Vampire Survivors, one of the breakout games of 2022, is being turned into an animated television show. The show seems to be very early in production (it doesn’t yet have a writer and will be shopped around, Deadline reports), but I’m intrigued to see how the game will be adapted into a TV series.
Vampire Survivors: our collective obsession with the quirky, genre-defining indie game
August 11, 2023
Vampire Survivors: our collective obsession with the quirky, genre-defining indie game
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Aug 2
Anybody down for some 300-player Vampire Survivors local co-op?Vampire Survivors has a knack for wild, Easter egg-filled updates, but there’s apparently a whole-ass alternate version of the game called the “Directers Cut” that exists.
Author and streamer Laura Kate Dale surprise-dropped a thread about its various absurdities, like its characters that include Santa and a giant skeleton (Mortaccio stans unite!), and a 300-chicken co-op stage.
Will this be released or make its way to the regular game — perhaps with the major update on August 17th adding co-op? Only its vampire puppet developer knows.
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Jul 17
Noclip released a documentary about Vampire Survivors.I’m only about halfway through, but it’s a fascinating look at the rise of one of the now-huge indie game. And it’s a good watch ahead of the game’s next major update, which will bring the game to Nintendo Switch and add multiplayer.
If you’re a Vampire Survivors veteran like me and looking to scratch that itch, I highly recommend Halls of Torment, which is basically Vampire Survivors but with some Diablo flair. And best of all, it’s only $4.99!
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Jun 21
Vampire Survivors is coming to Nintendo Switch in August — with local co-op!The chaotic monster-slaying game is headed to Nintendo Switch very soon, and you’ll be able to play with up to three other friends in local multiplayer. I’ve played Vampire Survivors almost entirely on my Steam Deck, so I think it will be an absolute blast on Switch. The game is coming to Switch on August 17th — and couch co-op is coming to PC, Xbox, and mobile that same day, too.
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Apr 28
Vampire Survivors is being turned into a TV show
Image: PoncleThere’s no real plot in Vampire Survivors. The point of the game is to live for as long as you can against increasingly large waves of monsters while leveling up various weapons and items until you become so outrageously powerful that you can walk away from the game and still survive. (Maybe that’s just how I play it.) Also, there are lots of pretty lights and colors.
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Mar 31
Vampire Survivors’ new fantasy-themed expansion launches in April for just $2
Vampire Survivors is getting a second expansion, and like the previous one, it will cost $2. The new fantasy-themed DLC, Tides of the Foscari, includes eight new characters, 13 weapons, and a new stage, and it comes out on April 13th.
Developer Poncle is already teasing characters like a mage and a swordsman as well as weapons like a spellbook and a sword named “Eskizzibur.” I can’t wait to try out all of the new additions — I’m sure they’ll all be unbelievably broken in some delightful ways.
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Dec 6, 2022
Vampire Survivors might finally be getting vampires in new expansion
Not seeing any vampires in this screenshot… Image: PoncleDespite the name, Vampire Survivors currently doesn’t have any vampires among its 41 playable characters and hordes of enemies, but that could change with the game’s first DLC expansion. On the Steam page for the newly announced expansion, Legacy of the Moonspell, developer Poncle is hinting that we might finally see vampires in the game.
“Legacy of the Moonspell is the first DLC for Vampire Survivors, and introduces a brand new stage, new characters, new monsters, and new weapons to slaughter them with,” Poncle writes. “There might even be some hidden mysteries for those of an inquiring mindset, but we can neither confirm nor deny the presence of vampires…”
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Nov 1, 2022
Xbox Game Pass’ November lineup includes two of the best games of the year
Return to Monkey Island hits Game Pass on November 8th. Image: Devolver DigitalXbox Game Pass is getting some great games in November, including the official Xbox releases of two of my favorite games of the year: Return to Monkey Island and Vampire Survivors.
Return to Monkey Island is the newest entry in the Monkey Island point-and-click adventure game series. It’s a delightful homage to the classic titles that adds some much-needed polish to smooth out some of the more annoying aspects of old-school LucasArts adventure games. It first launched on Steam and Nintendo Switch in September, and it will be available on Xbox Series X / S, Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and PlayStation 5 on November 8th.
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Oct 20, 2022
Vampire Survivors has finally reached 1.0.The game, which lets you take on literally thousands of monsters with increasingly powerful weapons, has turned into one of my favorites of the year. The 1.0 release adds a bunch of features, including an Endless modes, a new weapon, and a Twitch integration to let your viewers decide your fate. You can buy the game now for $5 on Steam, and seriously, you should.
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Sep 21, 2022
Vampire Survivors’ new higher price is still worth sinking your teeth into
Vampire Survivors is slightly increasing its price ahead of leaving early access. Image: PoncleWhen it was announced that Vampire Survivors — a darling of the indie gaming community — is increasing its price on September 21st ahead of its V1.0 release, some folks may have expected the worst. Thankfully, its developer, studio Poncle, has now announced that the game’s list price on Steam will increase by a paltry $2, bringing it to $4.99 starting at 6PM ET.
That means there’s still time to grab the game for $2.99, the price it’s been since entering early access back in December 2021. Studio Poncle says that the decision to increase prices ahead of the game’s full release was to “keep the option open to eventually enter some of the usual seasonal sales.” The game is also available on PC Game Pass, with no mention of any plans to remove it from the platform upon leaving early access.
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Sep 20, 2022
Deals PSA: Today’s the last day to buy Vampire Survivors on Steam for just $2.99
The slow-burn of escalating on-screen chaos in Vampire Survivors is part of its beauty. Also, the sound of the gem pickups is incredibly satisfying. Image: PoncleIf you play games on PC or own a Steam Deck, the time is now to pick up Vampire Survivors. The indie megahit is inching very close to its 1.0 release, but before that, the price is set to increase tomorrow, September 21st. Developer Poncle has not yet disclosed what the full price of the game will be, but it’s going to be higher than the current $2.99 you can get it for on Steam.
Vampire Survivors launched in Steam Early Access back in December, and it’s remained that cheap, even as it grew a huge following and the developers added much more content to it through frequent updates. It’s also available to subscribers of Microsoft’s PC Game Pass, but this is your last chance to get it on Steam for about the price of a cup of coffee.
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Aug 5, 2022
The new cheats menu in Vampire Survivors makes me wish more games had them
Vampire Survivors. Image: PoncleVampire Survivors’ new 0.10.0 update adds a cheats menu, and after using it to unlock some things I had been stuck on, I dearly wish that more games included one.
Vampire Survivors, if you haven’t heard of it, is a delightful game about leveling up and destroying literally thousands of monsters in a single run. I’d describe it as roguelike-ish; you pick a starting character with certain attributes and a specific weapon, and you’ll level up that weapon, other weapons, and other items as you collect gems by defeating enemies. Your weapons fire automatically, so you mostly just have to worry about picking up experience and items while avoiding baddies.
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Mar 5, 2022
My big fat Italian vampire-slaying family
The Vampire Survivors start screen, now in its true colors. Photo illustration by Antonio G. Di BenedettoI was floored as soon as I got to the main menu of Vampire Survivors. I knew this hot indie darling sounded up my alley when I heard it described as a reverse-bullet hell blended with a roguelike, but I was not prepared for it to hit so close to home. While the main menu looks low-rent and the Castlevania-inspired aesthetics seems at first like a poor imitation, what stopped me in my tracks was the starting character. Antonio Belpaese: the first in a lineup of four Belpaese family members and a menagerie of other characters with incredibly Italian-sounding names. Even before playing a minute of the game, I was enthralled by my namesake taking the lead. As I struggled through the first few runs and slowly unlocked more characters, I felt like this game represented me and my big Italian-American immigrant family in a small way that elevated the whole experience like few games I have ever played.
When people talk about Vampire Survivors, it’s all about how much fun the mechanics of the game are and how it’s blown up on Steam for the cheap Early Access price of just $3. The gameplay is indeed exceptional. You try to survive an onslaught of increasing numbers of baddies using only auto-firing weapons, slowly improving your arsenal with pickups and passive power-ups. It’s a roguelite that gives that dopamine hit as the numbers go up and is completely devoid of a story, but it is rich in culture. Specifically, my family’s culture.
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Feb 19, 2022
Slaying monsters in Vampire Survivors is like walking through a casino
Look at all the numbers! Screenshot by Jay Peters / The VergeVampire Survivors is an Early Access roguelike on Steam that has completely sunk its teeth into me.
Each round starts simply: you have just one weapon to take on a few baddies. The weapon autofires, so you only have to worry about moving your character to avoid enemies and scoop up experience gems. But as you level up, get more weapons, and fight more monsters, your screen quickly becomes filled with a smorgasbord of magical weapons and fearsome enemies covering nearly every inch of the screen. Like so:
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