Vampire Survivors deck-builder spin-off Vampire Crawlers is out now

Does lightning strike twice for poncle with their Vampire Survivors spin-off deck-builder Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors? Maybe.

What they're really going for here is both incredible simplicity and a bit of chaos mixed together. So very much in keeping with the original Vampire Survivors game. As a dungeon crawler, it's about as basic as it gets (and that's being quite kind to it). There's not exactly a lot of adventuring to be had here, especially since the map tells you were the main enemies are on each floor and relics you grab will highlight other things on the map for you too. But it's the battles themselves where the fun is to be had, with the wild over-the-top presentation of all the card abilities going off constantly.

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It's the fast-paced nature of it that hooks you in. There's no waiting around, no endless empty corridors. It's all about getting that dopamine hit from the constant battles, as you throw card after card at the enemies. It's not designed for you to tip-toe around it, so it's really nothing like other roguelite deck-builders. You're going to be repeatedly over-powered and just tear through most of the enemies.

Part of the fun is the card power-up system with gems you'll find in chests during a run, allowing you to slot a gem into a card to boost some stat. Like doubling the power of a card, the area of it and more which can be incredibly useful of course and in some cases make you basically god-like as you tear through all those bats and skeletons. You can also evolve cards into something far more powerful which is pretty great.

At this point I will admit, it's quite satisfying just ripping through each enemy encounter as I move a few cards and hit "Play All" and watch the fireworks. But, I wish there was just more to it. The initial fun just wears a bit thin too quickly because there doesn't feel like there's actually enough here to justify going back again and again. It has what I feel is the initial idea and game setup down really nicely but it's too light on basically everything.

The combo system, for example, is all about playing cards in the best order. But it's largely just the same thing over and over and over again. Especially as most of the time, it barely even matters. There's hardly any challenge at all to the game. Cards that cost 0, then 1, then 2. Okay, 0-1-2 in order - repeat. Repeat for the next battle and the next and so on. You're just throwing cards at the screen in an auto-battle style. There's a few cards that can mix things up a little like the Wild card to increase your combo, but again, not enough cards like it to mix up your decks.

You do eventually get a little slice more strategy to it with unlocking characters, choosing who to take with you with their small bonuses and card differences and then extra gems on cards but not a whole lot more. Add into that the overall character boost upgrades that get ever-more expensive requiring you to go for another 2 or 3 runs to build up some gold because eventually something powerful will kill you. Then do it all over again.

Much like Vampire Survivors there's a unlock system in the form of simplified quests, that's where another hook of the game is. Getting through everything on there to unlock more of the game. And the game does get at least a bit more interesting as you work your way through that to get the extra characters, new card types (Garlic, my love!) but the biggest problem is the actual exploration.

If the dungeon crawling part of the game was actually more engaging (or actually interesting at all) and even just a bit dynamic - the game would probably have fit my tastes a whole lot better. But it's far too structured to be interesting to make me want to keep coming back to it. It doesn't quite have that same must-play feeling as the original Vampire Survivors, and isn't unique enough to sway me from other deck-builders.

Overall it's a deck-building roguelite built for the TikTok / YouTube Shorts generation with their short attention spans, a game to flick cards through without using any part of your brain. A little harsh perhaps? But I stand by it. I'm not even saying it's a bad game (it's not at all), it's just not enough of a hook for me.

Clearly though, it's been something of a hit since it has already amassed an Overwhelmingly Positive review score on Steam. So you don't have to take my word as gospel on it, I am just one voice on the internet.