There are rare moments where simple and “silly” games can hook you in and not let go. Vampire Survivors is one of the prime examples. 8bit indie games with roguelike/roguelite elements are nothing new in the current market, however, Vampire Survivors stands out for having minimalist yet addictive gameplay.
This “silly” little game seems to have taken over our household, and it started with one person, then another, and another. Talks were held and discussions were had on the best weapons and augments to go for. One person would play with the others standing behind giving advice and yelling things like GARLIC, TAKE GARLIC! YAY – FLOOR CHICKEN! YOU NEED THAT, GREAT NOW UPGRADE YOUR HOLY BOOK.” All the while here I was feeling like I’m sitting in an 80’s style arcade without a clue what it all meant. Then it happened, they all ganged up on me and made me play and I must admit, it was loads of fun.
Seeing as I’ve played for less than an hour I decided to ask the rest of the household for their input in putting this together, this is what they had to say.
Vampire Survivors is a gothic horror roguelite, where you fight endless, Halloween type, enemy creatures. The creatures range from mummies and ghouls to bats and ghosts and everything else in between. Your goal is to kill scores of creatures, to survive as long as possible. Attacks fire off automatically, so you need to mostly focus on movement, to not take damage and positioning yourself so that you get the highest damage from your existing weapons.
Most kills, reward you with an experience gem that you need to pick up. Collect enough of these gems, and you will level up. When this coveted event happens, you get to choose a weapon or augment from a list that pops up, each with a unique ability.
There are larger or glowing versions of most creatures, that are bosses. You can avoid these mostly, however, it is very much to your benefit to kill them, if possible. Doing so will reward you with either a substantial amount of experience points or a chest. Chests are fantastic as you can get between 1, 3 and (if you are SUPER lucky) 5 weapon/passive upgrades at once, with a decent amount of gold to boot.
Destroying light sources has another great potential to add to the mayhem. They give you a single gold coin, a bag of gold, roast chicken (affectionately known as floor chicken – which gives you a bit of health), or other useful, short-lived items, such as freeze time, fire breath or destroy everything on screen, and a couple more.
To extend your survival time, you try and collect weapons and augment combinations. You need to get a specific attack to max level with the correct corresponding augment. Get a chest from a boss and you unlock a sweet new evolved power, such as a soul-stealing circle around you, to holy swords flying around becoming a bullet hell, spawning waves of destruction to the endless hordes of creatures.
“Whait a minute, you said roguelite … isn’t it supposed to be roguelike?” Well, as I found out while writing this, no. A roguelike is a fresh run each time, starting with a “blank slate”. This game has a nice to have, persistent upgrade system.
When you ultimately die, you keep nothing but your gold. Gold pays for these upgrades that you will start within subsequent runs. Some examples are higher damage, more gold, extra luck, but to name a few. Gold will also buy you new characters, each with its own starting attack and unique ability. Characters are unlocked by certain achievements, such as getting power to a specific level or getting a certain number of total kills.
The retro arcade-style lends itself well to the simple play style and goal. With simple yet appealing environments that are clean enough to allow hordes of enemies to fill your screen, while still allowing you to guide them around and explore the environment around you. The classic pixel art style is reminiscent of classics such as Castlevania, with great green fields scattered with trees and vines along roads that lead nowhere, and a seemingly endless library.
The quality of this little gem of a game is proven by the huge following of players the game has amassed in the short time it has been released. At a staggering 77 061 peak players in the last 30 days, and 54 863 in the last 24 hours as of 23rd of Feb 2022.
I just realised there is one person in this house that has not played this game yet. I think it is time for the rest of us to gang up on her and make her play…. Are we starting a cult?