Vampire Crawlers Review

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Since its initial release in late 2021, Vampire Survivors quickly became incredibly popular, and that popularity hasn’t faded. It eventually launched on all major platforms, including a VR version for Meta Quest. Its simple, retro style and easy gameplay made it instantly addictive – players found themselves constantly starting “just one more run.” The new game, Vampire Crawlers, still focuses on survival, but this time you win by building a powerful deck of cards. Developer Luca Galante clearly understands what makes a great roguelike game, and I’ve had a blast playing Vampire Crawlers – it’s been a highlight of my gaming in 2026.

Luca Galante, known as poncle, has quickly become a celebrated figure in the indie game world. He originally created the hugely popular game Vampire Survivors while unemployed and with very limited resources. The game’s unexpected success allowed him to grow his team and add significant expansions, including a popular collaboration with Castlevania. Continuing to innovate, poncle surprised fans in November 2025 with the announcement of Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors, a new game that combines roguelike elements with deck-building strategy.

Players were excited to try out Vampire Crawlers during the February 2026 Steam Next Fest. The demo quickly attracted over 3,000 players and generated a lot of positive feedback online. With plenty to unlock, a great soundtrack, and a ‘Turbo’ mode for fast-paced action, Vampire Crawlers delivers the addictive and satisfying experience you expect from a good roguelike game.

Vampire Crawlers Has Completely Taken Over My Life

Starting up Vampire Crawlers immediately throws you into the gameplay. If you’re familiar with deck-building games like Balatro or Slay the Spire, you’ll quickly understand: you begin with a small deck of cards, and by defeating enemies and finding treasure, you add more cards to become increasingly powerful. The goal is to build the best deck possible and conquer everything in your path, then try again! The game doesn’t try to be overly original, instead successfully blending tried-and-true mechanics with a unique retro aesthetic and fun gothic themes. Plus, it’s incredibly fast-paced, making it easy to keep playing and unlock new content without getting tired.

The gameplay in Vampire Crawlers is straightforward. You start each game with a small deck of cards, containing only a few ways to attack or defend. As you defeat enemies, you earn experience, which lets you add new cards to your deck. These cards come in seven different colors, each representing a different type – red for attacks, blue for defense, and yellow to improve your stats, for example. You can also enhance your attack cards with gems to make them even more powerful. I’ve definitely been saved by the gem that triples attack power more than once!

The first time I launched Vampire Crawlers, I ended up playing for about seven hours straight – and that really says how enjoyable the game is.

To play cards, you need mana, which automatically refills each turn or can be restored by certain cards. Enemies will attack, and if your health reaches zero, your run is over – though you can use armor cards to reduce damage. As you play, you’ll earn coins to unlock helpful upgrades in the Village, making future runs easier. You can also choose a companion, called a Crawler, who comes with a unique weapon and special abilities, like doing more damage or providing better healing.

Throughout the game, players will find 15 Relics, each one introducing a significant new gameplay feature. The first Relic is available in the tutorial and unlocks the Combo Stack mechanic, which is a core element of Vampire Crawlers. This means playing cards in order of increasing mana cost builds a damage multiplier, allowing for surprisingly high damage early on. As players progress, they’ll unlock even more helpful features, like access to powerful Arcana cards and a convenient button to instantly clear the first floor of any dungeon they’ve already beaten, all while still earning experience.

Early players of the game’s demo shared their enthusiasm online, though a few worried the game might require too much strategic thinking. Some felt a feature called ‘Combo Stack’ was too easy to abuse, potentially making the game too simple and reducing the need for careful planning. However, after playing for many hours, those concerns seem to be misplaced. Later stages of the game demand players create complex combinations, choose the right characters, and carefully select powerful cards and gems to succeed. This process of experimentation and refinement was incredibly engaging, and I expect it will keep me playing for a long time.

The game’s theme song was created by Yoko Shimomura of Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy 15 fame.

Vampire Crawlers Is the Roguelike That Keeps on Giving

Vampire Crawlers offers 161 achievements and plenty to explore, with even more content planned for release after launch. Updates will include a dedicated Endless Mode, better ways to handle large card collections, and helpful tutorials for new players. The developers at Poncle are also working to optimize the game for Steam Deck and improve its resolution on the Nintendo Switch 2. I was particularly impressed to find full ultrawide monitor support at launch, a feature many larger PC games still lack.

The developer plans to keep refining the game after launch, responding to player feedback to improve things like difficulty, level design, and how long a playthrough takes. They’ve already made several adjustments to ensure the game is enjoyable. I didn’t encounter any bugs or glitches during my time playing, which shows how much care and attention poncle puts into their work.

There’s a unique charm to playing a game clearly made with passion, and Vampire Survivors was a perfect example of that. Vampire Crawlers doesn’t pretend to be anything it isn’t, nor does it feel the need to reinvent the wheel. The developer, Poncle, has really hit their stride. Their retro style, reminiscent of Castlevania, combined with the satisfying, quick rewards, had me hooked in just minutes – just like their previous work.

Vampire Crawlers will be available on PC (through Steam), Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch starting April 21st. Mobile versions of the game will be released sometime after that. We received a PC code from the developers to review the game.

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2026-04-21 12:11