Vampire Crawlers Is Ready To Become Your Next Obsession

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Since the initial release of Vampire Survivors on PC, Poncle Games has been incredibly active. They’ve not only consistently updated the original game, but have also grown as a company, started publishing games, and collaborated with other studios – even partnering with Konami, a major influence on Vampire Survivors, for some exciting projects. It’s been a busy and successful few years for the team behind this BAFTA-winning, addictive “bullet heaven” game, and from what I’ve seen, they have much more planned.

Poncle Games has been developing Vampire Crawlers for the last year. This new dungeon-crawling deckbuilder is different from the straightforward gameplay of Vampire Survivors, but it still captures the same exciting and chaotic energy. While Vampire Crawlers starts a bit slower and isn’t quite as instantly addictive, it offers more strategic depth and a wonderfully unpredictable experience.

My first experience with Vampire Crawlers started with the same exciting cutscene from the game’s original trailer, showcasing the transition to a 2.5D style. This immediately highlights the game’s core: it feels very much like a fresh take on Vampire Survivors. While the team did update many of the original assets, the visual style remains largely consistent with the original game. Some might see this as a shortcut, but I think it shows respect for the initial design and actually works well within the new game. According to creative director Luca Galante, this was a deliberate decision prioritizing the company’s stability over simply creating something entirely new.

Galante wanted to keep things simple and avoid problems. He explained, ‘We should reuse the existing materials. Changing them would likely upset players and also make the project more expensive.’ He added that he prefers to avoid risks and doesn’t want to overspend on games, potentially jeopardizing the company’s financial stability.

After a brief introductory scene, you’ll find yourself back in the eerie Mad Forest. Crawlers feels very similar to its predecessor, Survivors, with a comparable soundtrack and visual style, though it has a nostalgic, ’90s Japanese RPG look. The gameplay is where things change significantly. Instead of clicking or using a joystick to move and attack, you use the arrow keys to navigate the world from a first-person view. A map in the corner shows you the dungeon layout and enemy locations. You can choose to fight every enemy for experience, or head straight for the toughest one. This adds a strategic element – you need to decide if a fight is worth the risk of taking damage. For example, is it better to avoid a group of bats and save your strength for a powerful mantis?

The battles are a core part of the strategy. When you find an enemy, the game smoothly switches to turn-based combat where you use cards to defeat monsters. Each of the roughly 20 characters, taken from the world of Survivors, has a unique deck of cards, making your choice of character especially important. You start as Antonio Belpaese, wielding his whip, just like in Survivors. He begins with cards like the free-to-use Whip and the one-mana Spinach, both familiar items with slightly altered effects in this game.

The game rewards you for playing cards from lowest to highest mana cost, but sticking to that order isn’t always the best strategy. For instance, it’s often better to play a low-cost card that boosts your attack—like a one-mana Spinach for a 20% increase—before using any free attacks. There’s also a ‘Play All’ button that lets you play every card at once, creating some exciting randomness. The developer, Galante, mentioned this feature was designed to help you quickly finish battles you’re already winning, and I found that really useful.

As you progress, you’ll be able to add new cards to your deck. You can also find gems in treasure chests to make your cards more powerful – increasing their damage, lowering their mana cost, and offering other benefits. This means you’ll have to carefully consider which cards to upgrade with each gem. Later in the game, you can take up to three Survivors with you on expeditions, letting you combine different decks and playstyles for even more variety.

Once I finished the Mad Forest dungeon, I got to explore the village, which is one of the more appealing areas in the game. It’s designed as a circular arrangement of buildings you can easily move between, and it functions as your main hub. I didn’t get to see everything it offers, but the tavern stood out – it’s a fun way to choose your character, as you literally pull them away from their drink! The developers mentioned the village was built to be expanded, but won’t be a huge focus of the game. As someone who enjoys base-building, that was a little disappointing, but the reason behind the decision makes sense.

I’m not a fan of games that let you heavily customize a village,” Galante said. “If the main game is card-based, adding a lot of village strategy feels like it’s going too far. We’re keeping the village simple – a circular layout of buildings. This design allows us to add new buildings in between existing ones over time, so we can still expand and integrate new features without completely changing things.

It’s too early to tell if I’ll get as hooked on Crawlers as I did with Survivors, but I had the same initial feeling with that game – and ended up playing it for a ridiculous amount of time. After just thirty minutes with Crawlers, it’s hard to form a firm opinion, but I enjoyed it and suspect it will consume just as many hours. I also think Crawlers has a lot of room to grow, based on what players want. The game’s creator, Luca Galante, is excited to add more content, like deeper exploration, a more detailed village, and more ways to customize cards. Vampire Crawlers is scheduled to release early next year, and the developers are aiming to avoid launching it around the same time as Grand Theft Auto VI.

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2025-11-20 22:20