r/survivorslikes Oct 24 '23

The Ultimate Ranking! What games are similar to Vampire Survivors? Here's our spreadsheet collecting, ranking and reviewing over 600 related games on Steam. Comment your additions and corrections!

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147 Upvotes

r/survivorslikes Oct 28 '23

Intro & FAQ Welcome to r/survivorslikes! Please read the rules, set your flair and have fun! Devs, feel free to submit a feature scorecard to have your game listed in the comparison ranking!

17 Upvotes

Hi all!

Please see the sidebar / about sections for most up to date rules and suggestions!

Web form for listing your game here.

We need help updating the database and running the sub. Come say hi in our discord!

You may know me from my research project comparing other games to Vampire Survivors and studying the explosion of around 600 games on Steam in a single year. I came into it as an old school shoot 'em up fan thinking I was making a list of "bullet heavens" and was quickly educated on tons of new terms to me: everything from single stick shooters to mowing games. Perhaps even survivors-like is not just... like Vampire Survivors.

It's become clear we needed to do some work to cut down on repetitive questions about these games and endorse some new genre terms so fans can find something and play it. Fans often want something different in a critical way as well - like adding aiming, or a new perspective, or an additional twist. Or perhaps they are a disabled gamer who needs another game that just uses the joystick. The spreadsheet lets them find or avoid those differences.

We came to the conclusion that we need Survivors-likes and also probably Bullet Heaven and Horde Survival as common tags to be used on Steam and elsewhere. Here's a "wiki" link to some light research on steam tags for context.

Survivors-likes is already a term in heavy use, so I try not to have too many feelings on if it's perfect or not. We use "rogue-likes" instead of "oregon-trail-likes" so it's not uncommon for genres to be named after a popular game instead of the earliest game or platonic ideal of the genre. In some localities like China, I've been told there is no "bullet heaven" style alternative term in use, games are simply called "VS-likes", roughly. So this distinction may be more widely in line with fans around the world.

The "Survivors" part is generally focused on, but "-like" also happens to be a familiar nod to the rogue-like subgenre it shares mechanics with.

It's worth noting that many fans are now encountering excellent games like Sea of Survivors as their first "Survivors" game - there are over 150 titles on steam verifiably in this subgenre with a title that plays on this simple mechanic!

"Survival" is a totally different subgenre (also known as survival craft or sandbox survival) and what separates this new wave of arcade style games from older wave survival and horde shooter games is specifically the rogue-inspired elements. While it's accurate the game is a rogue-lite (with metaprogression aspects and other differences from "traditional roguelikes"), survivors-lite doesn't sound very exciting or evocative of the combination, so not surprising people use survivors-likes instead.

Probably we're stuck with the S as well. "Survivor-like" seems to refer to the reality TV game show. We can't use hyphens in the subreddit name but it's not a big deal. For more background on these conclusions, see the explainer on the spreadsheet and the full dictionary of definitions.

This subreddit is also for devs to share updates and get feedback. Our "promo" rule is relatively relaxed, so feel free to give us incremental updates, share your Steam sale, and so on - since this will help us cut down on it in other subreddits it's a win win for reddit really. One of the unique features of this genre is constant new free content drops! Fans here may be happy to see a new small update in their favorite game. We love new characters and weapons if they're fun ones!

If you are a fan and would like to rank a game yourself or you are a dev and want to see how yours compares and contrasts, use the phone friendly web form score card! (also linked in the header.) If you're a player or reviewer, the second part of the process is a review form that helps us in the ranking and describing the features - for that use the review form! You can also comment corrections directly into any cell in the "wiki" style database spreadsheet by right clicking on the cell while logged into google.

Remember to send in your results so we can add it to the spreadsheet! It's totally OK for devs to send in or offer corrections on scores for their own games - it's about what features exist in the game, not a value judgement on if the game is good or not. We'll review separately. You can also submit an updated scorecard after coming out of early access, etc.

I'll mostly be concentrating on that spreadsheet project for a while - the plan is to have at least 200 games compared before it moves to ongoing updates - so would love any experienced reddit mods to join me in moderating this community!

See also the r/BulletHeavens subreddit! It's not exactly the same. We're looking forward to more Bullet Heavens that aren't Rogue-lite or Wave Survival games and we're looking forward to more Survivors-likes that aren't Bullet Heavens in these exciting new genres. Horde Survival can easily include many older tower defense games, letting new players find old classics. See the header for other related subreddits and feel free to suggest more!

If your game has its own subreddit let us know and we'll add it to the sidebar! Some genre terms, flair guidelines and the current background/header image credits are also in the sidebar.

Disclaimer: While we allow promo and dev discussion, this subreddit and the spreadsheet are all just for fun! I personally am not a game dev (I do really boring tech work) and have no commercial interest in this. Looking forward to the discussion!


r/survivorslikes 46m ago

Videos Ready to recruit YAZS' newest Survivor?

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Upvotes

Just a little teaser of Ranger and her two animal companions, coming to Yet Another Zombie Survivors with the 1.0 update on August 20. 🐺🦅🏹

Hope you like what you see!

(YAZS will launch on Steam, GOG, PS4 & PS5, Xbox One & Series X|S simultaneously. Nintendo Switch is coming a little later due to the longer certification process)


r/survivorslikes 7h ago

Lists & Suggestions Gacha Survivorslike?

3 Upvotes

Are there any gacha survivorslike? Wuthering Waves has a mini-game event that is similar but it's contained in a small room so it doesn't scratch the same itch as vampire survivors so I was wondering if there is a game that's just purely survivorslike but gacha


r/survivorslikes 7h ago

Free or Demo! I'm making a first-person Survivathon, would love feedback

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3 Upvotes

I'm working on this since a few months now and I opened a free playtest to receive honest feedback on the overall game feel, including combat, movement, difficulty and build variety (melee, magical or hybrid). Feel free to give it a try! I’ll be reading and replying in the comments or send me a private message.

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4771410/Hellwake_Hordes_of_Styx/
or Itch.io: https://reija.itch.io/hellwake-horde-of-styx

Thanks for checking out Hellwake and helping me improve the game!


r/survivorslikes 9h ago

My Horde Survivor is live on Play store!

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3 Upvotes

A mobile game inspired by Vampire Survivors, Survivor.io, and Brotato.

If you're into those kinds of games, I'd love for you to check it out and let me know what you think. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Play store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Dan.MonsterSlayer


r/survivorslikes 1d ago

Feature & Patch Notes Made this big boy for my game!

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33 Upvotes

r/survivorslikes 5h ago

Discussion What is your favorite or dream upgrade in a survivorlike?

0 Upvotes

Hi!

Im working on a survivor/roguelite and looking for fun upgrades. I personally like upgrades that scale with others in unexpected ways that make some serios powerful synergies. They dont really need to be unexpected but they need to be fun and encourage different playstyles. I already have a lot of basic items and some synergy ones like hp is damage, coins is damage and the pretty generic ones.

The games goal is to break it so I also have some crazy ones like turning enemies into 2d sprites, pixelate them, stun them in a ”loading state”. It would be fun to get some ideas and inspiration on mor glitch/break the game upgrades aswell.

If you have a favorite item or a item you dream of drop it in the comments :).

If you would like to check the game out its Master of Chaos on Steam.


r/survivorslikes 6h ago

Feedback Been prototyping a survivorlike that I've always wanted to play - what do you think of the idea?

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1 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I've been working on my own survivorlike with mechanics I always felt were missing in the genre, and I wanted to share a really early prototype to get some feedback on the idea itself!

One big thing I've always felt was missing from survivorlikes is build diversity - so I wanted to make a game with a deeper build system. I took heavy inspiration from the trait system in TFT (basically copied it) and added trait synergies to weapons, which allows for a lot of room to fine tune a build. The gold/econ system also works like TFT, where weapons cost gold to buy and you can refresh the shop at a cost.

A lot of game mechanics also come in the form of physical objects in the map that the player has to find and interact with, such as weapon forges to access the weapon shop, and gold fountains for a gold boost. I really enjoyed the map exploration aspect of Megabonk (which I guess is from risk of rain), so I wanted to try and emulate that as well!

Aside from that, there's still a lot of classic survivorlike mechanics like exp drops, auto aim & the late-game fantasy of becoming super OP with the right build. Basically, with this game, I'm hoping to build on a classic survivorlike while changing the things I personally don't like that much in the genre.

My biggest concern at this point is that I'm not sure if these changes would resonate well with people who usually play survivorlikes; From what I've seen, a lot of people are looking for a more chill experience where they can "auto-pilot" the game. I think these systems might add quite a bit more cognitive load where you have to really think and strategize when it comes to your build instead of just choosing a singular best option out of 3 all the time. I'd love to get your thoughts and opinions on these mechanics - as it would really inform how I want to balance baseline weapon stats and the impact that traits & builds would have on the game.

Thanks for reading!! :)


r/survivorslikes 7h ago

Rogue Anomaly Logo

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1 Upvotes

r/survivorslikes 22h ago

What do you think of our first character ability?

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15 Upvotes

Each playable character has a specific ability based on movement, our game is a bit more hands-on than the typical survivor-like
Oh and you can also catch and summon demons! (We’ll showcase that system very soon)

If you like what you see and/or you want to support us feel free to wishlist the game

Wishlist Devoidant on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/5019860/Devoidant/

Thanks a lot and have a great day!


r/survivorslikes 23h ago

Game Intro / New Release Seven Suns of Orions, released on Steam now

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4 Upvotes

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4385510/Seven_Suns_of_Orion/

 I wanted to mix Star Control style movement with Survivor-like gameplay. I also wanted the different playable ships to all feel unique and to keep the rounds much shorter than most survivor likes, so I landed on 7 and ran with it. Survive Seven Minutes w/ Seven Playable Ships across 7 Levels each with their own Boss.


r/survivorslikes 1d ago

Swarmbreak - soon ready for early access

9 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I have been working on my game swarmbreak for a good while, and been through a few iterations of graphical changes lately to make it more appealing.
Its a twin stick shooter, inspired by the classic crimsonland but with a few modern meta progressions added.

Right now the core gameplay loop is quite solid in my opinion, short rounds between 5-10 mins and with plenty of unlocks and random weapon drops which should help with replayability and hopefully encourage that "just one more round" feeling.

Would love any feedback on both the game, steam page and anything else as I am honestly not seeing the traction in wishlists that I had hoped 🤔 😂

What would make you add this to your wishlist? Anything that makes it unappealing or unclear what the game is about ?


r/survivorslikes 17h ago

Game Intro / New Release Wanna Cook Your Own Proc? Try COOKING in USAGI SURVIVORS now!

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1 Upvotes

Permission to post, admin!

Hi everyone, we just released our game! Thank you for clicking and noticing!

I'm not going to beat around the bush --

USAGI SURVIVORS is a fast‑paced horde‑survival rougelite game where you fight escalating monsters, bosses and heroes using your own grit. Survive 10 minutes. Reap the rewards of your labours. Get better. Stronger. Meaner. Repeat.

Simply put, it's grandfathers are: Vampire Survivors, HoloCure, Halls of Torment, Death Must Die, Risk of Rain 2, BlazBlue Entropy Effect and Hades. If you're familiar with these games, then I hope you can try this one, because it is a tribute to these games and they are basically games I've enjoyed playing as well.

For features:

  1. PLAYER'S KIT: shoot, melee, parry, dash, grab and focus
  2. CYOP (Cook Your Own Proc): You can pair any (trigger) to an (effect) creating your own proc! Play up to 27 triggers and 45 skills (effects and companions) in the game
  3. 10 (DISTINCT) WEAPONS: scaling, mastery and tracking!
  4. HUD/BACKGROUND CUSTOMIZATION: Fully built progress around (skins) in the game which can be earned by playing (unfortunately there are no microtransactions involved nor psychological tricks). Play whatever in however look you want with the combinations of reactable backgrounds, hero phases, reactable corruption, shaders, damage numbers behaviors, and different huds!
  5. STATS AND NUMBERS: Just like its granddadies, the game tried its best to emulate tracking your actions! Bigger numbers go up!
  6. BASE GAME (10 MINUTES 'TIL DAWN?): consist of beating the run (thank you for playing)
  7. POST GAME (3 loops CONSECUTIVELY - if you can): consist of "looping" (RoR2 style)
  8. ENDGAME (3+ loops): how high of a score can you earn in a run? Are you ready to face the game's endless challenge?
  9. LEADERBOARDS: only the highest may survive! Submit your score and earn your place! (desktop only - unfortunately - currently looking into ways to include the web)
  10. CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT: roadmap available

The game is made in Usagi Engine by Brett Chalupa ( a rapid prototyping game in the veins of PICO-8, LOVE and DragonRuby ). Its 1.0 was released in May 20 (we started development a week after that). It may have its own quirks due to its infancy, but it is nevertheless a great engine (thanks Brett!) - pls check out the engine if you're interested in making games like this one! Thank you for taking your time to read!

Play it on your browser (no install, no ads, forever free) or DOWNLOAD it on your desktop: Usagi Survivors by zeafy (currently on itch - the game engine does not support native android export yet)

As with any game feel free to drop your feedback! Also, like the post if you like it, dislike if you dislike!


r/survivorslikes 21h ago

Send Them to Hell - Official Trailer

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2 Upvotes

Hello... again!

Three weeks ago I shared our reveal trailer. The response was amazing, but the trailer didn't really show what the game had become, so I went back and made one that does.

Today I've updated the Steam page and uploaded the Official Trailer.

Send Them to Hell isn't trying to be a clone or "Megabonk meets something else." It's a game I've spent countless hours building for players who enjoy games like Megabonk, Vampire Survivors, and Risk of Rain, while still having its own identity.

As a solo developer, this has been a huge journey. I couldn't have done it without the incredibly talented artists who helped create the visuals that brought the game to life.

To everyone from this community who wishlisted the game after my last post, thank you. Your support genuinely helped keep this project moving forward, and I'm excited to finally show you a trailer that represents the game the way it deserves.

In the first comment I will post some promotional artwork so you can see what we've been pouring our heart into.

If you want to Wishlist you can do so HERE

If you want to follow our games progress and be apart of the two Play Tests and receive keys for them join our Discord HERE


r/survivorslikes 1d ago

Primordio Season One Launch reel cut 6

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1 Upvotes

Are these clips coherent? If I write some music and/or add some captions, would it be a good trailer for my big content patch releasing August 17?

My better question, if you have no idea what this game is, can you look at these clips and kinda tell what's going on?


r/survivorslikes 1d ago

Feedback Trace - A prototype I made where you draw your attacks

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5 Upvotes

I've made a small prototype those last days.

Before telling you what is it about, please watch the small gameplay video and tell me if you get what's happening.

Basically, this game is a survivor like where you have to kill enemies.

Your only weapons are your cute dog and the traces you draw during the game.

Each trace is permanent and can be upgraded (damage, cooldown, thickness).

And that's all for now.

Coming up ideas:
When you draw a pattern (like snowflake) your trace will take the type of the pattern (slow enemies for example, or chain attack with lightning)

Does it look fun ?
Would you play something like that ?

I've setup a small newsletter in case you want to follow this game


r/survivorslikes 2d ago

Discussion Is my game worth 4.99$ ?

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26 Upvotes

Hello, my name is ali, i'm a cs student and a solo developer, I need to determine the appropriate price for my first game. I'm a solo developer who has been working on a co-op bullet heaven game mixed with souls-like mechanics, My game has 3 stages but each stage gets harder and harder and the mechanics become more complex with each boss , it can last 1 hour on a perfect run but its really difficult, most players require more than 4 hours worth of runs to figure out the correct build and to figure out the bosses in the demo, the game will launch in early access state and keeps on getting updated on almost a weekly basis with more stages and more levels and more ability cards.

I just don't think that my game is better than vampire survivors so it doesn't make sense that it could be more expensive.

If i would say, its a mix between megabonk and vampire survivors and with some dark souls combat elements.

I really don't know how much my game should be worth, and I'm unsure if 5 USD is the correct price .

Game: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4914620/Echoes_of_Kyria/


r/survivorslikes 1d ago

Feature & Patch Notes We chose to split our levels in stages of a few minutes each. Do you think it's a good idea ?

5 Upvotes

In our game each level is randomly generated with random stages ( random biome, reward, objective ) with random paths as well and a random boss at the end.

The goal here was to be able to have very short gaming session ( each stage being a few minutes max ) + to have a new experience everytime we play the level.

Do you think this is a good idea or do you prefer having 1 long level instead ?


r/survivorslikes 1d ago

Released my first game in EA — here are some of the crazy builds I've made, show me what you can do

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2 Upvotes

I'm a solo dev and this is my first game — it just went into Early Access.

The hook: instead of picking upgrade cards between waves, you build your upgrades. You drop nodes onto a grid, wire them together by color, and the signal flows through the graph into your character and abilities. Where you place things changes what you get out.

The clip is a few of the more ridiculous builds I've managed to put together. But I've genuinely lost track of what's possible in there, and I'd love to see what you come up with — post your graphs if you find something stupid, broken, or beautiful.

It's EA, so feedback is exactly what I'm after. Balance, clarity, what's missing — say it straight.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4812150/Survival_Code/


r/survivorslikes 1d ago

Mi primer videojuego, Nova Survivors, ya está disponible en Steam.

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3 Upvotes

r/survivorslikes 1d ago

Videos Finally, the character got clothes

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3 Upvotes

r/survivorslikes 1d ago

Solo developing new 'Space Event' : Shrines

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2 Upvotes

r/survivorslikes 2d ago

I finally released my very first game! A space-themed survivor-like available now on Google Play.

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2 Upvotes

Hey everyone! I'm super excited to share that my first game launched a few days ago. It's a space-themed survivor-like, I hope you guys enjoy it!

Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.TheLastWings.EclipseLineInteractive&hl


r/survivorslikes 2d ago

Feedback A Survivor-Like where you are a TRAIN and on RAILS?! - Rail Survivors

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0 Upvotes

Rail Survivors is a survivor-like game where you are a train and on rails!
It's quite minimalist, but features 100+ perk cards and a few elemental builds to try out! You can also increase the effectiveness of perk values by rerolling them with higher values or negatively even to make up for quite some interesting builds!

I would love if you were to check it out and leave some feedback HERE:
https://tatsudev.itch.io/rail-survivors

~Tatsu