Vampire Survivors is an interesting game. Not interesting in the sense that there are huge story moments, a limitless skill ceiling or a boundary-pushing visual style. Vampire Survivors is interesting because without any of these, it consistently has me asking the same question – “why can’t I stop playing?”.
Presentation which sucks
Upon first glance, especially in static screenshots, Vampire Survivors looks like your typical, low-effort shovelware. Shovelware that has become the bane of many virtual storefronts, gumming up the ‘new’ and ‘deals’ tabs to such a degree that the games created with actual heart and passion are all but impossible to find. Don’t let this fool you however, much like the most compelling vampires, Vampire Survivors lures you in with a dropped guard, and if you let it too close, it could turn your entire lifestyle upside down.
The pixel art is competent, it isn’t anything too flashy and it retains a grunge-like energy, a feeling of being underground – like it could’ve been made in a garage. The menus and UI suck, they’re ugly and often difficult to parse. When my partner first saw me playing Vampire Survivors, she asked “what is this?”, paid little attention to the proceedings and continued with her book. Now though, her attitude has changed greatly. This is because looking at Vampire Survivors and playing it are two completely different things.
So, in screenshots, it looks ugly, sure. In motion, well, it doesn’t look so great either.
If it doesn’t look very appealing, what draws me back to it time and time again? It must be the gameplay, right? If you watch the hands of someone playing Vampire Survivors, you’ll notice that there is a distinct lack of movement. With just a single thumb placed limply on the analog stick, you are able to play the entire game (with the exception of a ‘select’ or ‘OK’ button). This means it is entirely possible to play one handed if you map up your controllers correctly – the perfect game to sink a brew with whilst casually gaming. Needless to say, it isn’t the controls or a complex skill ceiling which has managed to hook millions of players in.
Meaty gameplay
Vampire Survivors is a rogue-like game, differentiating itself from other games in the genre in a couple of ways which make it more approachable. The first reason is that each ‘run’ of Vampire Survivors will only set you back 30 minutes. This can even be made shorter if you apply certain modifiers. The benefit of this is that you can plan your whole run around your schedule, there isn’t a risk of a run getting out of hand and heading north of an hour like with The Binding of Isaac or Slay the Spire. In a world where I am pushed for time more and more, and the opportunity cost of choosing a game grows greater and greater, this is greatly welcomed. The other reason is the aforementioned simple control scheme. You only move with the stick, all of your attacks trigger on fixed cooldowns and you have little to no control over where your offences are deployed. This sounds limiting, but when this game gets out of hand, and it does, you’ll be thankful that you only really have one thing to worry about.
As mentioned, each round will only set you back 30 minutes, if you can survive that long, you win. Well, the grim reaper comes and kills you after this amount of time, which somehow means you won, I guess. You’ll start by choosing your character, each with a unique starting item, traits and potentially abilities. Once you’ve picked your warrior, away you go, slay some night creatures to gain EXP gems, and level up. Every time you do so you’ll be faced with a choice of new weapons or passives to acquire, or the ability to upgrade one of your existing items. You can only hold a finite number of unique weapons and charms at a time, so choose wisely. The number of slots available also scales depending on the number of players, more on that later. The upgrade pool is random each time, so there is a deadly game of stick or twist at play, do you grab the item you like now and use up a slot, or do you wait for something potentially better in a few levels? This is made even more compelling when you learn more about the weapon evolution system. Like all great games from this genre, there is a synergy between plenty of weapons – some evolve into totally new items, others unify together to open up a new slot for a different death-dealing tool. It is extremely fun to see what combines together, or just check out the wiki to see what works and try it out. These weapons stack, and stack, and stack into some ludicrous lightshows of destruction that would even make Oppenheimer sick to his stomach. From simply area or damage buffs, to full on character transformations, there is a lot to sink your teeth into, and it never ceases to be a blast.
There are also boss enemies which come along from time to time. Defeating these, slightly larger enemies will yield a chest which when opened provides yet more stimuli, showering you with gold and weapons. Upon watching a recent documentary about the game, I learned that the creator of Vampire Survivors worked previously at a gambling site, an this was no shock to me. The feedback of all these chests feels like it is ripped right out of Paddy Power, which would be a turn off, except it also feels like a slot machine that you never lose. The only thing you gamble with is the amount of dopamine you’re going to get out, the result is never negative. Whether you get a weapon upgrade or charm enhancement, it is always a net positive.
Each new weapon or evolution contributing to the vast array of particles and strobe effects, this certainly make the epilepsy warning at the start of the game warranted. There is a satisfying pop and crackle to each defeated enemy that makes this feel sometimes like less of a game, and more like digital bubble wrap. Most vanquished foes then leave behind a gem of EXP which gets hoovered up with a satisfying ”ching”. To say that Vampire Survivors scratches an itch in your brain is greatly underselling it. Vampire Survivors rips the pleasure sensors right out of your brain, and blasts them with a blunderbuss.
As the enemy counts ratchet higher, and your damage output grows, Vampire Survivors can look like a complete mess. It is a mess that experienced players can begin to decode, but as a player, the build-up is so gradual that it is clear for the most part what is going on. It’s quite remarkable. With the downright silly amount of action on screen at times you would expect the Switch to struggle, and it does. These brief moments of stuttering actually add to the experience though, you are slowly breaking the systems apart, seeing just how ridiculous things can get. Players are always encouraged to reach this state, and Vampire Survivors laughs along with you, reveling when it can’t keep up with its own nonsense.
Couples who slay together
It can also be played in co-op, with up to three other survivors. Whilst I have only played with one other, I can only imagine how hectic things could get if the player count was doubled. This does influence the number of items that any player can have at one time, so there is at least a little bit of balance here. It never feels too limiting, and lets be honest, games are always better with friends. My partner and I have been playing this most nights together and loving every second.
I could go into the other stuff that is available, such as the permanent upgrade shop, the different levels and challenges, but that is par for the course when it comes to this genre. Anything that I add here would only be padding, for an otherwise glowing recommendation which is much better experienced than watched, or read.
Bitesize fun
And that is Vampire Survivors, as addictive as a slot machine, without financial destruction. Offering up a consistent string of rewards to keep you coming back and a seemingly never ending stream of ‘happy chemicals’ to massage the ‘reality TV part of your brain’. It’s bloody good fun. Vampire Survivors is truly a game for everyone, the feedback is instant, the systems combine in a logical manner and the low-effort control scheme means that even my mother could play this and have a good time. Whilst I don’t have any evidence to support that claim, I’ll be more than willing to test it out this Christmas.
It’s like £3 on the eShop and the DLC is dead cheap too – that is absolutely criminal. You will get more than your money’s worth, I assure you. At a time when I’m becoming increasingly burnt out on the AAA output of the games industry, Vampire Survivors is a a fantastic breath of fresh air.
Lap Full of Crumbs 