Summary
- Vampire Survivors has had a significant impact on the indie gaming world, with its simple mechanics and fun gameplay design.
- GunSuit Guardians and Atomicrops are two games in the same genre that offer unique elements like twin-stick shooting and farming simulation, respectively.
- The VS genre has seen the inclusion of interesting twists, such as voice acting and customizable decks of cards, in games like Death Must Die and Slime 3k.
Since its Early Access launch in December 2021, Vampire Survivors has made waves in the indie gaming world with its simple mechanics and just-one-more-run gameplay design that makes it easy to pick up and hard to put down. Best of all, it was shockingly cheap on launch, which belied the amount of enjoyment you’d actually get from it.
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PostsIn its wake, a new genre has formed, defined by waves of enemies to fight and survive against, varied weapons, characters, and upgrades to experiment with, and an attractive price point. While lesser copycats just in it for a buck are inevitable, here are the best examples the genre has to offer and a few older titles that are surprisingly similar despite pre-dating Vampire Survivors.
Updated on March 29, 2025, by Christopher Padilla: A initially simple game, Vampire Survivors inspired what feels like a thousand games. While Sturgeon's Law is in full effect, the sheer bulk of games being released in the genre mean that there's quite a few good ones. Not only that, but they seem to be evolving, adding new mechanics and entirely different game styles to the mix. We've added some recent stand-outs here, including one so unique that it might just spin off into its own genre.
When The Light Dies
The Night Is Dark, And Full Of Horrors
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LikeWhen the Light Dies
Action Systems Released October 28, 2024 Developer(s) Electric Monkeys, Secret Level Studios Publisher(s) PQube Steam Deck Compatibility PlayableWHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALLet’s face it, games in this genre can get a little samey. Barring a few gimmicks and stand-out titles, gameplay is fairly simple. Often the best VS-likes tend to have some strong thematics to offset the at-times formulaic gameplay. This is what makes When The Light Dies so special, not only having a strong theme but some genuinely interesting gameplay.
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PostsSurvival in this game is suitably stressful for a Lovecraftian work, forcing you to juggle staying warm, staying sane, staying lit, and staying powerful enough to beat back the chthonian hordes. It’s a bit short, but it’s definitely worth the go and hopefully future games in the genre learn some lessons from this one.
Voids Vigil
Frenetic Vigilance
Voids Vigil is one of the stranger VS-likes, being a somewhat compact experience but dense with game mechanics and secrets. It’s an arena game, similar to Brotato but with a larger and more dynamic map. Despite their similarities, this game is more frenetic. It forces you to squeeze every pixel’s worth of space as you kite and dodge your enemies.
It has plenty of stats and an element system, neither of which is explained. In fact, the game gives away little save for a small tutorial of the bare basics, leaving you to discover and work out how those systems impact the game. It’s not for everyone, especially with its Zero Wing-looking graphics that while distinct, might be too crunchy to give you a clear view of the action.
However, the game has some bite, so if you’re looking for that experience, it’s currently in early access on Steam.
BloodDome99
Really Late Stage Capitalism
In the far off future of 1999, life is hopeless, with poverty and desperation being the norm. To survive, you’ll have to focus on two things: money and blood. Though the setup is bleak, BloodDome99 is pretty fun and darkly humorous. While the game is largely what you’d expect, it has some neat ideas to keep it from being boilerplate.
The aesthetic is interesting, if a bit bare, echoing the look of the Atari 2600 which is fitting for the game’s '80s retrofuturism. Its economy is fairly unique as well. Fitting the capitalist hellscape it portrays, you earn money for kills, which you need to accumulate to win the game. However, that same money is used to buy upgrades, giving you some interesting decisions as you balance power and money.
Karate Survivor
Throw Hands Survivor Style
Karate Survivor is a VS-like by way of '90s martial arts movies, particularly Jackie Chan flicks and especially Rumble in the Bronx. Far from just being shallow theming, the gameplay – while not revolutionary– does some interesting things with its mechanics in homage to these classics.
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PostsInstead of getting weapons or spells, you collect martial arts moves, each with different hit patterns and traits. What’s really cool is that these attacks are strung together in a combo for some impressive kung-fu. Like its inspirations, most action takes place in melee, making kiting the horde extra spicy.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Jackie Chan if you didn’t get to use the environment to fend off your foes. You can use various traps and objects as improvised offense in between kung-fu combos, giving you strategic options and making the levels feel more unique.
Bloodshed
First Person Suvivors
This game is perhaps the biggest departure from the VS-like genre while still being part of it, taking place not overhead but in first-person, boomer-shooter style. It’s an interesting shake-up of the formula that has the potential to sweep the gaming sphere similarly to Vampire Survivors itself.
Bloodshed is in Early Access, but has enough going on that it’s worth it at its current price point. It’s not perfect; sometimes the enemies are a little too meaty, which leads to the gameplay feeling repetitive. Of course, it’s still in development, but with some feedback from the community it could be a really great experience. At least, it’s certainly novel.
Spell Disk
Synergize For Victory!
CloseThis is one of the more expensive options on this list, but the value proposition is higher than it seems, since it’s effectively two games in one, centered around the titular Spell Disks. One is an action RPG similar to games like Children of Morta or Diablo 3, while the other is closer to Vampire Survivors.
In both modes, you get a starter spell and can get new spells, artifacts, and Spell Disks as you advance. The crux of the game is to attach spells to Spell Disks, which will fire off its attached spell when certain conditions are met, like doing a certain amount of elemental damage or landing critical hits.
The key is building an engine of spells that is self-triggering and self-sustaining until you’re an arcane supernova and your enemies are dust.
Cursorblade
Slashy Slashy
CloseWhile Cursorblade might not seem similar to VS, they do share some traits that might tickle some of the same parts of your brain. Your mouse cursor is the titular blade and you slash your opponents by running your mouse over them — avoiding hazards in the process.
Though your targets are largely stationary, you’ll find that you’ll be dodging almost as many bullets as in VS. While your mouse might be more agile than most VS characters, the bullets here are faster and more dense.
Parry Nightmare
Parry Your Anxiety
Most games on this list are sprawling affairs that take hours and hours to finish as you unlock new things and then get back into it again. In comparison, Parry Nightmare is a refreshing change of pace with its five total stages.
You still get a good bang for your buck though, since this has a pretty novel game mechanic. As you're chased by the familiar VS hordes, the only way to beat them is to parry them, after which your dream companion finishes them off while they’re stunned.
More impressively, this game has a surprisingly deep and moving story in its short runtime, told in a combination of point-and-click and visual novel gameplay. The whole thing is a dense experience that’s well worth the price of admission.
Be My Horde
On Your Knees Before The Queen
CloseAnother game in the subset of VS-likes themed around necromancy, Be My Horde really leans into the combination. You are Moriana, a necromancer who summons slain enemies to serve as part of her ever-growing horde.
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PostsRounds start with a set of corpses for you to revive. You walk around with your horde, killing increasingly difficult enemies from simple peasants to heavily armored knights.
The most interesting part of the game, however, is Moriana herself. She’s voiced, a rarity in the genre, and has a personality full of malice and sadism, even towards the player character. There are also dialogue trees in the game, though they don’t seem to be tied to any gameplay.
Necro Rumble
Dem Bones
This game is a part of the small but growing trend of minion-based VS-likes, most of which are paired with necromancy. Necro Rumble puts you in the robes of a necromancer under attack by knights, ninjas, and other enemies. You have an attack but it has a long cooldown, meaning you’ll need to raise some undead minions to do the heavy lifting.
This is on the smaller scale of necromancy, as you’ll only have a few minions at a time, but the game has some interesting ideas like leveling up each 'class' of minions as they get kills. Necro Rumble is feature-light, but it’s also free on Steam.
