Every Slay The Princess Ending And How To Unlock Them

Slay the Princess is a visual novel by indie developer Black Tabby Games, and it’s quickly become one of the biggest hits of 2023. Every choice matters in this game, so there are tons of variations in its different endings. While a single playthrough can be done in about five hours, getting all the endings could take weeks.

We’ve collected all the main endings here. While minor variations based on your decisions throughout the game will be discussed in the main entry, alternate versions of endings that have major differences from the “standard” version get their own entry. There are tons of possibilities, so buckle in.

Spoilers ahead for Slay the Princess.

8 Good Ending

• How to get it:
  Enter the cabin during Chapter 1 and slay the Princess without saying a word to her or investigating her corpse. When the Narrator offers you a reward, accept it.

• Steam Achievements:
  The Good Ending

You won’t be able to get the ‘Our Song’ achievement with this ending.

This is one of the easiest endings to get, but it’s also the most unsatisfying. Slay the Princess in Chapter 1 without so much as even a word, and the Narrator will reward you by locking you in an endless void. With nothing but you, your voices, and the cabin, time loses all meaning.

The ending triggers when the Hero, unsatisfied with an unending void as his reward for slaying the Princess, asks for something more. You’ll receive a crude crayon drawing from the Narrator congratulating you for your effort. It’s funny, sure, but we would have preferred something more. Luckily, you can just reload your save and try again.

7 It’s (Not) Tough To Be A God

• How to get it:
  Accept the Shifting Mound’s offer once you reach her after bringing her five vessels.

• Steam Achievements:
  There Are No Endings, Through Conflict

The game’s intro describes Slay the Princess as a love story, and most of the endings are romantic in one way or another. You and the Princess were once two halves of the same being, and once you bring the Shifting Mound five vessels, you’ll be given the option to complete each other. Either accept her offer right away, or talk for a bit before reclaiming your place as gods.

While you can fight the Shifting Mound for a bit before surrendering and deciding to join her, don’t accept the offer to go into her heart. Doing so will lock you out of this ending.

You’ll get the ‘There Are No Endings’ achievement regardless of what path you take towards this ending. If you choose to fight the Shifting Mound, however, you can gain the ‘Through Conflict’ achievement if you surrender. As long as you don’t go into her heart, this is a great way to see her attacks with all the Princesses you’ve collected during your playthrough.

6 The Five Stages

• How to get it:
  Leave the woods and refuse to enter the cabin during Chapter 2, five loops in a row.

• Steam Achievements:
  Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance, Just As Once You Were Nothing

If you keep denying the Shifting Mound the vessels she needs to awaken herself, she’ll go through all the stages of grief as she tries to come to terms with what you’ve done. Every time, she’ll question your motivations, but she won’t do anything to stop you.

You can’t get this ending if you bring the Shifting Mound a vessel after denying her. If you bring her a vessel, however, she’ll have a few special dialog lines for you.

There’s a bittersweet quality to this ending. You’ve hurt your literal other half over and over again, but she still finds it in herself to forgive you. Although both of you are fading into nothingness, you’ve at least been given the opportunity to be together in oblivion.

5 A New Dawn

• How to get it:
  Bring the Shifting Mound five vessels. Attempt to slay the Princess once she’s reassembled herself. When the Voice of the Hero says he can bring you to her heart, take the knife. Slay the Princess.

• Steam Achievements:
  A New And Unending Dawn

If you choose to slay the Princess during the game’s conclusion, the Shifting Mound will send every Princess you encountered during your playthrough to talk you out of killing her. You’ll need to persist and stand by your convictions to trigger the New Dawn ending. The Voice of the Hero will take you to the Shifting Mound’s heart, where you can kill her once and for all.

For this ending (and most other subsequent endings on this list), minor variations exist depending on whether you chose to take the knife in the cabin during Chapter 1 of your first loop.

Your initial choice will determine the Princess’ voice and demeanor once you reach the Shifting Mound’s heart.

This ending hurts. Yes, you’ve freed yourself from the time loops and given birth to a new universe. But you’ve lost an important part of yourself along the way, both metaphorically and literally. It’s a little terrifying to imagine what sort of world would exist without death or change. But Slay the Princess is a horror game, and as far as tragic endings go, this takes the cake.

4 A New Dawn (And Everyone Hates You)

• How to get it:
  Follow the same instructions to get the New Dawn ending, but say “it’s the end for you, but not for me” every time you find yourself back in the void with the mirror.

• Steam Achievements:
  A New And Unending Dawn And Everyone Hates You

If the New Dawn ending was tragic, this one is a punch to the metaphorical gut. As horrific as it is, the Long Quiet getting to remake the world in his image at least presents a happy ending to someone. Here, however, you’re left with nothing but a coterie of voices who will spend all of eternity cursing your name.

You’ll need to berate the Voices at every opportunity once you reach the mirror in the void after every route. While the Voice of the Hero isn’t impressed with your antics, he’ll still agree to help you during the game’s ending. However, he won’t give you any support after the other voices tear into you. After everything you’ve done to achieve this ending, you probably deserve to get roasted.

3 Reset The World

• How to get it:
  Bring the Shifting Mound five vessels. Attempt to slay the Princess once she’s reassembled herself. When the Voice of the Hero says he can bring you to her heart, take the knife. The Princess will offer you the chance to reset everything, which you should accept.

• Steam Achievements:
  You’re On A Path In The Woods

Once you reach the heart of the Shifting Mound, you can sit and talk with the Princess for a bit before deciding what to do with her. Although you can opt to leave together if you choose not to take the knife, taking it only affords you two options: slay the Princess, or choose to play the game forever by resetting the world. Choosing the second option will take you back to Chapter 1.

Although this ending feels like a cop-out, it’s great for a second playthrough if you just want to get the other routes’ Princesses. As a bonus, the Shifting Mound will customize her boss ‘fight’ to only show you the Princesses you encountered on that particular run. It’s worth it to play the game again just to see more variations of this ending.

2 Leave The Cabin Together

• How to get it:
  Bring the Shifting Mound five vessels. Attempt to slay the Princess once she’s reassembled herself. When the Voice of the Hero says he can bring you to her heart, don’t take the knife that sits on the table in the cabin. Talk with the Princess, and an option to leave together will show up.

• Steam Achievements:
  And? What Happens Next?

If you choose not to take the knife when you reach the heart of the Shifting Mound, you’ll be able to sit with the Princess and talk with her for a while. While you won’t have the option to slay the Princess, you’ll be able to confess that you didn’t actually want her dead. No, it was the prospect of godhood that frightened you. Ever the understanding girlfriend, the Princess proposes that the two of you leave the game entirely.

While this ending is full of ambiguities, it’s also arguably more romantic than ruling the universe together as gods. Both the Hero and the Princess have given up everything they’ve ever known to face an uncertain future together. We’re never shown what the world outside the forest looks like, but their life together as mortals is full of possibilities.

1 Stranger Ending Variations

• How to get it:
  Get the Stranger as your first Princess by initially refusing to go to the cabin in Chapter 1, then going to the cabin in Chapter 2. From there, proceed as normal to the New Dawn, Leave the Cabin, or Reset ending.

• Steam Achievements:
  Strange Beginnings

We’ve already mentioned how your decision on whether to grab the knife at the very start of the game affects your ending in minor ways. If, however, you chose to walk away from the cabin in the beginning and wound up meeting the Stranger, you’re in for some very special endings and dialog.

While the heart of the Shifting Mound looks and acts like a normal version of the Princess in most playthroughs, the Stranger has additional insights into the Shifting Mound’s character. Because of her multitudinous nature, the Stranger is the version of the Princess that most resembles the goddess. Regardless of your decisions, the Stranger retains that spark of divinity up until the end.