Summary
WhileVampire Survivorswasn’t the first game in history to come up withthe idea of a ‘reverse bullet hell’ as some people call it, it has popularized this niche subgenre quite a bit. Ever since this game gained massive popularity (and continues to keep that popularity goingwith new DLCs and crossovers) quite a few other games were obviously conceptualized with Vampire Survivors in mind.
And among all the ‘Survivors-likes’ out there, some still actively attempt to innovate and advance the concept. So, here are the games that are likeVampire Survivorsthat also manage to switch things up a bit so that it doesn’t feel like playing a carbon copy of another game.
First up, funnily enough, there are two games that both came out in 2023 (about six months apart) and both add the same thing (mostly) to theVampire Survivorsformula. These games areHalls of TormentandDeath Must Die, withHalls of Tormentcoming out first back in May of 2023.
Both are ‘retro’ in different ways, withHalls of Tormentfeeling like a very early-era PC game andDeath Must Diesporting more of a pixel art artstyle. And, both games bring the concept of ‘gear’ to the reverse bullet hell table, creating a sort of gameplay loop that feels prettyDiablo-esque. Players will go enjoy a level,unlock an achievement or two, hopefully find new gear that improves their abilities by some amount, and then use that new gear to go on even more difficult adventures. Where the games differ heavily, however, is in their secondary inspiration.Death Must Diewas obviously inspired byHadesand its pantheon of Gods that give the player Boons whileHalls of Tormentis abit more faithful to its inspirationfrom the firstDiablogame in 1997.
September 12th, 2023
Very Positive
$5.99
Whereas a game likeBackpack Herotook the inventory management that people loved from something likeResident Evil 4and slapped it into the roguelike formula,God of Weaponsdoes the same with theVampire Survivorsformula.
When it comes to level design, enemy design, and arguably even art style,God of Weaponsis great, but not ‘the best’ in any one category. Yet still, once players get their hands on it, the game seems to grab a hold of them and won’t let go. The constant inventory management between each wave makes it feel almost like a puzzle mini-game, and the sheer number of different playable characters (and character variants) that people can unlock will keep them occupied for 30+ hours easily.
June 20th, 2023
Mostly Positive
$7.99
Next up is a game calledSpirit Hunters: Infinite Hordethat came out on Steam back in June of 2023.Spirit Hunters is one of the few games on here that is closest to being almost aVampire Survivorsclone, or at least it’ll probably seem that way to people who play it at first.
However, once players get a couple of hours into the game and interact with the pet system, the unique bosses at the end of every stage, and the absurd number of different interactables on the map,Spirit Hunter’sown identity quickly starts to make itself known.
20 Minutes Till Dawnis one of our personal favorites out of everything on here, purely because it’s probably the best blend of demanding a certain amount of skill from its players while also still giving them those constant hits of dopamine thatSurvivors-like fans are used to.
20MTDfalls into an even more niche subcategory of these games where it basically requires the player to manually aim at enemies instead of letting the game aim for them, and it actually works in its favor. Not only that, but the actual ‘upgrades’ or ‘abilities’ in20 Minutes Till Dawnfeel the most varied out of anything on here as well, leadingto the build in each run feeling very unique. The developers at Flanne are even currently working on a spinoff game of20MTDcalled20MTD: Emberpath.
Now if20 Minutes Til Dawnwas ‘one’ of our all-time favorites, thenBoneraiser Minionswould be at the absolute top of that list. This game is an absolute hidden treasure with a completely unique sense of humor, an absurdly largepackage of contentrivaling even something likeShovel Knight, and an intelligently designed gameplay loop where every run feels actually challenging and unique.Boneraiser Minionsseparates itself fromVampire Survivorsin many ways, but there are two ‘primary’ ways.
One, instead of players upgrading their character, they’reconstantly ‘Boneraising’ all sorts of different minionsthat have a wide variety of different designs, effects, and upgrade paths. Two, players can build all sorts of different structures in specific spots on each stage, from traps to buffing constructs and more, which gives each run the potential to function entirely differently from the last. It’s at the very least worth a look, no doubt about it.
Just King is a game about a hero’s journey to save the world. In this case, however, that hero is the King himself. And, the King must use any and all heroes at his disposal to get to his objective.
InJust King, players assemble a team of four heroes to surround the King at all times and fight against hordes of incoming enemies at each level. As players advance, they’ll switch out their heroes, upgrade them, build their party around certain synergies, and even battle against bosses in each Zone. All in all,Just Kingis a great little package for people who love set bonuses or synergies in roguelikes,are fans of a nice and colorful pixel art style, and also thoroughly enjoyVampire Survivors-like games.
May 17th, 2021
Overwhelmingly Positive
$2.99
Next up is a game that’s basicallySnake(the old phone game) mixed withVampire Survivorsand even a pinch ofJust King.
InSNKRX, players take control of a line of different ‘heroes’ (visualized as different colored circles) that each has their own unique abilities, passive set bonuses they contribute to, and rules. It’s up to the player how they want to build their ‘snake’ of heroes and what set bonuses they want to go for, whether it’s something like a full line of Healers, Mages, Enchanters, Rogues, Warriors, and so much more. It’s a bit more of a simplistic game than a lot of other entries on here, but that doesn’t mean the builds in it are any less complex.
November 30th, 2023
Mixed
$9.99
Moving on to a very recent addition to this subgenre (at least at the time of writing this) with a game calledApocalypse Party. Currently, this game is ‘Mixed’ on Steam and for good reason, as it has a lot of issues with stability, crashes, and performance late in a run. However, when (or maybe if) those issues are addressed, the game will almost assuredly jump back up to ‘Mostly Positive’
Apocalypse Partyswitches things up by relying on random chance a bit more with weapon spawns, event spawns, and more as well as an actual ‘objective’ for every level other than just surviving. Where it shines most though is in its cooperative play and gigantic cast of playable characters, which again…is unfortunately leading to some crashes and performance issues.
November 6th, 2023
$4.99
Cursorblademight be the most unique entry on here in terms of how it switches things up fromVampire Survivors. This cute little game tries a bunch of new stuff for the reverse bullet hell subgenre, all while packaging it in a bright and vibrant atmosphere.
In Cursorblade, the player’s mouse cursor is their literal ‘character’. As they move their mouse through the enemies on the screen, those enemies take damage. However, if they move through an enemy while they’re in their attack animation, the player takes damage. This system alone is already pretty different from any otherSurvivors-like game. Additionally, with the way the ‘Waves’ work in this game, the most hectic point of each Wave is at the start and it gradually gets easier as more enemies are taken out, which is sort of the exact opposite of how most otherVampire Survivor-type games work. All in all, seems to also have some crashes and slight performance issues, but is at least worth checking out, especially for people who aren’t looking for gigantic timesink.
November 2nd, 2023
$3.99
Last up is a spinoff game of another game,Slime 3K: Rise Against Despot.Slime 3Kis set in the same world as the developer’s (Konfa Games) last game,Despot’s Game. However, whileDespot’s Gamewas a dystopian auto-battler,Slime 3Kis a chaotic mix of deckbuilding andVampire Survivors-like mechanics.
The fact that the players have a ‘deck’ that they build pre-run is already unique enough, but there are a whole bunch of other small mechanics that Slime 3K also switches up from the standard formula. Things like being able to get multiple abilities at once, selling abilities, combining multiple copies of abilities into stronger versions, a ‘currency’ system for abilities instead of getting one per level, and so on.
