After the launch of early access at the end of 2021, it soon felt impossible to escape the draw Vampire Survivor. The roguelike shoot 'em up's iron grip on players hadn't loosened one iota by the time its full release arrived in late 2022, and the title has since made its way to every major platform, with a VR version even gracing Meta Quest. Its retro design and easy-to-understand mechanics made it anything but an instant obsession for many, as fans thoughtlessly began “just one more run” before they even realized they'd done it. In the newly released Vampire Crawlerssurvival is still the goal, but this time it's about building the right deck. Developer Luca Galante clearly has a deep understanding of what makes the roguelike genre tick, and the time I've spent with Vampire Crawlers so far has been some of the most fun I've played in 2026.
Galente, often referred to by the studio name poncle, has become something of a legend in the indie gaming scene, having developed Vampire Survivor on a shoestring budget while unemployed. The title managed to earn far more than the solo developer predicted, allowing him to bring in additional help to expand the game, leading to several expansions and a particularly well-received Castlevania crossover. Poncle did not surprise fans in November 2025 by announcing Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivorswith a gameplay trailer revealing that a villainous deck builder would be his next challenge.
Eager players got their first chance to try Vampire Crawlers during the Steam Next Fest in February 2026, with the demo pulling in over 3,000 concurrent players minutes after launch and garnering massive praise on social media soon after. With mountains of content to unlock, a great soundtrack and (as the “Turbo” in the title suggests) an ultra-fast game option in place to prevent things ever getting stale, Vampire Crawlers is as addictive and rewarding as a true roguelike should be.
Vampire Survivors Dev Studio Launches New Publishing Department
After the incredible success of its debut game Vampire Survivors, developer Poncle wants to explore new opportunities as a publisher.
Vampire crawlers have completely taken over my life
When you turn on Vampire Crawlers for the first time, players are unceremoniously thrown straight into the action. Anyone who has played deck-builder titles like Balatro or Kill the Sprout will know the gist: start with a few cards, defeat enemies or find treasures to get more cards, slowly collect more powerful cards to totally decimate your enemies and aim for the best possible run. Rinse and repeat. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, poncle has managed to incorporate familiar mechanics into his signature retro style while adding plenty of fun new gothic-themed twists. The game is also lightning fast, which is a bonus for those who want to unlock it well without burning out along the way.
The turn-based game enters Vampire Crawlers is simple enough. Each time you start a run, your deck is small, with only a few attack or defense cards. Defeating monsters earns XP, and each level up lets you choose a new card to add to your ever-growing doom deck. Cards come in seven colors, each representing a certain type: for example, red cards are attacks, blue cards are defensive, and yellow cards boost certain stats. Attack cards can be augmented with gems, which can provide incredible buffs. (The 3x attack power boon has saved my skin more than once.)
When I first turned on Vampire Crawlers, I “accidentally” played for around seven hours. Let that fact speak for the fun factor of the game.
Cards require a certain amount of mana to play, and mana is refreshed each turn, or can be replenished by playing certain cards. Enemies can deal damage, and when a player's HP reaches zero the race ends, although armor cards can be played to mitigate incoming attacks. As they progress, players also earn coins, which can be used in the Village hub area to unlock certain perks that will make the next run even better. Players can also choose a Crawler to accompany them on their escape, each wielding a different weapon and providing certain perks, from increased damage to stronger healing power.
Additionally, players will discover a total of 15 relics throughout the run, each of which unlocks a major gameplay mechanic. The first can be found in the tutorial level, which provides the Combo Stack mechanic, which is central to how Vampire Crawlers plays. Basically, playing cards in ascending mana cost order will give a combo multiplier to output damage, and using this can lead to massive damage very early on. As players progress further and further, they'll unlock even more useful additions to the game, like a way to unlock powerful Arcana cards and the incredibly useful ability to use a single button to clear the entire first floor of a previously completed dungeon while earning XP.
Some of those who spent time with the game's demo took to social media to share their overall excitement about the title, although some expressed concern about the level of strategy required. The Combo Stack mechanic, for some players, seemed to be too easy to exploit, removing all difficulty and severely limiting the amount of forward planning players needed to do in order to gain victory. After spending dozens of hours with the title, this concern seems unfounded. At later levels, players will need to figure out how to build longer chains, decide which Crawler to bring, and carefully choose which cards and gems have the most impact to get the most out of their runs. This trial and error kept me coming back, and probably will for the foreseeable future.
The game's theme song was created by Yoko Shimomura from Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy 15 fame.
Vampire Crawlers is the Roguelike that keeps on giving
Currently, Vampire Crawlers has 161 achievements to strive for, and while there's already plenty to discover in the title, more post-launch content is on the way. This includes a dedicated Endless Mode, new ways for players to manage large numbers of cards, and improved tutorials for those just starting out. Poncle also aims to improve the Steam Deck experience and game resolution on Nintendo Switch 2. Personally, when I launched the game for the first time, I was shocked that it had dedicated ultra-wide support, considering that many AAA titles have been launched for PC without this feature in recent years.
In addition, the developer has promised to continue making balance adjustments based on user feedback after release, noting that the end-game difficulty, level balance, and overall run time have already been tweaked to make the title as fun as possible. During my time with the game I encountered no bugs or issues, a testament to the level of care poncle puts into his work.
There is something special about committing to a job that is a labor of love, like Vampire Survivor was before that. Vampire Crawlers doesn't try to be something it's not. It doesn't try too hard to be different, because it doesn't need to. Poncle has found its niche, with its retro Castlevania-inspired world and frequent dopamine hits make me a fan of his work in just minutes, once again.
- Released
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April 21, 2026
- ESRB
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Teenager / blood, violence
- Developer
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Poncle
- Publisher
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Poncle
- Addictive and fast-paced gameplay
- Plenty of content to unlock and achievements to earn
- Banger soundtrack
- The damage is actually increasing
- Some mechanics are not explained very well
Vampire Crawlers launches on April 21st for PC via Steam, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, with mobile ports to follow at a later date. Game Rant was provided with a PC code for this review.
