Vampire Survivors felt like a small miracle when it debuted in 2022. It had the vibe of something put together during a lunch break (and yes, I mean that as a compliment), only to go on and dominate those same lunch breaks for weeks and months after. I’m not sure the wider gaming world was ready for what followed. Elden Ring, for instance, didn’t anticipate Vampire Survivors landing the Best Game BAFTA that year, and credit where it’s due: Rock, Paper, Shotgun was bold enough to crown Vampire Survivors as its game of the year. I was impressed to the point of almost switching sides. My respect for Vampire Survivors is genuine, which is why I’ve kept a close eye on its follow-up, Vampire Crawlers, since the announcement.
Vampire Crawlers is the upcoming project from Vampire Survivors’ developer Poncle, but it’s also been shaped alongside Arcade Paradise studio Nosebleed. The goal is to offer a new angle on the Vampire Survivors formula—an old-school first-person dungeon crawl powered by cards. Does it work? Yes, though.
Vampire Crawlers fits comfortably inside its own framework, but it doesn’t quite land as a Vampire Survivors-style experience. The mechanics are notably different. Rather than the smooth, real-time clashes in Vampire Survivors—where enemies crowd in and pressure you—Vampire Crawlers goes with a stop-and-start rhythm. You move from one skirmish to the next, taking part in turn-based card battles.
The usual feeling of overwhelming pressure isn’t there, since enemies don’t funnel in like a wave of darkness to erase you from existence. Likewise, the excitement of tinkering with abilities and uncovering game-shaping evolutions from Vampire Survivors is missing too. I genuinely miss those elements. Still, a card game has to behave differently, and considering the constraints, it’s impressive how closely Nosebleed has tried to mirror the experience.
In Crawlers, you move across tile-based 3D spaces that echo Vampire Survivors—places like the Forest or the Library—just like you’d expect from a classic dungeon crawl, which explains the name. Enemies remain in position, and once you close in, fights begin. Cards appear, drawing inspiration from the powers in Vampire Survivors, and you play them using an energy pool. When you defeat enemies, you earn gems that let you level up, at which point you’ll receive extra cards (and occasionally other items). In other words: explore, fight, then see how far you can push with a single health bar—that’s the core premise of Vampire Crawlers.
One of the best parts is how often it nods back to the original game. We don’t regularly stumble across those kinds of levels or layouts from a first-person perspective, so there’s a real sense of freshness in wandering the Library’s wooden shelving and running into familiar foes up close. That enormous praying mantis, for example, feels appropriately intimidating. The stages also include plenty of detail throughout, from shatterable candelabras to chests that can drop chickens, gold, or power-ups once you open—or break—them. Between runs, there’s also a town you can return to, with buildings worth checking out, where you can spend gold to strengthen abilities or recruit heroes, much like in Vampire Survivors. It’s packed with nostalgic touches, and as a fan, it’s a joy to be pulled into that atmosphere.
Nosebleed has also pushed the card mechanics forward in Vampire Crawlers, making them feel a bit closer to real time, even if they aren’t. For instance, you don’t need to sit through a card animation before using another; you can click a card and it triggers right away. That approach keeps everything moving. There’s also a satisfying combo system, activated by playing cards with consecutively higher mana costs—for example, starting with a one-cost card, then moving to a two-cost card, followed by a three-cost card. Pulling this off boosts the effectiveness of the next card by a large margin, whether you’re using damage, card-draw, or a buff. Combos become increasingly valuable as you progress, and there’s an underlying sense that the game is pushing you to keep growing stronger—something it captures beautifully, echoing Vampire Survivors. There’s also no slow ramp-up, since the abilities are powerful from the very beginning.
That said, Vampire Crawlers doesn’t scale in the same way—card upgrades can only be improved once instead of getting multiple boosts. Each card has a socket for an upgrade gem, letting you enhance effects such as doubling damage, drawing an extra card, returning the card, adding a buff, and more. Gems can also drive evolution through a rare evolution gem, shifting the emphasis toward unlocking new potential rather than combining items for surprise breakthroughs. This part can feel a little flat and somewhat pre-decided. There appears to be fewer chances to experiment with different options, though it’s worth noting that I’m working from a demo build, which may not expose every upgrade route. Even so, once you’ve assembled a stronger deck stocked with card-draw tools and meaningful buffs, you’re able to pull off big plays that deliver a slice of the power-fueled thrill associated with Vampire Survivors.
So I’m a bit split on it. I respect the careful attention to detail, and I’m impressed by the effort to re-create a Vampire Survivors-style feeling in a different genre. There are times—especially during boss encounters when you’re dealing with waves of monsters—when Vampire Crawlers almost matches the energy of its predecessor. However, the broken-up gameplay tempo keeps snapping you out of the moment. As a take on Vampire Survivors, it’s uneven; as a card game, it doesn’t offer enough depth. I don’t see much space for real strategy or forward planning. Even small points, like the inability to reject card rewards (at least based on what I can tell), make it harder to smooth out and personalize your deck the way you would in other deck-building titles.
But again, this is only a demo. There’s plenty of room for further development and more content to explore. At the moment, though, Vampire Crawlers feels pulled in two directions. It’s enjoyable, but.