Vampire Survivors Explained

Vampire Survivors
Developer:Poncle, Ltd.
Publisher:Poncle, Ltd.
Genre:Roguelike, shoot 'em up
Modes:Single-player, multiplayer

Vampire Survivors is a 2022 roguelike shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Luca Galante, also known as "poncle." Following an early access period that began in December 2021, it was released for macOS, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Android, and iOS in late 2022. A port for Nintendo Switch was released on August 17, 2023, and on August 29, 2024, a port was released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.

In the game, players control an automatically attacking character while battling continuous waves of monsters, aiming to survive the onslaught for as long as possible and unlock additional characters, weapons, and relics for future sessions. Despite the game's title and key art, none of the encountered monsters are vampires.

Vampire Survivors received accolades at the Golden Joystick Awards, New York Game Awards, and D.I.C.E. Awards. The game was nominated in five categories at the British Academy Games Awards, winning two: Game Design and Best Game.

Gameplay

Players select one of multiple characters, each with different starting weapons and bonuses, and control them on an endless stage featuring an auto-generated, repeating layout. The player's weapons attack automatically, and the goal is to survive as long as possible against constant waves of monsters that inflict damage upon contact. Defeating monsters and exploring the stage allows players to collect experience gems, which are used to level up; "floor chicken," which restores the player's health; and other helpful items. Each level increase gives players the choice of three or four weapons and passive power-ups. Once players have collected six weapons and six power-ups and upgraded them fully, any further levels gained will offer only gold coins or floor chicken.

Another way to upgrade weapons and power-ups is by opening chests, which are dropped by particularly powerful monsters and may contain one, three, or five random items. Most weapons have an ultimate form that can be attained by opening a chest after fully upgrading them and meeting other specific conditions.[1] [2]

Sessions of Vampire Survivors have a soft time limit of 15, 20, or 30 minutes, depending on the selected stage. When the time limit is reached, all enemies are cleared from the stage, and a final, immensely powerful enemy named The Reaper spawns. One additional Reaper will appear every consecutive minute thereafter to ensure the player's eventual demise. A session that meets or exceeds the stage's time limit is considered a successful completion and rewards bonus gold coins. Between sessions, accumulated gold coins can be spent to unlock new characters and persistent power-ups. Additionally, by completing challenges, players can unlock new stages, weapons, and characters, as well as various game modifiers, such as an endless mode that removes the soft time limit, a hyper mode that increases player and enemy speed, and a limit break mode that allows players to continue enhancing weapon attributes even after fully leveling them. Players can obtain golden eggs by defeating certain enemies or purchasing them from an in-game vendor, which provide permanent attribute improvements to their currently selected character.

Plot

Vampire Survivors is nominally set in rural Italy in 2021. Hordes of monsters summoned by the evil Bisconte Draculó (a villain inspired by Count Dracula) ravage the land, prompting the Belpaese family and other heroic survivors to take it upon themselves to hunt down and defeat Draculó.[3] This quest takes them through monster-infested locales such as a cursed forest, a haunted library, an abandoned dairy plant, an ominous tower, and an otherworldly chapel.

Development

Italian developer Luca "poncle" Galante began developing Vampire Survivors in 2020 using the Phaser framework while he was unemployed.[4] He aimed to create Vampire Survivors to manage a community, drawing from his past experience as an administrator for an Ultima Online server. The game was inspired by Magic Survival, a 2019 mobile game that also featured a character that automatically attacks enemies.[5]

Development of the initial early access version took about a year, during which Galante spent around £1,100 on assets, art, and music.[6] Galante was inspired by the Castlevania games, and one of the art asset packs included sprites in a similar style to the characters in the early Castlevania games. [7] Prior to developing Vampire Survivors, Galante worked in the gambling industry, using his knowledge of flashy graphics for slot machines as part of the appeal for the game's chest-opening animations.[8]

Galante released his initial version of Vampire Survivors on itch.io, but did not see much engagement. He then decided to release it on Steam before the end of 2021, keeping the cost low since the game had minimal art aesthetics. The low price meant that his game could reach a larger audience. However, on the same day, he contracted COVID and focused his attention on his recovery rather than on how his game was selling. In early 2022, he learned that the game had caught the attention of some YouTube creators, which led to an increase in Steam sales.[9]

The success of the game exceeded Galante's expectations and allowed him to quit his job in February 2022 to focus entirely on its development. He was informally assisted by "a few friends" in their spare time. Planned content included additional weapons, characters, stages, and an "endless mode." Galante's intent was to bring Vampire Survivors out of early access by the end of 2022.[10]

In March 2022, Galante hired multiple freelancers to expand the Vampire Survivors team and accelerate development. In addition to outlining the scope of the promised new content with a roadmap, he explained that a major milestone slated for mid-2022 would be porting Vampire Survivors to an "industry-standard" game engine to improve its overall performance.[11]

The full game was released for macOS and Windows on October 20, 2022.[12] The game was also ported to Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on November 10, 2022.[13] Ports for Android and iOS devices were released on December 8, 2022.[14] The mobile versions were fast-tracked for development in response to a number of clones that appeared on mobile app stores with stolen code and assets from the original game.[15] While the game released on other platforms as an inexpensive but premium game, the mobile versions are free-to-play with optional ads.

The Nintendo Switch version of the game was released on August 17, 2023. This also included support for local co-op play for up to four people, a feature that was simultaneously released for all versions of the game.[16]

The Tesla Cars version was released in September 2023 with the 2023.26 firmware update for vehicles with the correct hardware.[17]

A free update, titled Whiteout, was released on October 19, 2023, adding a new snow-themed stage and additional characters and weapons.[18] In April 2024, poncle surprise released the free Laborratory update.[19]

In April 2024, it was announced that the game would be coming to PlayStation systems, with PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions set for release on August 29, 2024.[20]

Downloadable content

The first paid DLC expansion for the game, titled Legacy of the Moonspell, was announced on December 6, 2022. Inspired by Japanese folklore and anime, it adds thirteen weapons, eight characters, and a new stage featuring enemies designed after yōkai and oni.[21] The expansion was released on December 15, 2022, for macOS, Windows, and Xbox platforms, with a mobile release in early 2023.[22] A second paid DLC expansion, Tides of Foscari, was released in April 2023. It introduces new weapons and characters and features a new stage inspired by fairy tales.[23] [24]

The game has also released DLC expansions featuring elements from other video games. Emergency Meeting, based on Innersloth's Among Us, was released on December 18, 2023.[25] Operation Guns, based on Konami's Contra, was released on May 9, 2024.[20] Ode to Castlevania, based on Konami's Castlevania series, was released on October 31, 2024, coinciding with Halloween. Galante said that Ode to Castlevania was a "full circle moment" for him with the game.[26] [7] The Ode to Castlevania includes voicework from Neil Newbon as Dracula and SungWon Cho as Richter Belmont.[27]

Television series

An animated Vampire Survivors television series was announced in April 2023, to be produced by Story Kitchen in partnership with Luca Galante.[28] [29]

Reception

While Vampire Survivors was initially obscure upon its release, it became a hit by late January 2022, reaching over 30,000 concurrent players on Steam.[30] This number continued to rise, with the game surpassing 70,000 concurrent players the following month.[31] Due to the success of Vampire Survivors, Galante was estimated by The Sunday Times in August 2024 to have accumulated, making him one of the wealthiest game developers in the United Kingdom.[32]

While not the first game in its genre, Vampire Survivors inspired several other titles referred to as bullet heavens or reverse bullet hells, characterized by automatic gameplay and roguelike progression, which were released in the following year, mostly at a low price and in early access.[33] Some of these include [34] and HoloCure – Save the Fans!.[35]

Vampire Survivors received "generally favorable" reviews for Windows according to review aggregator Metacritic; the Xbox Series X/S and iOS versions received "universal acclaim".

Ian Walker of Kotaku and Graham Smith of Rock Paper Shotgun praised the game, both comparing it to dopamine.[36] Polygon's Nicole Carpenter noted the game's depth, stating, "no one streamer I've watched played entirely the same." Aaron Zimmerman of Ars Technica named Vampire Survivors as his pick for game of the year. Marie Dealessandri of GamesIndustry.biz also selected Vampire Survivors as her game of the year, highlighting its excellent performance on the handheld Steam Deck, which also released in 2022.[37]

Accolades

YearAwardCategoryResult
2022Golden Joystick AwardsBest Early Access Launch[38] [39]
Breakthrough Award
The Game AwardsBest Debut Indie Game[40]
The Steam AwardsBest Game on the Go[41]
2023New York Game AwardsBig Apple Award for Best Game of the Year[42]
Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game
D.I.C.E. AwardsGame of the Year[43]
Action Game of the Year
Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
Game Developers Choice AwardsGame of the Year[44] [45]
Best Debut
Best Design
British Academy Games AwardsBest Game[46]
British Game
Debut Game
Game Design
Original Property

Notes and References

  1. News: Smith . Graham . January 25, 2022 . Vampire Survivors is a pure hit of dopamine . . January 30, 2022 . February 1, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220201204654/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/vampire-survivors-is-a-pure-hit-of-dopamine . live .
  2. Web site: Carpenter . Nicole . January 27, 2022 . Vampire Survivors is no thoughts, just spells . January 30, 2022 . . March 31, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220331085102/https://www.polygon.com/22905166/vampire-survivors-steam-indie-hit . live .
  3. Web site: Vampire Survivors by poncle . May 11, 2022 . itch.io . October 21, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221021010637/https://poncle.itch.io/vampire-survivors . live .
  4. Web site: August 10, 2022 . How Vampire Survivors became a hit when creator poncle was ready to give up . January 4, 2023 . Barclays Games and Esports . June 3, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230603070426/https://games.barclays/resource-hub/games/industry-insights/how-vampire-survivors-became-a-hit-when-creator-poncle-was-ready-to-give-up/ . live .
  5. News: Stanton . Rich . March 30, 2022 . Vampire Survivors creator 'didn't have a vision' when he started making the game that allowed him to quit his job . April 12, 2024 . PC Gamer . en.
  6. Web site: Klepek . Patrick . January 27, 2022 . How 'Vampire Survivors' Went From Obscurity to 27,000 People Playing at Once . January 30, 2022 . . February 23, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220223023853/https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3nyze/how-vampire-survivors-went-from-obscurity-to-27000-people-playing-at-once . live .
  7. https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/please-try-not-to-binge-it-vampire-survivors-finally-releases-a-castlevania-dlc-with-20-new-characters-40-new-weapons-and-a-monstrously-large-stage
  8. Web site: Chung . Frank . February 23, 2022 . Creator of addictive $4 game Vampire Survivors was gambling industry programmer . December 10, 2022 . news.com.au.
  9. The Making of Vampire Survivors - Documentary . July 17, 2023 . O'Dwyer . Danny . . YouTube.
  10. Web site: Brown . Andy . February 3, 2022 . 'Vampire Survivors' creator Luca Galante talks quitting his job to fulfil his promise . March 6, 2022 . . March 26, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220326101919/https://www.nme.com/features/gaming-features/vampire-survivors-creator-luca-galante-talks-quitting-his-job-to-fulfil-his-promise-3153107 . live .
  11. Web site: March 24, 2022 . Development Roadmap Overview and updates on the plan for Early Access . March 29, 2022 . . October 5, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221005121816/https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1794680/view/3131696199131643254 . live .
  12. Web site: Smith . Graham . September 29, 2022 . Vampire Survivors will hit 1.0 on October 20th, move to new engine by end of year . March 28, 2023 . . March 28, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230328065123/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/vampire-survivors-will-hit-10-on-october-20th-move-to-new-engine-by-end-of-year . live .
  13. Web site: Holt . Kris . November 1, 2022 . 'Vampire Survivors' is coming to Xbox consoles on November 10th . November 1, 2022 . . November 1, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221101145030/https://www.engadget.com/vampire-survivors-xbox-game-pass-return-to-monkey-island-football-manager-pentiment-somerville-143045534.html . live .
  14. Web site: Plunkett . Luke . December 8, 2022 . Vampire Survivors Gets Surprise Mobile Release . December 8, 2022 . . December 8, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221208235654/https://kotaku.com/vampire-survivors-ios-android-play-store-app-free-drop-1849872386 . live .
  15. Web site: Gach . Ethan . January 6, 2023 . Crappy Mobile Games Accidentally Led To The Best Version Of Vampire Survivors . January 6, 2023 . . January 5, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230105220536/https://kotaku.com/vampire-survivors-free-iphone-steam-mobile-smartphone-1849955308 . live .
  16. Web site: Holt . Kris . June 21, 2023 . 'Vampire Survivors' is getting four-player couch co-op . . June 21, 2023 . June 21, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230621160529/https://www.engadget.com/vampire-survivors-is-getting-four-player-couch-co-op-150809332.html . live .
  17. Web site: 2023.26 Official Tesla Release Notes - Software Updates . August 8, 2024 . Not a Tesla App . en.
  18. Web site: Koselke . Anna . October 19, 2023 . Vampire Survivors update defrosts snowy new stage, expands endgame . October 19, 2023 . .
  19. Web site: Vampire Survivors surprise launches its biggest free update yet . PCGamesN . April 30, 2024.
  20. Web site: Romano . Sal . April 10, 2024 . Vampire Survivors coming to PS5 and PS4 this summer, DLC ‘Operation Guns feat. Contra’ announced . August 8, 2024 . Gematsu . en-US.
  21. Web site: Smith . Graham . December 6, 2022 . Vampire Survivors is getting DLC inspired by Japanese folklore next week . December 9, 2022 . . March 16, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230316012648/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/vampire-survivors-is-getting-dlc-inspired-by-japanese-folklore-next-week . live .
  22. Web site: Orland . Kyle . December 15, 2022 . Vampire Survivors' first DLC offers some enjoyable (but diminishing) returns . December 15, 2022 . Ars Technica . March 28, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230328161059/https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/12/vampire-survivors-first-dlc-offers-some-enjoyable-but-diminishing-returns/ . live .
  23. Web site: Murray . Sean . March 31, 2023 . Vampire Survivors Reveals Second DLC With New Characters, Weapons, And Music . April 16, 2023 . The Gamer . June 3, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230603211321/https://www.thegamer.com/vampire-survivors-dlc-tides-of-foscari/ . live .
  24. Web site: Purchese . Robert . April 14, 2023 . Vampire Survivors is revived by new DLC Tides of the Foscari . April 16, 2023 . Eurogamer . May 16, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230516064710/https://www.eurogamer.net/vampire-survivors-is-revived-by-new-dlc-tides-of-the-foscari . live .
  25. Vampire Survivors: Emergency Meeting DLC feat. Among Us - Official Trailer . December 6, 2023 . en . August 8, 2024 . IGN.
  26. Web site: Scullion . Chris . Vampire Survivors is getting Castlevania DLC later this month . VGC . October 21, 2024 . October 21, 2024.
  27. Web site: After 3 years and over 30 updates, Vampire Survivors finally has vampires - and even Baldur's Gate 3's Astarion actor is here as Dracula . Kaar . Sarin . November 2, 2024 . November 2, 2024 . .
  28. Web site: Shanklin . Will . April 28, 2023 . 'Vampire Survivors' is getting an animated television series . April 28, 2023 . . June 25, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230625020659/https://www.engadget.com/vampire-survivors-is-getting-an-animated-television-series-165532824.html . live .
  29. Web site: Petski . Denise . April 30, 2023 . 'Vampire Survivors' Video Game In Works As Animated Television Series From Story Kitchen . April 30, 2023 . . July 31, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230731030319/https://deadline.com/2023/04/vampire-survivors-video-game-animated-television-series-story-kitchen-luca-galante-poncle-trailer-1235340337/ . live .
  30. Web site: Moore . Jared . January 27, 2022 . Vampire Survivors Is a Beautiful $3 Nightmare Taking Over Steam . January 30, 2022 . . February 4, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220204000946/https://www.ign.com/articles/vampire-survivors-beautiful-3-nightmare-taking-over-steam . live .
  31. Web site: Just . Christian . February 19, 2022 . Vampire Survivors: Steam-Phänomen mausert sich zum Schwergewicht . June 5, 2022 . . . de . October 14, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221014160921/https://www.gamestar.de/artikel/vampire-survivors-steam-phaenomen,3378046.html . live .
  32. Web site: The UK’s top 30 richest gamers and creators in 2024 . Robert . Watts . Joshua . Lamb . August 17, 2024 . August 17, 2024 . .
  33. Web site: Zimmerman . Aaron . October 20, 2022 . Vampire Survivors—a cheap, minimalistic indie game—is my game of the year . October 27, 2022 . . August 18, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230818153627/https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/10/vampire-survivors-a-cheap-minimalistic-indie-game-is-my-game-of-the-year/ . live .
  34. Web site: Marshall . Cass . Deep Rock Galactic spinoff adds mining to Vampire Survivors, and it works . . June 22, 2023 . en-US . September 5, 2023 . September 5, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230905010746/https://www.polygon.com/23762638/deep-rock-galactic-survivor-playtest-impressions . live .
  35. Web site: Colp. Tyler. This free Vampire Survivors clone has one thing nobody knew it needed: Vtubers. PC Gamer. August 17, 2023. August 21, 2023. August 21, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230821155652/https://www.pcgamer.com/this-free-vampire-survivors-clone-has-one-thing-nobody-knew-it-needed-vtubers/. live.
  36. Web site: Walker . Ian . January 21, 2022 . Castlevania-Inspired Roguelike Is Pure Dopamine . January 30, 2022 . . March 24, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220324022345/https://kotaku.com/castlevania-roguelike-vampire-survivors-steam-itch-io-1848402308 . live .
  37. Web site: Dealessandri . Marie . December 15, 2022 . Vampire Survivors . December 15, 2022 . . December 15, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221215131341/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/vampire-survivors-games-of-the-year-2022 . live .
  38. Web site: Jones . Ali . November 22, 2022 . Vampire Survivors claims the Breakthrough Award at the Golden Joystick Awards 2022 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221122204823/https://www.gamesradar.com/vampire-survivors-claims-the-breakthrough-award-at-the-golden-joystick-awards-2022/ . November 22, 2022 . November 22, 2022 . GamesRadar+.
  39. Web site: Loveridge . Sam . November 22, 2022 . Here are all the Golden Joystick Awards 2022 winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221123165836/https://www.gamesradar.com/golden-joystick-awards-2022-winners/ . November 23, 2022 . November 26, 2022 . GamesRadar+.
  40. Harte . Charles . November 14, 2022 . The Full List of the 2022 Game Awards Nominees . . en . https://web.archive.org/web/20221114175047/https://www.gameinformer.com/2022/11/14/the-full-list-of-the-2022-game-awards-nominees . November 14, 2022 . November 14, 2022.
  41. Web site: The Steam Awards . January 8, 2023 . Steam . January 3, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230103185057/https://store.steampowered.com/steamawards/2022 . live .
  42. Web site: Bankhurst . Adam . January 19, 2023 . New York Game Awards 2023: Elden Ring Wins Two Awards as Phil Spencer Is Honored . January 19, 2023 . . January 18, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230118033959/https://www.ign.com/articles/new-york-game-awards-2023-elden-ring-wins-two-awards-as-phil-spencer-is-honored . live .
  43. Web site: Bankhurst . Adam . February 23, 2023 . DICE Awards 2023 Winners: The Full List . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230224062310/https://www.ign.com/articles/dice-awards-2023-winners-the-full-list . February 24, 2023 . February 23, 2023 . IGN.
  44. Web site: Mejia . Ozzie . January 26, 2023 . Elden Ring & Stray lead Game Developers Choice Awards 2023 nominees . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230127040625/https://www.shacknews.com/article/133863/gdc-2023-award-nominees . January 27, 2023 . January 28, 2023 . Shacknews.
  45. Web site: Beth Elderkin . March 22, 2023 . 'Elden Ring' Wins Game Of The Year At The 2023 Game Developers Choice Awards . Game Developers Choice Conference . March 25, 2023 . March 24, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230324133846/https://gdconf.com/news/elden-ring-wins-game-year-2023-game-developers-choice-awards . live .
  46. Web site: March 30, 2023 . 2023 BAFTA Games Awards: The Winners . March 30, 2023 . . March 31, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230331014639/https://www.bafta.org/games/awards/2023-nominations-winners . live .

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