Vampire Crawlers is already my most-played Switch game of 2026

by

A friend first mentioned Vampire Survivors to me in late 2021 – it was a really inexpensive game gaining popularity on Steam. He described it as a simple, one-handed roguelike, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. After getting my Steam Deck a few months later, I kept seeing people say it was ideal for handheld gaming, so I decided to try it out. I was immediately hooked, playing for almost three hours in my first two sessions. Since then, I’ve consistently played the game and all its DLCs on pretty much every platform. It’s become one of my most-played games, not just on Steam Deck, but also on Xbox and mobile.

I loved all the extra content for the game, even the collaboration with Among Us, though I haven’t played that game much myself. I was always curious to see what the developers, poncle, would do next, beyond simply adding more to an already fantastic game. But I never anticipated a spin-off that combines dungeon crawling with deck-building in the Vampire Survivors world! Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors (which I’ll refer to as Vampire Crawlers) comes out tomorrow, and it’s already my favorite Switch game of 2026. After playing for over 25 hours on both Switch and Switch 2, I’m continually amazed by how seamlessly the developers have translated the mechanics of Vampire Survivors into this new deck-building, dungeon-crawling format.

Vampire Crawlers features a lot of ways to improve your character and unlock new content as you play. Each playthrough starts with choosing a character (you’ll unlock more later) and a location to explore. The goal is to clear each area, which is filled with enemies, useful items, and interesting places to discover. You’ll eventually be able to see these points of interest on the map from the beginning, letting you plan your route before each level starts.

You move your character from a first-person perspective, and battles start when you encounter enemies or bosses. That’s when Vampire Crawlers shifts into its deck-building, turn-based combat system. I was impressed by how smoothly the developers adapted many of the skills and abilities from Vampire Survivors into card form. While your goal is to defeat enemies, simply relying on strength won’t work past the early stages of the game.

Battles happen in turns, against enemies lined up in rows. Playing cards costs mana, which refills at the start of each turn. The key to success is creating powerful combos by playing cards that have increasing mana costs. The game features special “Wild” cards that help you extend combos or start fresh without breaking your streak. Defeating enemies lets you level up and add new cards to your deck for that playthrough. You’ll also earn money, which can be used to unlock new characters, permanent upgrades, and even improve your cards.

I went into Vampire Crawlers thinking it would be a simple version of Vampire Survivors, but I was surprised by how many different ways you can build your character after only a few hours of gameplay. I also like that the game encourages experimentation – everything you do contributes to unlocking new content. And even without discovering any hidden secrets (though I expect there are some!), there’s already a lot to strive for based on what’s shown in the unlock menu.

The game’s levels vary greatly, from simple bridges to complex multi-story factories and towers. While I haven’t explored everything Vampire Crawlers offers, after playing for over twenty hours, I can confidently say that although the beginning is a little slow in terms of variety, the game quickly rewards you with new unlocks. This encourages players to experiment with different combinations and characters.

Every character and crawler plays differently, with unique cards and abilities. These range from healing to boosting your power, and you unlock them by playing certain cards. You can further customize your strategy with Gems, which modify cards for each run. At first, you’ll only find Gems that increase damage, but you’ll gradually unlock more that add special effects, like returning a card to your hand or changing how much mana it costs to play.

Of all the ways to improve your deck in Vampire Crawlers, I haven’t really explored the Blacksmith system much yet. It lets you add more gem slots to your cards permanently, which seems like something best saved for later in the game, or after you’ve finished the main content. For now, I’m focused on unlocking everything and completing Gallo Tower to reach 75% completion.

I started a fresh game on a different profile to see what it was like experiencing the beginning again after playing for a while. I quickly noticed how much I’d come to rely on my permanent upgrades and the two helper robots I usually use. While simply being strong helps at first, I realized that mastering combos is what really lets me speed through the early parts of the game on a new profile.

Each level in Vampire Crawlers features a boss, similar to the powerful, blue-bordered enemies in Vampire Survivors. These bosses are tough, with unique abilities and a lot of health. They can also negatively affect your card deck by adding useless black cards that might alter your mana or introduce other gameplay challenges. It’s also cool to see familiar enemies and bosses from the original game appearing as groups on these levels.

Vampire Crawlers successfully captures the look and feel of the original game, bringing its style to a 3D world. It retains the animated 2D sprites and effects fans love, but the environments feel much larger and more expansive than in Vampire Survivors. The game uses a visual technique similar to HD-2D, blending pixel art with modern lighting and effects. My main issue is with some animations—like opening chests or adding gems—which feature very bright, flashing lights that can’t be turned off. These feel jarring and don’t quite fit with the otherwise excellent and consistent art style.

Vampire Crawlers has fantastic audio design. All the characters have new voice lines, and there are fresh sound effects. What really stands out is the music – it takes the original soundtrack I already loved and remixes it beautifully. I especially appreciate how the music seamlessly changes from atmospheric exploration themes to more intense combat tracks in real-time – it’s a really clever and immersive detail.



I’ve been playing Vampire Crawlers on both my original Switch and the new Switch 2 (using backward compatibility). It runs really well on the Switch 2, especially in handheld mode, though some visual effects seem a little less detailed than in the Steam Deck demo. Aside from that, performance is solid. I’m hoping the native Switch 2 version will aim for a smoother frame rate. On the original Switch OLED, I noticed slowdowns during busy combat sequences, and loading times were noticeably longer than on the Switch 2. I’ll share a more detailed technical analysis and comparison of the handheld performance soon.

Vampire Crawlers unexpectedly brought back a lot of fond memories. I’d been away from Vampire Survivors for a year, but I quickly remembered how much I enjoyed its characters, skills, and music. This new game successfully combines elements from several of my favorite genres and titles, making it one of the games I’ve enjoyed most in 2026 – and I’m still discovering new content!

Read More

2026-04-20 16:31