You know that feeling. It’s 2:00 AM. Your eyes are bloodshot, staring at a screen filled with thousands of glowing gems and pixelated skeletons. You just need one more upgrade. One more evolution. You tell yourself it’s just a fifteen-minute run, but we both know how that ends. Ever since Luca Galante—better known as poncle—dropped Vampire Survivors onto Steam back in late 2021, the gaming world has been obsessed with what some call "reverse bullet hells" or "bullet heavens." It’s a weirdly specific itch. You don’t even aim. You just move. And yet, it’s more addictive than games that cost sixty bucks and have a marketing budget the size of a small country.
The magic isn't just in the flashing lights. It's the dopamine hit of becoming an untouchable god within twenty minutes. But let's be real: after you’ve unlocked Queen Sigma and completed the collection, you start looking for something else. You want that same rush but maybe with a different coat of paint or a slightly deeper mechanic. Finding quality games like Vampire Survivors is actually harder than it looks because the market is absolutely flooded with low-effort clones. You have to sift through the shovelware to find the gems that actually innovate on the formula.
The Evolution of the "Survivor-like"
Before we look at the best alternatives, we have to acknowledge that Vampire Survivors didn't technically invent this. It took the DNA of Magic Survival on mobile and refined it into something perfect for the PC and console experience. The genre is basically "auto-shooter roguelite."
The core loop is simple: survive waves of enemies, collect XP, choose a power-up, and eventually die so you can buy permanent upgrades. Rinse and repeat. But the clones that came after started adding layers. Some added aim mechanics. Others added deep crafting. A few even tried to make it a first-person experience. It’s honestly impressive how much you can stretch a concept that basically boils down to "walking around while things die."
Brotato: The King of Build Variety
If you want something that feels mechanically tighter than the original, Brotato is probably where you should start. You play as a potato. Literally. But this potato can hold six weapons at once.
Unlike the sprawling, open maps of Vampire Survivors, Brotato takes place in small, arena-style waves. It’s claustrophobic. You have about 20 to 60 seconds to kill everything before the shop opens. This is where the game wins. The shop system is deep. You aren't just picking random weapons; you're balancing stats like Life Steal, Dodge, and Engineering. If you stack enough Engineering, you don’t even use guns—you just drop turrets that do the work for you. It’s chunky, the art style is charmingly ugly, and the runs are shorter, making it perfect for a quick break that inevitably turns into a three-hour session.
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Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor
This one surprised a lot of people. Taking a beloved co-op shooter like Deep Rock Galactic and turning it into a single-player auto-shooter felt like a risk. But it works. Why? Because of the mining.
In most games like Vampire Survivors, the environment is just a backdrop. In Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, the environment is a tool. You use your pickaxe to tunnel through rock, creating choke points for the bugs or digging toward precious minerals. There’s a distinct tactical layer here. You have to decide if you want to risk staying near a swarm to grab some Gold or Nitra, or if you need to bolt for the drop pod before it leaves without you. It captures the "Rock and Stone" spirit perfectly while staying true to the survivor formula.
Why We Can't Stop Playing These Things
There’s a psychological hook here that’s honestly a bit terrifying. Game designers call it the "Vampire Survivors effect," but it’s really just a masterclass in pacing. You start weak. One bat can kill you. Ten minutes later, you’re a walking hurricane of garlic and holy water.
- The Power Fantasy: It’s one of the few genres where "overpowered" is the goal, not a balance mistake.
- Low Barrier to Entry: You can play most of these with one hand while eating a sandwich.
- Constant Progression: Even a "bad" run gives you gold for permanent stat boosts.
Halls of Torment: The Diablo-Style Throwback
If you grew up playing Diablo II or Gauntlet, Halls of Torment is going to hit you right in the nostalgia. It uses that pre-rendered 90s aesthetic that looks gritty and dark. It’s much slower-paced than Brotato. The enemies feel heavier.
What sets this one apart is the equipment system. You find actual gear—boots, rings, chest plates—that you can send back to a central hub to use in future runs. It feels more like a traditional RPG than its peers. The bosses are also legitimately difficult. You can’t just out-stat them; you actually have to learn their patterns and dodge. It's "survivor-plus."
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Death Must Die: Hades Meets Vampire Survivors
Death Must Die is basically what happens when you take the "boon" system from Hades and shove it into an auto-battler. You pick a hero—like a knight or a sorceress—and head into the underworld. As you level up, different gods (like Time, Fire, or Fate) offer you blessings.
The art is gorgeous. The dialogue is surprisingly witty. But the real draw is the loot. You get gear drops that feel meaningful, with different rarities and randomized stats. It’s got that "just one more run" energy because you’re always hoping for a legendary sword drop that will make your next attempt a breeze.
Soulstone Survivors: For the Visual FX Junkies
Fair warning: this game will melt your GPU. Soulstone Survivors is about as flashy as it gets. The screen real estate is constantly covered in meteors, beams of light, and massive explosions.
It offers a massive skill tree. I'm talking hundreds of nodes. It’s overwhelming at first, but for players who love "theory-crafting" and spending hours looking at spreadsheets to find the most broken build possible, this is the holy grail. It moves away from the 2D pixel art style and goes for a stylized 3D look that feels very modern. It's intense. Maybe too intense for some, but if you want to feel like a literal god of destruction, this is it.
The Mobile Trap
Be careful when searching for games like Vampire Survivors on the App Store or Google Play. Because the controls are so simple, the mobile market is drowning in clones that are basically just delivery systems for ads.
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Survivor.io is the big name there. It’s fun, sure. It’s polished. But it’s also heavily monetized with energy systems and loot boxes. If you want a pure experience on mobile, stick to the official Vampire Survivors port (which is free and brilliant) or 20 Minutes Till Dawn. The latter is a gothic-horror themed shooter where you actually have to aim and reload, adding a bit more "gameplay" to the "surviving."
How to Pick Your Next Addiction
Don't just buy everything at once. Think about what you actually like in a game.
- If you like strategy and stats: Go for Brotato. The item synergies are unmatched.
- If you like atmosphere and RPG mechanics: Halls of Torment is your best bet.
- If you want something "modern" and flashy: Soulstone Survivors or Death Must Die.
- If you want a twist on a familiar IP: Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor.
Honestly, the "Survivor-like" genre is still in its infancy. We’re seeing more developers experiment with different perspectives and genres. There’s even a racing game version in development. It’s a great time to be a fan of cheap, addictive indie games.
Actionable Next Steps for Fans
If you're looking to dive deeper into the world of bullet heavens, start by checking out the Bullet Heaven Fest on Steam when it rolls around—it's usually the best place to find demos for upcoming titles.
Before buying a new one, always check the "End Game" content. The biggest flaw in many of these games is that once you unlock everything, there's no reason to keep playing. Look for games that feature "Ascension levels" or "Hard Modes" (like the Danger levels in Brotato) to ensure you're getting more than just ten hours of play. Finally, join the subreddits for these specific games; the community-found "broken builds" are often more fun than playing the game the "intended" way.
Go ahead. Start a run. Just don't blame me when you see the sun coming up.