Vampire Survivors
Vampire Survivors is a 2022 roguelike shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Luca Galante, also known as poncle. Following an early access period from December 2021, it was released for macOS, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Android, and iOS in late 2022.
Vampire Survivors | |
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Developer(s) | Luca Galante |
Publisher(s) | Luca Galante |
Programmer(s) |
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Artist(s) | Alessio Greco |
Writer(s) |
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Composer(s) |
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Engine | Phaser |
Platform(s) | |
Release |
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Genre(s) | Roguelike, shoot 'em up |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
The player controls an automatically attacking character while fighting against continuous waves of monsters, with the goal being to survive the onslaught for as long as possible and unlock additional characters, weapons, and relics for subsequent sessions. In spite of the game's name and key art, none of the variety of monsters encountered are vampires.
Vampire Survivors received accolades at the Golden Joystick Awards, New York Game Awards and D.I.C.E. Awards. The game was nominated in five categories at the British Academy Games Awards, of which it won in two: Game Design and Best Game.
Gameplay
The player selects one of multiple characters with different starting weapons and bonuses, and controls them on an endless stage with an auto-generated, repeating layout. The player's weapons attack automatically, and the goal is to survive as long as possible against constant waves of monsters that inflict damage when they come in contact with the player. Defeating monsters and exploring the stage allows the player to collect experience gems, which are used to level up, "floor chicken", which restores the player's health, and other helpful items. Each level increase provides the player the choice of three or four weapons and passive power-ups; once the player has collected six weapons and six power-ups and upgraded them all fully, any further levels they gain offer only gold coins or floor chicken. Another way to upgrade weapons and power-ups is to open chests, which are dropped by particularly powerful monsters and may contain one, three, or five random items. Most weapons have an ultimate form that can be attained by opening a chest after fully upgrading them and meeting other specific conditions.[1][2]
Sessions of Vampire Survivors have a soft time limit of 15 or 30 minutes, depending on the stage chosen. At the time limit, the stage is cleared of all enemies and a final, tremendously strong enemy named Death will spawn. One additional Death will appear every consecutive minute thereafter to ensure the player's eventual demise. A session that reaches or exceeds the stage's time limit is considered a successful completion and rewards bonus gold coins. In between sessions, accumulated gold coins can be spent to unlock new characters and persistent power-ups. Additionally, by completing challenges, the player can also unlock new stages, weapons, and characters.
Plot
Vampire Survivors is nominally set in rural Italy in 2021. Hordes of monsters summoned by the evil Bisconte Draculó ravage the land, and the Belpaese family and other heroic survivors take it upon themselves to hunt down and defeat Draculó.[3] This quest takes them through monster-infested locales such as a cursed forest, a haunted library, an abandoned dairy plant, an ominous tower, and an otherworldly chapel.
Development
Italian developer Luca "poncle" Galante began developing Vampire Survivors in 2020 using the Phaser framework while he was unemployed.[4][5] He wanted to create Vampire Survivors because he wanted to manage a community, based on his past experience as being an admin for an Ultima Online server. The game was inspired by Magic Survival, a mobile game that also consisted of a character automatically attacking enemies. Development of the initial early access version took around a year, with Galante spending around £1100 on assets, art, and music.[6] Prior to developing Vampire Survivors, Galante had been a developer in the gambling industry, and he used his knowledge of how to use flashy graphics for slot machines as part of the allure for Vampire Survivors's chest-opening animations.[4]
The success of the game exceeded Galante's expectations and allowed him to quit his job in February 2022 to focus completely on development of the game. He was informally assisted by "a few friends" in their spare time. Planned content included additional weapons, characters, and stages, and an "endless mode". Galante's intent was to bring Vampire Survivors out of early access by the end of 2022.[7] Galante hired multiple freelancers in March 2022 to expand the Vampire Survivors team and accelerate development. In addition to outlining the scope of the promised new content with a roadmap, Galante explained that a major milestone slated for mid-2022 would be porting Vampire Survivors to an "industry-standard" game engine to improve its overall performance.[8]
The full game was released for macOS and Windows on October 20, 2022.[9] The game was also ported to Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on November 10, 2022.[10] Ports for Android and iOS devices were released in December 8, 2022.[11] The mobile versions were fast-tracked for development as a response to a number of clones that appeared on mobile app stores with stolen code and assets from the original game.[12] While the game released on other platforms as an inexpensive but premium game, the mobile versions are free-to-play with optional ads.[11]
Downloadable content
The first paid DLC expansion for the game, titled Legacy of the Moonspell, was announced on December 6, 2022. Inspired by Japanese folklore and anime, it adds thirteen weapons, eight characters, and a new stage featuring enemies designed after yōkai and oni.[13] The expansion released on December 15, 2022 for macOS, Windows, and Xbox platforms, and in early 2023 for mobile.[14]
A second paid DLC expansion, Tides of Foscari, was released in April 2023. It adds new weapons, new powers and new characters, and features a new stage inspired by fairy tales.[15][16]
Reception
Aggregator | Score |
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Metacritic | PC: 87/100[19] XSXS: 95/100[20] iOS: 91/100[21] |
Publication | Score |
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Edge | 7/10[22] |
Eurogamer | Recommended[23] |
Game Informer | 9.75/10[24] |
Hardcore Gamer | 4.5/5[25][lower-alpha 1] |
IGN | 7/10[26][lower-alpha 1] 8/10[27] |
Jeuxvideo.com | 15/20[28] |
NME | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
PC Gamer (US) | 87/100[30] |
PCMag | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
TouchArcade | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
While Vampire Survivors was initially obscure on release, by late January 2022 it became a hit and reached over 30,000 concurrent players on Steam.[6][33] This number continued to climb, with the game reaching over 70,000 concurrent players the following month.[34] While not the first game in its genre, Vampire Survivors led to several other games based on automatic gameplay and roguelike progression being released the following year, most released for a small price and in early access.[35]
Vampire Survivors received "generally favorable" reviews for Windows according to review aggregator Metacritic;[19] the Xbox Series X/S and iOS versions received "universal acclaim".[20][21]
Ian Walker of Kotaku and Graham Smith of Rock Paper Shotgun praised the game, both comparing the game to dopamine.[1][36] Polygon's Nicole Carpenter noted the game's depth, with her saying "no one streamer I've watched played entirely the same".[2] Aaron Zimmerman of Ars Technica named Vampire Survivors as his pick for game of the year.[35] Marie Dealessandri of GamesIndustry.biz also named Vampire Survivors her game of the year, speaking to how well it played on the handheld Steam Deck, which had also released in 2022.[37]
Accolades
Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref(s). |
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2022 | Golden Joystick Awards | Best Early Access Launch | Nominated | [38][39] |
Breakthrough Award | Won | |||
The Game Awards | Best Debut Indie Game | Nominated | [40] | |
The Steam Awards | Best Game on the Go | Nominated | [41] | |
2023 | New York Game Awards | Big Apple Award for Best Game of the Year | Nominated | [42] |
Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game | Won | |||
D.I.C.E. Awards | Game of the Year | Nominated | [43] | |
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game | Nominated | |||
Action Game of the Year | Won | |||
Game Developers Choice Awards | Game of the Year | Honorable mention | [44][45] | |
Best Debut | Nominated | |||
Best Design | Honorable mention | |||
British Academy Games Awards | Best Game | Won | [46] | |
British Game | Nominated | |||
Debut Game | Nominated | |||
Game Design | Won | |||
Original Property | Nominated |
See also
Notes
- Early access version.
References
- Smith, Graham (January 25, 2022). "Vampire Survivors is a pure hit of dopamine". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
- Carpenter, Nicole (January 27, 2022). "Vampire Survivors is no thoughts, just spells". Polygon. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
- "Vampire Survivors by poncle". itch.io. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
- Chung, Frank (February 23, 2022). "Creator of addictive $4 game Vampire Survivors was gambling industry programmer". news.com.au. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
- "How Vampire Survivors became a hit when creator Poncle was ready to give up". Barclays Games and Esports. August 10, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
- Klepek, Patrick (January 27, 2022). "How 'Vampire Survivors' Went From Obscurity to 27,000 People Playing at Once". Vice. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
- Brown, Andy (February 3, 2022). "'Vampire Survivors' creator Luca Galante talks quitting his job to fulfil his promise". NME. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- "Development Roadmap Overview and updates on the plan for Early Access". Steam. March 24, 2022. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
- Smith, Graham (September 29, 2022). "Vampire Survivors will hit 1.0 on October 20th, move to new engine by end of year". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
- Holt, Kris (November 1, 2022). "'Vampire Survivors' is coming to Xbox consoles on November 10th". Engadget. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
- Plunkett, Luke (December 8, 2022). "Vampire Survivors Gets Surprise Mobile Release". Kotaku. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
- Gach, Ethan (January 6, 2023). "Crappy Mobile Games Accidentally Led To The Best Version Of Vampire Survivors". Kotaku. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
- Smith, Graham (December 6, 2022). "Vampire Survivors is getting DLC inspired by Japanese folklore next week". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
- Orland, Kyle (December 15, 2022). "Vampire Survivors' first DLC offers some enjoyable (but diminishing) returns". Ars Technica. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
- Murray, Sean (March 31, 2023). "Vampire Survivors Reveals Second DLC With New Characters, Weapons, And Music". The Gamer. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
- Purchese, Robert (April 14, 2023). "Vampire Survivors is revived by new DLC Tides of the Foscari". Eurogamer. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
- Shanklin, Will (April 28, 2023). "'Vampire Survivors' is getting an animated television series". Engadget. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
- Petski, Denise (April 30, 2023). "'Vampire Survivors' Video Game In Works As Animated Television Series From Story Kitchen". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
- "Vampire Survivors for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
- "Vampire Survivors for Xbox Series X Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
- "Vampire Survivors for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
- "Vampire Survivors". EDGE Magazine, Issue 378. November 5, 2022. p. 121.
- Donlan, Christian (October 24, 2022). "Vampire Survivors review - near-endless RPG popcorn". Eurogamer. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
- Vore, Bryan. "Vampire Survivors Review - Single-Stick Masterpiece". Game Informer. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
- Cunningham, James (October 20, 2022). "Review: Vampire Survivors". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
- Stapleton, Dan (February 11, 2022). "Vampire Survivors Early Access Review". IGN. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
- Stapleton, Dan (November 11, 2022). "Vampire Survivors 1.0 Review". IGN. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
- "Test du jeu Vampire Survivors sur PC". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Retrieved December 5, 2022.
- Tucker, Jake (October 20, 2022). "'Vampire Survivors' review: the most compulsive game of the year". NME. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
- Litchfield, Ted (October 27, 2022). "Vampire Survivors review". PC Gamer. Future plc. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
- Greenwald, Will (May 24, 2022). "Vampire Survivors (for PC) Review". PCMag. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
- Madnani, Mikhail (December 9, 2022). "'Vampire Survivors' Mobile Review – Nearly Perfect". TouchArcade. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
- Moore, Jared (January 27, 2022). "Vampire Survivors Is a Beautiful $3 Nightmare Taking Over Steam". IGN. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
- Just, Christian (February 19, 2022). "Vampire Survivors: Steam-Phänomen mausert sich zum Schwergewicht". GameStar (in German). Webedia. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
- Zimmerman, Aaron (October 20, 2022). "Vampire Survivors—a cheap, minimalistic indie game—is my game of the year". Ars Technica. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
- Walker, Ian (January 21, 2022). "Castlevania-Inspired Roguelike Is Pure Dopamine". Kotaku. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
- Dealessandri, Marie (December 15, 2022). "Vampire Survivors". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
- Jones, Ali (November 22, 2022). "Vampire Survivors claims the Breakthrough Award at the Golden Joystick Awards 2022". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on November 22, 2022. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
- Loveridge, Sam (November 22, 2022). "Here are all the Golden Joystick Awards 2022 winners". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
- Harte, Charles. "The Full List of the 2022 Game Awards Nominees". Game Informer. Archived from the original on November 14, 2022. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
- "The Steam Awards". Steam. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
- Bankhurst, Adam (January 19, 2023). "New York Game Awards 2023: Elden Ring Wins Two Awards as Phil Spencer Is Honored". IGN. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
- Bankhurst, Adam (February 23, 2023). "DICE Awards 2023 Winners: The Full List". IGN. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
- Mejia, Ozzie (January 26, 2023). "Elden Ring & Stray lead Game Developers Choice Awards 2023 nominees". Shacknews. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- Beth Elderkin (March 22, 2023). "'Elden Ring' Wins Game Of The Year At The 2023 Game Developers Choice Awards". Game Developers Choice Conference.
- "2023 BAFTA Games Awards: The Winners". BAFTA. March 30, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023.