The creators of Vampire Survivors prove that they are not one-hit wonders, releasing the next Steam hit

With Vampire Crawlers, the creators of Vampire Survivors are taking a different approach from their successful formula. Can it work? MyMMO editor Lydia has played the title on Steam.

What kind of game is this? Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard is the new game from the creators of Vampire Survivors in collaboration with Nosebleed Interactive and a spin-off of the hit roguelite, which transforms bullet hell into a turn-based dungeon crawler/deck builder. The characters and weapons are familiar, although some effects had to be slightly adjusted. Additionally, there are some new mechanics.

Vampire Crawlers launched on April 21, 2026, on Steam and popular consoles, already attracting over 40,000 concurrent players on Steam within the first days. If you think: “That’s decent, but not as viral a success as the original,” you might fall into the same trap I did. Because while Vampire Survivors has been played millions of times, it has never had more than 77,061 players on Steam at once (source: SteamDB).

So the dungeon crawler still has all the time in the world to catch up to its big brother. At least in terms of reviews, Vampire Crawlers is on the right track: With 97% from nearly 3,000 ratings, it is rated “very positive” on Steam on the evening of April 24.

But can the spin-off capture the magic of the original?

Can Vampire Crawlers follow in the footsteps of the original’s success?

This is what MyMMO editor Lydia says: When I discovered Vampire Crawlers at the last Steam Next Fest as a playable demo, my first thought was: “Wow, these cheap knock-offs are getting bolder, even the key art is stolen.” Immediately followed by: “This is really from the devs; I have to check this out!”

For reference: I have spent well over 100 hours in Vampire Survivors and just as many in “Survivor-likes” like Deep Rock Survivors or TemTem Swarm. But as much as I love roguelites (almost) of all kinds: I had never really warmed up to deck builders. Therefore, I had Vampire Crawlers on my list but was still hesitant.

Now, however, the dungeon crawler has mysteriously appeared in my Steam library (thanks to a very dear friend), and of course, I immediately started slicing through the first areas.

The game throws you directly into a kind of tutorial run; the principle is simple: We control a character through a dungeon. At each level, a series of enemies await. At the end, you must face a stronger version of a basic enemy and dig deeper to the next floor. Many battles are optional, but they entice with experience for valuable level-ups and gold, which can be used to unlock permanent upgrades outside of a run.

And this is where the magic begins to take effect: After my first full run, I was shown all the wonderful things I had unlocked—accompanied by a whole wave of popping Steam achievements. A feast for the dopamine receptors.

So I did what I had to do, grabbed the freshly unlocked new character, and ventured into the next newly opened area.

Vampire Crawlers has changed genres but still employs the same elements that made the original so outstanding:

• A gameplay loop motto of “easy to learn, also somewhat easy to master, but with always new possibilities to create even more overpowered combinations.”
• A masterfully timed meta-progression that always dangles some sort of carrot in front of you. Either you want to unlock that one thing right now—or you just unlocked it and want to test it now.
• A low-threshold, fun gaming experience for on the couch or on the go. I myself play on the Steam Deck, but I can imagine that Vampire Crawlers works even better on mobile than the original.

Slicing in Line

What I miss so far in Vampire Crawlers compared to the original is the impact of my attacks. In Survivors, you usually reach a point where enemies flood the screen completely. Seeing your weapons carve paths through the sea of monsters or vaporizing every creature before it can approach is part of the appeal for me.

In Crawlers, encounters with enemies are much more orderly. You know in advance where they lurk, can initiate the fight yourself or avoid it with an alternate route, and the turn-based combat system eliminates the need to frantically secure an upgrade before the next wave.

Even in battle, the enemies line up and only slowly approach me. Do you know the scene in [every action movie ever] where the hero is hopelessly outnumbered, and the enemies diligently take their turn to beat him instead of overwhelming him? Yes, that.

But: I haven’t made too many runs yet, and already I felt a piece of that feeling when I unlocked a new weapon fusion and annihilated the enemies at the next encounter with a card. It’s quite possible that I can slice much more efficiently and effectively by skillfully chaining combos, as has already been hinted at in the trailer.

Crafted excellently without reinventing the wheel

Is Vampire Crawlers something for you? If you are asking yourself this question, you probably belong to one of two groups: You love Vampire Survivors and are wondering if the concept can convince without bullet hell or you never really understood the hype around the original and see a chance to experience the phenomenon now. For that, here are two answers:

• For the survivor fans: The gameplay is indeed different, but there is enough familiar that you will quickly find your way around. You probably still have a rough idea of how the fusions work, recognize your favorite weapons and characters, and will quickly get into the groove. If you are not completely averse to card battlers or turn-based combat in general, you will enjoy it.
• For the non-fans: If the largely automated gameplay or the sometimes very chaotic effects of Vampire Survivors didn’t appeal to you, you might still find a way into the franchise with Crawlers. If the really rudimentary pixel graphics in Survivors put you off, you may find the look of Crawlers more accessible. “Starting with little, becoming overpowered, breaking the game, and all in manageable bites” sounds good to you? Then give the game a chance.

Whether Vampire Crawlers can also become a phenomenon and inspire hordes of imitators like its big brother, I dare to doubt. Nevertheless, poncle once again proves how well they master their craft. This studio has simply perfected the formula for “Just one more run,” and I definitely plan to battle through numerous dungeons this weekend.

If that’s not enough for you: With Vampire Crawlers, it’s far from over. As our colleagues from GamePro report, the creators of Vampire Survivors are currently working on a total of 15 other projects.

One I am especially looking forward to: Warhammer Survivors will be a survivor-like created in collaboration with Auroch Digital (Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun) and Games Workshop itself. Do I need to say more? We have already reported on the title on MyMMO: One of the biggest viral game hits of recent years teams up with Warhammer 40,000; fans are going wild: “My God, it’s perfect”