Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors Nintendo Switch 2 Review 9/10 🧛🍷 "A surprising spin off that stands as tall the original" @poncle_vampire #IndieGame #GameDev

Vampire Survivors melted the world when it was released back in 2022. I’ve had friends and colleagues here at GF that adored that game and spent many, many hours with it, and whilst I dipped my toe in for a few weeks and thoroughly enjoyed my time with it, Vampire Survivors never really sucked me in as it did for others…Vampire Crawlers, however, has crawled out of its sarcophagus, plunged its teeth into my neck, and yanked my trousers down with such force and intent that the friction burns blistered my trembling thighs. Good.

The words ‘roguelike deck-building game’ have almost become burned onto my retinas due to how often I’ve come across them over the last couple of years. Whilst I love the genre, it seems to have replaced ‘soulslike’ as a term that makes my eye twitch whenever I stumble across it whilst checking out upcoming games. That said, as with anything, if a game is good, it doesn’t matter how many others there are in the field; it’s a cracker. 

Such was the case with Vampire Crawlers, which was kindly sent over to us from Nosebleed Interactive, who are the minds behind Arcade Paradise, a game that my editor, Rich, very much fell in love with back in 2022. 

I was offered the code, installed it on the Switch 2, and that was it; I was hooked.

A spin-off of Vampire Survivors that transposes the game to a card-centric dungeon crawler setting with a first-person perspective; the enemies, weapons and audio will be familiar to fans of the franchise. You begin the game in a forest and must make your way through the grid-based locations, battling groups of enemies, utilising the selection of cards you’ve been dealt from your ever-growing hand. Beginning with low mana points and a basic attack, such as a whip, as with Vampire Survivors, each skirmish rewards you with jewels that quickly level you up, giving you one of three selections that could be further forms of attack, defence, or upgrades. You can also find cards and perks – as well as coins and health – by smashing through items scattered around each area. 

The game is mostly made up of short, sharp stages, each one has its own enemy groups dotted around – adding to the variety - various secrets to discover, and finally, a boss to beat to progress further through the area, unlocking more challenging depths. Upon finishing/dying in each location, you are hacked to death by Death’s scythe (if you are successful!) before returning to the ever-expanding town to spend your spoils in various areas. 

You can find other adventurers (or ‘crawlers’) to select on your next run, as well as spending coins to upgrade your cards in various ways – along with even more options that reveal themselves the deeper into the game that you go. Each run feels satisfying in how the game rewards you and opens up more of its treasures each time. It’s this simple loop that hooked me in, and playing in handheld mode on the Switch 2 is absolutely divine. I can very much see why this is being ported to mobile devices later in 2026.

There’s something incredibly moreish about Vampire Crawlers; it’s a slightly more involved game than the pure auto-battler that Vampire Survivors was, as your bonuses and perks can be tied to the order in which your cards are used, and selecting the right upgrade at the right time can make or break your current run. It’s also extremely well-balanced. I never felt like I was breezing through an area, mindlessly tapping on cards – it always seemed to come down to the knuckle, making it an exhilarating experience to play. 

The fact that the assets used in the game are familiar and yet fresh due to the new perspective used gives the whole game a vibe of almost comforting, chillout gameplay, everything is snappy and yet able to be enjoyed at your own pace due to the turn-based yet brisk card mechanics, it’s this sense of pace and instancy that really makes the game shine in handheld mode, as everything is so accessible and quick to action.

SUMMARY
A surprise entrant for GOTY for me, Vampire Crawlers is a spin-off that I prefer to the original game, and scratches that itch of the classic tile-based dungeon crawler lover in me, whilst giving the gameplay flashy modern touches that add to the enjoyment and remove the elements that can make the genre feel sluggish, creaky and occasionally impenetrable. 

A title that feels right at home on the Switch in handheld mode, and one that will be installed on my device for a long time to come, awesome stuff!

9/10

🧊ICE COOL🧊

(also available on macOS, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch) 

Developer – poncle, Nosebleed Interactive  Publisher – poncle