Vampire Survivors

Quick Info
Mods available?	No
Year released	2022
Available from	Steam
Category	Roguelike
Time to Beat	15 Hours
Played?	Yes
Game length via HowLongToBeat

Vampire Survivors is a roguelike game released in 2022, created by Luca Galante under the studio name poncle. While roguelikes have existed far before Vampire Survivors, it did cause quite a stir in the gaming space, and drove a new wave of popularity in the genre. It was so impactful, that many now refer to similar games as 'survivor-likes'. Originally created as a small project while the developer was in-between jobs, after release it sold far more copies than expected. Since release the development team has grown, the game has won multiple awards across various categories and has had several expansions released (both free and paid).

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Why Should This Game Be Played?

Vampire Survivors is a deceptively simple game that will easily suck up many hours of playtime if it clicks for you. Players control an auto-attacking character from a top-down perspective, moving throughout 2d levels while hordes of enemies spawn. As enemies are killed, experience gems are dropped, leveling the player over time. Upon each level up, three weapons or power-ups are presented, with one being able to be chosen. Occasionally a monster will drop a chest, that provides 1-3 upgrades to already acquired weapons or power-ups. This boosts the players power over time, with some ridiculous combinations being possible, allowing for characters to survive late into a run as monster health and shear number exponentially increase.

Depending on the level the player is on, game-play sessions will have a soft cap of 15 / 20 / 30 minutes, with later levels running longer. Once this threshold is reached, all monsters will despawn and a final reaper enemy will appear. The Reaper is intended to wipe the player out immediately, but there are combinations of characters, weapons, and power-ups that will keep the player going. If this occurs another Reaper will join the first every minute the timer goes past the soft cap, eventually killing the player. For those who make it to the soft cap milestones - you can consider your run successful!

Throughout levels you will collect gold coins, which can be used in the main menu of the game as part of the meta-progression, leveling up persistent power-ups like additional damage, health or luck for whichever character you choose to start a run with. The gold can also be used to unlock some additional playable characters. Challenges that can be completed during levels, ranging from stuff you will do naturally to some more focused things, will unlock new stages, weapons and characters.

Its a simple premise that exists as a dopamine generating machine. Between the satisfaction of seeing damage numbers popping all over the screen to the flashing lights of opening a chest - everything just tickles the senses perfectly. Recently I reinstalled the game on my iPad, thinking that I would give it a quick go, since I had 20 minutes to kill. My first run back in lasted 5 minutes, I died quickly, couldn't remember some of the strategies I had employed previously when playing the game. The next run went 20 minutes deep, and the next run after that 30 minutes. In that time I unlocked a few new characters, a new level, and gathered up some gold to put towards some of the meta progression. I had intended to pick up and put down the game quickly and not give it much thought, but it drew me back in so easily. At that point I knew that this game needed a spot on this site, it really is something special. In it's simplicity it provides a great distraction to whittle away the time and please those happy receptors.

Where to Get the Game

The game is available on Steam and across other platforms. It's truly a great game for phones or tablets to whittle away the time.

• Steam


• Steam DB Price History

DLC Info

Vampire Survivors started out drawing inspiration from the Castlevania series, and garnered so much popularity that there was a cross-over DLC released with Castlevania characters. A true full circle event for the creator of this game I'm sure. In total, there are 7 DLC for the game, two being free and five being paid (but only a few dollars each). Generally each DLC will add new characters, weapons, and a stage or two to play through. So if you've enjoyed the base game and gotten everything you can out of it, the DLC is good value for your money.

Additional Resources