After the success of Vampire Survivors, Poncle and Nosebleed Interactive strike again with Vampire Crawlers: an exciting dungeon crawler deck builder with roguelite elements.
It was 2022 when Vampire Survivors made its debut in the gaming world. Retro 8-bit graphics, simple gameplay that wasn’t particularly deep, yet incredibly fun and addictive. An action/arcade game with roguelite elements and a strong bullet hell survival component. Actually, we could even define it as a bullet heaven. The term comes from the overwhelming number of projectiles on screen that our character fires instead of dodging.
On top of that, the game stands out thanks to its original style and unconventional identity.
Under the direction of Luca Galante, Vampire Survivors carries an ecosystem of characters, items, and upgrades inspired by Italian underground culture.
Memes, slang expressions, wordplay, and references to trashy pop culture and television form the stylistic core of the game.
I used to laugh whenever foreign streamers awkwardly pronounced the names of characters and items without understanding their meaning.
Beyond that, Vampire Survivors is a solid title that greatly benefited from its DLCs, especially because the core gameplay could become repetitive over time.
Now let’s see how Vampire Crawlers literally changes the cards on the table while remaining faithful to its roots.
A spiritual successor
Vampire Crawlers can definitely be considered a spiritual successor to the lore of Vampire Survivors. While the original game initially suffered from a lack of content before its DLCs, Vampire Crawlers enriches the experience by blending together different genres.
First of all, the perspective shifts from a top-down 2D view to first person. The player is now directly immersed in that universe inherited from the previous game. In fact, environments, characters, items, and monsters are almost entirely borrowed from Survivors. Fans of the original title will feel right at home while also discovering plenty of surprises.
As mentioned before, not only the camera changes, but also the gameplay structure. Vampire Crawlers mixes the essence of a classic dungeon crawler with deck-building mechanics. Through our deck, which can be expanded and upgraded during the adventure thanks to its roguelite progression, we attack the hordes of enemies standing in our way. On top of that, the game adds a stronger layer of planning and build management.
Another similarity with the spirit of Vampire Survivors lies in its pure and straightforward gameplay. Vampire Crawlers doesn’t waste time with unnecessary frills or overly elaborate storytelling. Its goal is simply to entertain through immediate, satisfying, and fast-paced gameplay, both in terms of pacing and match duration.
Digging deeper: the hub and the Crawlers
The experience offered by Vampire Crawlers revolves around dungeon exploration. Before heading into the world map, it is recommended to spend some time in the game’s central hub. Here, players can access several facilities, some of which are unlocked by completing specific objectives.
There is the Crawlers’ tavern, where we choose our hero, each equipped with a unique deck and abilities activated through a character card. As tradition dictates, Crawlers can be unlocked by fulfilling certain conditions, constantly increasing gameplay variety.
Unlock the upgrade that increases the number of Crawlers you can bring into an adventure as soon as possible. Once you reach the maximum level, you can choose up to three Crawlers, allowing for stronger passive ability synergies.
There is also a building dedicated to global upgrades, which can be improved using money earned during runs.
I also recommend carefully reading the trophy room list, as it explains how to complete objectives tied to unlocking characters and cards. In Vampire Crawlers, every achievement rewards the player with in-game bonuses.
As you progress, the blacksmith, jeweler, and tarot tent will appear in the hub.
The blacksmith allows you to add an extra gem slot to a card, while the jeweler can increase or decrease the rarity of certain gems. Naturally, the ultimate goal is to make the strongest gems more common, so they appear more frequently.
Finally, in the tarot tent, players can choose one of the Piacentine cards, granting a permanent bonus for the entire run. These cards are also unlocked by meeting specific requirements.
Cards and dungeons
Now let’s get into the gameplay core: dungeons and the card system.
The world map features several areas, each containing multiple dungeons structured into levels. Every level is procedurally generated and includes points of interest that help players improve their cards or character stats. At the end of each level there is a boss that, once defeated, unlocks access to the next stage.
In addition to completing the dungeon itself, players can tackle optional challenges, such as defeating special creatures. Of course, coffins also return, and completing their related challenge unlocks new characters and rewards.
During exploration, players can find treasure chests and other items that increase card power.
Movement takes place in first person within a grid-based system, allowing movement in the four cardinal directions while rotating the camera by 90 degrees. On-screen information includes health points, mana, and passive stat percentages.
This is where the card system comes into play. Cards are divided into different colors representing attacks, buffs, mana boosts, and armor.
Cards also have a mana cost, which doubles as their combo value. Playing cards in ascending order increases their effectiveness and power. For this reason, using your strongest card immediately is rarely the best strategy: building combos first maximizes efficiency.
Having many cards is an advantage, as it enables more combos and stronger synergies. Just like in its predecessor, some cards can also be fused, under specific circumstances, into stronger versions.
Combat
As expected, the combat system is turn-based. Enemies are literally lined up in front of the player and only attack from the front row. This means your priority is destroying the first line of enemies as quickly as possible to prevent incoming attacks.
Bosses and elite enemies behave differently, however, as their actions are dynamic and not strictly tied to the end of a turn. Bosses have a circle of eyes floating above them. Every time the player ends a turn or plays a card, one eye opens. Once all eyes are open, the boss performs an action.
The boss may attack directly or shuffle “trash” cards into your deck, disrupting combo building. This means bosses can interrupt your strategy mid-turn or punish poor resource management. To handle this mechanic effectively, players must carefully manage the eye system and plan their resources accordingly.
My two cents
Vampire Crawlers is an excellent spiritual successor to its predecessor.
Even though I’m not a huge fan of deck-building games, this title completely hooked me. Much of the credit goes to the speed and smoothness of its gameplay: runs are quick, satisfying, and consistently rewarding. Even after a defeat, players never walk away empty-handed, since every run grants resources useful for progression.
Compared to its predecessor, Vampire Crawlers increases both strategy and depth while remaining approachable. It constantly encourages replayability: one run naturally leads to another. You may start thinking you’ll only play for a few minutes, only to realize hours have passed.
That same simplicity, however, may flatten the challenge for veteran players of the genre. Still, the large number of unlockable characters and hidden secrets will keep players entertained for many hours.
In conclusion, Vampire Crawlers is a more than solid title built around a pure and rock-solid gameplay loop. The game embraces the same philosophy as its predecessor: delivering a high-quality arcade experience without taking itself too seriously.
Its ironic and lighthearted style once again steals the show.
What else can I say? Go play it.
Vampire Crawlers
PRO
- Fast-paced and addictive gameplay
- Great mix of deck building and dungeon crawling
- High replay value
CON
- Can become repetitive over time
- Challenge may feel too easy for genre veterans
8.7/10
