Vampire Crawlers is unusual; it’s simultaneously just like Vampire Survivors and completely different from it.
It’s similar because it’s effortlessly compelling to play, time evaporates while you do, and it shares many items, characters, and presentational cues. It’s different because, well, it’s a whole other genre.
The magic is in marrying the two together, resulting in a spinoff that applies much of the original’s excitement and satisfaction to a wholly unique take on the dungeon-crawling deckbuilder.
The character you choose is your Crawler, deciding the cards with which you begin your adventure. You move about grid-based maps, one square at a time, battling enemies and opening treasure chests in your quest to delve deeper and gain power.
Each enemy defeated grants XP, and you choose a reward for leveling up, typically adding a card to your deck or embellishing an existing one with a powerful gem, enhancing it in some way.
Cards represent weapons, consumable items, defence, and other power-ups, all of which will be familiar to Vampire Survivors players. Weapons can also be evolved in much the same way; if you have the Garlic and the Pummarola in your deck, you can transform them into the Soul Eater.
Stronger cards require more mana to play, though, and it’s a precious resource that’s also pivotal to unlocking the combat’s real potential.
Playing cards in the ascending order of their mana costs begins a combo multiplier, whereby the effects of every subsequent card are exponentially amplified. This, combined with all manner of tricksy tactics and powerful perks, leads to a game that can make you feel just as gleefully over-powered as the original, albeit with a twist of strategy. It’s really fun.
The Crawler you take on your run can dramatically change things as well, as they all have their own effects based on the types of cards you play.
Like Survivors, Vampire Crawlers has a wealth of things to unlock along with permanent upgrades to give you a boost. Early on, things can feel a bit limited, but after putting in a couple of hours, you’ll start to see far more, like whole new features in the hub, and new rewards waiting in each stage.
The main things holding the game back are mostly related to navigating it. Movement in the dungeons is rigid by design, and it can feel a bit clunky in the hands. Similarly, menus can feel a bit fiddly to get around in with a controller.
Still, those are relatively minor gripes. There’s so much to like in Vampire Crawlers; it’s fast-paced, tactical, and super satisfying. We heartily recommend it, but beware its terribly addictive nature.
