical, Spiritual, Tactical, and Gifted. Choosing a balanced team that synergizes well is crucial for success, as your starting team dictates your initial strategy. The banter and relationships between the teens also unfold as the story progresses.

Combat Fundamentals

Combat in "THE SPIRIT LIFT" is turn-based and card-based. Each turn, you have a fixed amount of energy, typically three, to spend on playing cards. Unlike many deckbuilders, "THE SPIRIT LIFT" notably lacks a traditional 'block' mechanic. Instead, survival relies on alternative defensive strategies such as stacking dodges to avoid damage, using regen charges to regain health, and purifying debuffs.

Offensively, you'll employ cards to apply effects like "haunt" for damage over time or "vulnerability" to increase incoming damage. Enemies also take one action per turn, making it essential to eliminate them before they can overwhelm your team. Your starting gear, like bandages and guns, often has a limited number of charges before they are permanently consumed. A key strategy, especially against bosses, involves focusing on and scaling one or two powerful cards within the game's restrictive 13-turn time limit.

Exploring the Vexington Hotel

The game involves dungeon-crawling through the 13 haunted floors of the Vexington Hotel. As you explore, you'll encounter enemies, collect gold coins, and discover new cards. The hotel is also filled with randomized events that often present interesting decisions, such as risking health for experience or choosing between narrative clues and gold. These events offer glimpses into the hotel's oddities and deeper mysteries.

Progression and Upgrades

As you progress, you'll gain experience and the ability to upgrade your cards. Balancing your deck by blending the four card focuses (Physical, Spiritual, Tactical, Gifted) is an important aspect of deck management. Beyond individual runs, "THE SPIRIT LIFT" features a "Spirit Shop," accessible from the main menu. Here, points accumulated during gameplay can be spent on various modifiers, such as boosting your starting health, increasing initial gold, or adding extra gear slots, providing persistent benefits across runs. You'll also find mysterious files that tie into the game's overarching story.

Tips for Survival

Good luck surviving the Vexington Hotel and uncovering the secrets of "THE SPIRIT LIFT"!