Bullet Heaven Games Like Vampire Survivors: 12 Steam Picks

The best games like Vampire Survivors keep the part that hooks you. You only steer, your weapons fire on their own, and a screen packed with monsters slowly turns into a screen packed with your attacks. Every level-up is a small, quick choice, and a good run snowballs until you are the bullet hell instead of its target.

The twelve Steam picks below all keep that loop. Each one changes one thing about it: the setting, the camera, how you build, or who does the fighting.

What makes Vampire Survivors so hard to put down?

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Vampire Survivors is developed and published by poncle. Steam lists its full release as Oct 20, 2022, and its user reviews sit at Overwhelmingly Positive across more than 266,000 reviews. It describes itself as a gothic horror time-survival game with roguelite elements. A roguelite is a game where each run starts fresh, but some progress carries over between runs, so even a failed attempt moves you forward.

The loop is simple. You pick a character and walk around a stage while your weapons attack on their own. Defeated monsters drop experience gems, and each level-up offers a few weapons or passive items to add or upgrade. Max out the right weapon with its matching passive and a chest can evolve it into a much stronger form. Stages have a soft time limit, and the gold you gather buys permanent upgrades for the next survivor.

That is why fans call it a bullet heaven. In a bullet hell you dodge a screen full of projectiles; here you are the one filling the screen. Other labels for the genre are survivors-like, horde survival, reverse bullet hell and auto-shooter. Steam lists Single-player, Online Co-op and Remote Play Together for it, and the store page mentions local co-op for up to four players on Windows and macOS.

So the games like Vampire Survivors worth your time share three things: low-input controls, a steady stream of build choices, and the feeling of becoming absurdly powerful by the end of a run. If you enjoy run-based games in general, our list of the best roguelike games on Steam covers the wider family.

The closest games like Vampire Survivors on Steam

These five stay nearest to the original: top-down view, automatic attacks, and short runs that build toward a power spike. Start here if you want more of the same feeling with a fresh coat of paint.

Brotato

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Brotato is the easiest recommendation among games like Vampire Survivors, and its Overwhelmingly Positive rating from over 120,000 reviews backs that up. You play a potato stranded on an alien planet, carrying up to six weapons at once while hordes close in. Weapons fire automatically by default, with an option to aim manually.

The big change is the rhythm. Runs are split into waves lasting 20 to 90 seconds, and between waves you spend materials in a shop on items and weapons. That makes each run feel like a string of short, planned upgrades instead of one long snowball. Dozens of characters (one-handed, lucky, mage and more) push you toward very different builds, and runs finish in under 30 minutes.

It suits players who found Vampire Survivors too easy or too samey, since accessibility options let you raise or lower enemy health, damage and speed. Steam lists Single-player, local co-op for up to four players with shared or split screen, Remote Play Together, Steam Workshop and full controller support, on Windows, macOS and Linux.

Halls of Torment

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If the gothic mood of Vampire Survivors was half the appeal, Halls of Torment is the one to try next. It uses a pre-rendered art style modeled on late-90s RPGs, and you descend through underground worlds to face the tormented Lords who rule them.

Runs last around 30 minutes. You build a hero through traits, abilities and items, then hunt for synergies before a boss with its own attack patterns arrives. Meta progression runs on quests rather than only gold, and special items you find can be sent up to the overworld to shape future runs. Tinctures and class powers add more ways to tilt a run in your favor.

It suits players who want a slower, darker, more RPG-flavored take. Steam lists it as Single-player with full controller support on Windows and Linux, and its reviews are Overwhelmingly Positive.

20 Minutes Till Dawn

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20 Minutes Till Dawn has one clear goal: survive 20 minutes against endless Lovecraftian monsters. You combine weapons, runes and special abilities, and each weapon has evolution paths, so the fun of chasing an evolved weapon carries straight over from Vampire Survivors.

Souls you collect power up Runes that carry across all runs, and new characters and weapons keep opening up as you play. The fixed 20-minute target makes it ideal for one run on a lunch break. Steam lists it as Single-player on Windows and macOS, with Very Positive reviews.

Army of Ruin

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Army of Ruin calls itself an auto-shooter where you become the bullet hell, which is about as close to Vampire Survivors’ pitch as it gets. You lead legendary heroes against the Armies of Evil, combining trinkets and equipment so weapons evolve past their limits, then go after the Army Generals.

Between missions you level skills and test new combinations, and there are hundreds of challenges to work through. Its focus is simplicity and quick sessions, so it suits players who liked Vampire Survivors’ pick-up-and-play side more than deep theorycrafting. Steam lists Single-player with full controller support on Windows and macOS, with Very Positive reviews.

Spirit Hunters: Infinite Horde

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Spirit Hunters openly names Vampire Survivors as an inspiration for its combat. You fight huge waves with passive attacks and abilities, and the souls you collect level you up in the run and also feed the Oracle’s large permanent upgrade system.

The appeal is the long-term grind: a growing roster of hunters, plenty of abilities and maps to earn, and synergies between hunters and abilities. Its Steam reviews are Mostly Positive, a step below the others here, so treat it as a pick for players who have already finished the bigger names. Single-player with full controller support, Windows only.

Survivors-likes with deeper builds and bigger bosses

These four keep the horde-clearing core but give you far more to plan around: skill trees, crafting, routes and modes. They suit players who spent more time reading evolution charts than actually playing.

Soulstone Survivors

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Soulstone Survivors is built around breaking the game with your build. Steam’s page lists more than 350 active and passive skills, over 100 weapons to craft, a large skill tree and several characters, all pointed at colossal bosses that test strategy as well as reflexes.

Curses, multiple maps and several game modes keep the challenge shifting once you have learned the basics. Pick it if you want games like Vampire Survivors with a much higher ceiling on build depth. Single-player with full controller support on Windows, macOS and Linux; reviews are Very Positive.

Death Must Die

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Death Must Die describes itself as a roguelite RPG bullet heaven with hack-and-slash combat. You play heroes marching into Death’s realm, and a pantheon of gods offers blessings that shape each run, much like picking level-up cards in Vampire Survivors but with a clearer theme behind each choice.

Items and heroes add more layers, and the heroes have personal stories that come out as you explore the Underworld, which gives it more story than most of the genre. Steam still includes Early Access among its genre tags. It lists Single-player with full controller support on Windows and macOS, with Very Positive reviews.

Rogue: Genesia

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Rogue: Genesia adds a choice Vampire Survivors never asks you to make: where to go next. Between fights you choose your path, deciding whether to take on a powerful foe or rest at the shop, which makes each run feel like a small journey.

Builds draw on more than 300 passive upgrades, 50+ weapons and 80+ artifacts, and different avatars favor guns, swords or summoned armies. Hundreds of foes can be on screen at once. Steam lists Single-player and Steam Workshop support on Windows and Linux, with Very Positive reviews.

Nordic Ashes: Survivors of Ragnarok

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Nordic Ashes swaps gothic horror for Norse myth during Ragnarok, with nine maps based on the realms and more than ten characters, such as a Viking warrior, a ranger and an elemental mage. Each survivor has a constellation-shaped skill tree, and Yggdrasil acts as the shared meta progression tree.

It calls itself challenging and offers five modes: Adventure, Ragnarok, Daily Challenge, Custom and Nightmare. That makes it a good answer if Vampire Survivors felt too easy. Single-player with full controller support on Windows, macOS and Linux; Very Positive reviews.

Twists on the formula: mining, minions and first person

These three take the survivors loop and bolt on something genuinely different. Try them once the standard formula starts feeling familiar.

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor

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Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor turns the genre into a mining expedition. Your guns fire automatically while you dig through cave walls for riches, and every mission has procedurally generated caves and enemy waves. Instead of simply lasting until a timer runs out, you complete objectives and race back to the drop pod.

That mix of shooting and tunneling gives you a reason to steer with purpose, not just circle-strafe. Fans of Deep Rock Galactic will recognize the arsenal, but this one is a solo game: Steam lists Single-player with full controller support on Windows. Reviews are Very Positive.

Boneraiser Minions

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Boneraiser Minions flips the power fantasy. You are a necromancer who dashes around collecting bones from slain heroes, then uses them to raise and upgrade skeletons and demons that fight for you. Minion types range from melee bruisers and magic missile casters to support hexers.

It shares Vampire Survivors’ gothic horror tone, and its twist is a nice one: you must also strengthen the enemy heroes to gather enough resources to beat King Gigald’s crusade. Steam lists Single-player, Remote Play Together and full controller support on Windows, with Overwhelmingly Positive reviews.

Vampire Hunters

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Vampire Hunters asks what a survivors-like would feel like as a retro first-person shooter. You stack up to 14 weapons at once, from a classic revolver to a holy water hose, and mow down vampires and demons by the thousands across steampunk-inspired levels.

Each hunter has different abilities, and the upgrade choices lean into absurd, over-the-top builds. It suits players who love the snowball but want to be right in the middle of the crowd. Single-player with full controller support on Windows; Very Positive reviews.

Which games like Vampire Survivors have co-op?

Co-op is rare in this genre. Vampire Survivors itself offers local co-op for up to four, and Steam lists Online Co-op for it. Among the picks above, only Brotato has full couch co-op: local play for up to four on one screen, with shared and split screen support. Couch co-op means everyone plays on the same PC with their own controller.

Boneraiser Minions lists Remote Play Together. That Steam feature streams a game’s local multiplayer to friends over the internet, so only the host needs to own it. Everything else on this list is single-player only. If playing with friends matters most, our co-op games like It Takes Two and chaotic co-op picks like Overcooked are better places to look.

Which ones run on Mac or Linux?

Every pick runs on Windows. For macOS, Steam lists Brotato, 20 Minutes Till Dawn, Army of Ruin, Soulstone Survivors, Death Must Die and Nordic Ashes. For Linux, it lists Brotato, Halls of Torment, Soulstone Survivors, Rogue: Genesia and Nordic Ashes. Brotato, Soulstone Survivors and Nordic Ashes cover all three.

How to pick your next survivors-like (and mistakes to avoid)

Start with what you liked most about Vampire Survivors, then match it to one game:

• The gothic mood: Halls of Torment, Boneraiser Minions or Death Must Die.
• Short sessions: 20 Minutes Till Dawn, Army of Ruin or Brotato.
• Theorycrafting builds: Soulstone Survivors or Rogue: Genesia.
• More challenge: Nordic Ashes, or Brotato with tougher enemy settings.
• Something new: Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor or Vampire Hunters.

A worked example

Say you played Vampire Survivors on the couch with a partner, but both of you got bored once every run felt the same. You need co-op first, then variety. Brotato is the only pick here with local co-op, and its shop between waves plus dozens of characters give each run a different plan. If you also want the gothic look later, Halls of Torment makes a good solo follow-up.

Common mistakes

• Judging a game by its first run. Nearly all of these lean on meta progression, so early runs feel weak on purpose. Give a game a few attempts before you decide.
• Assuming co-op. Most games like Vampire Survivors are single-player. Check the player modes before buying one for a group.
• Buying three near-clones at once. The closest picks share a lot. Mix one close match with one twist, such as Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, so your next game still feels fresh.
• Skipping the review summary. Overwhelmingly or Very Positive ratings across thousands of reviews are a safer bet than a small, mixed sample.

Once you have worked through these games like Vampire Survivors, you may want a different run-based hook. Deckbuilders like Slay the Spire keep the “one more run” pull with slower, card-based choices. For more lists like this one, browse games like the ones you love or the best games on Steam.

Questions and answers

What is the best game similar to Vampire Survivors?

Brotato is the strongest all-round pick. It keeps auto-firing weapons and runs that snowball, then adds short waves with a shop between them, dozens of characters and local co-op for up to four players. Steam rates it Overwhelmingly Positive. If you want something closer in mood to Vampire Survivors' gothic horror, try Halls of Torment, which has 30-minute runs, boss fights and a late-90s RPG look.

What style of game is Vampire Survivors?

Vampire Survivors is a time-survival roguelite, often called a bullet heaven. You only move your character. Your weapons attack on their own while waves of monsters close in, and each level-up lets you add or upgrade a weapon or passive item. Runs end when you die or outlast the stage, and the gold you collect buys permanent upgrades, so each new attempt starts a little stronger.

What are games like Vampire Survivors called?

They are usually called survivors-likes or bullet heavens. Bullet heaven is a play on bullet hell: in a bullet hell you dodge a screen full of projectiles, while in a bullet heaven you are the one filling the screen. You will also see the labels horde survival, reverse bullet hell and auto-shooter, which all describe the same core loop of automatic attacks against huge waves of enemies.

Are there free games similar to Vampire Survivors?

None of the twelve games in this list is marked free to play on Steam, so each one is a paid purchase. If cost matters, Steam's store lets you filter the survivors-like and roguelite tags by free to play. Most games in this genre are small indie titles with simple controls, so they are also worth adding to your wishlist and checking again later.

Which games like Vampire Survivors have co-op?

Among these picks, Brotato has the clearest co-op: local co-op for up to four players, shared or split screen support and Remote Play Together on Steam. Vampire Survivors itself has local co-op for up to four and also lists Online Co-op. Boneraiser Minions lists Remote Play Together. Every other game here is single-player only, according to its Steam page.