David Brevik, Diablo creator and co-founder of Blizzard North is a huge fan of the viral bullet game Vampire Survivors, which quickly took over Steam and at the same time fueled Brevik’s plans to make his own snack-packed mini-games.
Vampire Survivors is a rogue-like game where you blast through thousands of ghouls, orcs, bats, and other monsters using only the power of WASD – and some Castlevania-esque weapons that you collect, upgrade and fire automatically as you go around. I was instantly addicted to it when I tried it last FebruaryAnd since its launch in December 2021, it has garnered more than 71,000 overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam While he was still on the Early Access program, the majority of which have poured in over the past couple of months.
Breivik believes the resounding success of Vampire Survivors is well deserved. Speaking to GamesRadar+, he explained that he first learned about the game through his Twitch and Discord community, which he and his wife have been building for over five years.
“Some people started talking about it, and that’s how I knew about the game,” he says. “They seem to be having a great time. I was curious so I went to Steam and when I saw the reviews and the price, I thought I’d give it a try. I didn’t know much about the game at that point in time.”
“I’ve played this game a lot more than other things I’ve played lately,” he continues. “I wouldn’t say I’ve had as many hours as some other people I know, but it’s my most played game in the past few months. I don’t have much time for matches at the moment. I really enjoyed my time playing and I’m still coming back and playing more.”
solo developer Bunkle Vampire Survivors continues to update with new items, secrets, and playable characters that keep its simple formula from ever faltering. Brevik believes that its popularity is also due to how accessible and dynamic it is thanks to a simplified gameplay loop.
“I would say it is closer to mobile in design than anything else,” he said, detailing the game Archiro for reference. The actual mechanics are great. Every round is different; infinite replayability, short sessions, what people call ‘rogue’ progression (progress, die, upgrade your account, iteration). The controls are great because you just need to focus on a few things. Clear launch Shooting and changing from a two-stick shooter to a passive shooter is different. It’s also a really comprehensive control system and allows handicapped players to play as well. And with it being so simple, it’s easy to pick up, and you don’t need lessons.”
You’ve come to realize that Vampire Survivors is a totally offbeat game… but it’s an interesting way to get your eyeballs interested in a project.
David Breivik
at tweetBreivik noted that, like among us, Vampire Survivors have benefited greatly from exposure generated by YouTube and Twitch users. Several major game content makers have played this game, and in the past few weeks in particular, Vampire Survivors has become a popular choice among Japanese YouTubers and Vtubers – including Vtuber, YouTube’s biggest Vtuber, Hololive’s Gawr Gura – which has helped spread word spread Mouth to new areas and fans.
Vampire Survivors are easy to get into, hard to put down, and super cheap — only $3 at full price, and $2.69 during their repeat sales. Brevik says he’s been interested in making smaller games around this scale and price point, and Vampire Survivors has become another encouraging example of this type of project that strikes far more than its weight.
“I currently have a lot of jobs so I don’t have the time to make a huge project on my own, but I think something smaller could be possible,” Breivik says. “I realized that Vampire Survivors is a totally offbeat game and there are many low cost games that have never been looked at, but it is an interesting way to get your attention on a project. It is hard to stand out on Steam with hundreds of games released a week. It is also a fact that the average The life of the game on Steam is around $1,500, so don’t expect much.”
Here are 25 more New indie games of 2022 To keep your radar.