Nif Nif Review

It may be the cutest Slay the Spire clone you’ll ever see, but how will it differentiate itself?

Nif Nif is a cute and cuddly take on the roguelite deck builder genre with a bright and colorful art style. Development was inspired by the game director’s autistic son, opting for a more welcoming and violence-free take on the genre. Despite the aesthetics being more family-friendly, it’s easy to see where it draws inspiration from, especially Slay the Spire; but how does Nif Nif differentiate itself?

The premise is simple, both mechanically and plot-wise. The story starts out with the forest Nif Nif (the pig) lives in becoming dirty and the animals of the forest succumbing to that same grime. Nif Nif must clean his way through his neighbors in order to save the forest. Not much else can be said for the plot — not that there needs to be much more than that simple impetus.

Publisher: Springfox Games

Developer: Springfox Games

Platform: Played on PC

Availability: Released on April 1st, 2025 for Windows PC (Steam).

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Mechanically, this is a near carbon-copy of Slay the Spire. I do wish there were more to differentiate it, honestly; I would love to highlight major differences or key takeaways in that direction, but every single important design decision is a one to one clone. For example, the map structure is the same — branching paths that you choose put you into a fight, event, campfire, elite, shop, or boss enemy. The icons themselves are also reminiscent of Slay the Spire, sharing question mark icons for the event (known as ‘story’ in Nif Nif) stages, and an eerily similar campfire icon for resting spots.

All of the same hallmarks make an appearance, as well: cards are gained after a battle, sometimes you get one-time use consumables (soups), and shops sell you cards and soups to bring into future battles. The battles themselves are also nearly identical, only swapping health for ‘cleanliness.’ Get too dirty and you lose. You have cards for damaging enemies (swipe cards), and cards that give you armor to protect you from an enemy getting you dirty.

Luckily, it is a tried and true formula. Deck building is fun, and the light difficulty plus colorful art keep the game a breezy jaunt. It is a game designed with less experienced players in mind, so I wouldn’t go into it expecting a challenge, but for teaching the basics of the genre it may be a useful entry point.

If you have played roguelite deck builders before, this will look very familiar.

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I do want to highlight a few things that set this game apart. There are skins for the two playable characters that are unlocked as you level up, and you can equip hats (earned by first leveling up and then by completing a run wearing each subsequent hat) which function as stat boosts for your character. Once you reach level 5, you unlock the ability to farm for veggies, which can then be made into soups; soups can be brought with you from the start this way. The game also offers the powerful ability to upgrade cards after each fight, and presents the opportunity to thin your deck out much more frequently than any other deck builder I’ve played.

On the technical side of things, Nif Nif does not offer any display options beyond Fullscreen or Windowed modes. There are no accessibility options, and no graphical tweaks of any kind to be made. That said, it did function in fullscreen on my 1440p monitor, and looked nice enough. It also boasts 11 different languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Chinese (simplified and traditional).

Each run of the game is incredibly short, with only one area available to traverse through, so you'll only fight a single boss fight. There are several different boss fights it cycles through, so replayability is there a little bit. If you’re looking for a deck builder to introduce younger audiences to the genre, this might be a good choice due to its light difficulty, and inoffensive visual identity and themes.

Verdict

Light in subject matter, content, and difficulty, Nif Nif doesn’t do enough to stand out from the pack for adults, but might just be what you need to introduce the genre to a younger audience. Its bright and cartoony visual style is a safe but effective tool in easing people into the game. As a nearly 1:1 clone of other games in the space, it is definitely derivative, but it is a tried and true formula that remains fun today.

Image Credits: Taylor Rioux

Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this product from the developer via https://www.keymailer.co.