While Vampire Survivors wasn't the first game in history to come up with the idea of a 'reverse bullet hell' as some people call it, it has popularized this niche subgenre quite a bit. Ever since this game gained massive popularity (and continues to keep that popularity going with new DLCs and crossovers) quite a few other games were obviously conceptualized with Vampire Survivors in mind.

And among all the 'Survivors-likes' out there, some still actively try to innovate and advance the concept. So, here are the games that are like Vampire Survivors that also manage to switch things up a bit so that it doesn't feel like playing a carbon copy of another game.

10 Death Must Die & Halls of Torment

Two Different Diablo-Style Survivors-Like Games Released In The Same Year

First up, funnily enough, there are two games that both came out in 2023 (about six months apart) and both add the same thing (mostly) to the Vampire Survivors formula. These games are Halls of Torment and Death Must Die, with Halls of Torment coming out first back in May of 2023.

Both are 'retro' in different ways, with Halls of Torment feeling like a very early-era PC game and Death Must Die sporting more of a pixel art artstyle. And, both games bring the concept of 'gear' to the reverse bullet hell table, creating a sort of gameplay loop that feels pretty Diablo-esque. Players will go enjoy a level, unlock an achievement or two, hopefully find new gear that improves their abilities by some amount, and then use that new gear to go on even more difficult adventures. Where the games differ heavily, however, is in their secondary inspiration. Death Must Die was obviously inspired by Hades and its pantheon of Gods that give the player Boons while Halls of Torment is a bit more faithful to its inspiration from the first Diablo game in 1997.

9 God of Weapons

Vampire Survivors + Resident Evil 4's Attache Case

Whereas a game like Backpack Hero took the inventory management that people loved from something like Resident Evil 4 and slapped it into the roguelike formula, God of Weapons does the same with the Vampire Survivors formula.

When it comes to level design, enemy design, and arguably even art style, God of Weapons is great, but not 'the best' in any one category. Yet still, once players get their hands on it, the game seems to grab a hold of them and won't let go. The constant inventory management between each wave makes it feel almost like a puzzle mini-game, and the sheer number of different playable characters (and character variants) that people can unlock will keep them occupied for 30+ hours easily.

8 Spirit Hunters: Infinite Horde

Like Vampire Survivor's Long Lost Cousin

Next up is a game called Spirit Hunters: Infinite Horde that came out on Steam back in June of 2023. Spirit Hunters is one of the few games on here that is closest to being almost a Vampire Survivors clone, or at least it'll probably seem that way to people who play it at first.

However, once players get a couple of hours into the game and interact with the pet system, the unique bosses at the end of every stage, and the absurd number of different interactables on the map, Spirit Hunter's own identity quickly starts to make itself known.

7 20 Minutes Till Dawn

Shooter-Roguelike Meets Reverse Bullet Hell

20 Minutes Till Dawn is one of our personal favorites out of everything on here, purely because it's probably the best blend of demanding a certain amount of skill from its players while also still giving them those constant hits of dopamine that Survivors-like fans are used to.

20MTD falls into an even more niche subcategory of these games where it basically requires the player to manually aim at enemies instead of letting the game aim for them, and it actually works in its favor. Not only that, but the actual 'upgrades' or 'abilities' in 20 Minutes Till Dawn feel the most varied out of anything on here as well, leading to the build in each run feeling very unique. The developers at Flanne are even currently working on a spinoff game of 20MTD called 20MTD: Emberpath.

6 Boneraiser Minions

Be Your Own Necromancer Overlord & Defeat Humanity

Now if 20 Minutes Til Dawn was 'one' of our all-time favorites, then Boneraiser Minions would be at the absolute top of that list. This game is an absolute hidden treasure with a completely unique sense of humor, an absurdly large package of content rivaling even something like Shovel Knight, and an intelligently designed gameplay loop where every run feels actually challenging and unique. Boneraiser Minions separates itself from Vampire Survivors in many ways, but there are two 'primary' ways.

One, instead of players upgrading their character, they're constantly 'Boneraising' all sorts of different minions that have a wide variety of different designs, effects, and upgrade paths. Two, players can build all sorts of different structures in specific spots on each stage, from traps to buffing constructs and more, which gives each run the potential to function entirely differently from the last. It's at the very least worth a look, no doubt about it.

5 Just King

Mix & Match Heroes For The Best Party Synergy

Just King is a game about a hero's journey to save the world. In this case, however, that hero is the King himself. And, the King must use any and all heroes at his disposal to get to his objective.

In Just King, players assemble a team of four heroes to surround the King at all times and fight against hordes of incoming enemies at each level. As players advance, they'll switch out their heroes, upgrade them, build their party around certain synergies, and even battle against bosses in each Zone. All in all, Just King is a great little package for people who love set bonuses or synergies in roguelikes, are fans of a nice and colorful pixel art style, and also thoroughly enjoy Vampire Survivors-like games.

4 SNKRX

The Modern Take On 'Snake'

Next up is a game that's basically Snake (the old phone game) mixed with Vampire Survivors and even a pinch of Just King.

In SNKRX, players take control of a line of different 'heroes' (visualized as different colored circles) that each has their own unique abilities, passive set bonuses they contribute to, and rules. It's up to the player how they want to build their 'snake' of heroes and what set bonuses they want to go for, whether it's something like a full line of Healers, Mages, Enchanters, Rogues, Warriors, and so much more. It's a bit more of a simplistic game than a lot of other entries on here, but that doesn't mean the builds in it are any less complex.

3 Apocalypse Party

A Chaoticly Fun Co-Op Mess

Moving on to a very recent addition to this subgenre (at least at the time of writing this) with a game called Apocalypse Party. Currently, this game is 'Mixed' on Steam and for good reason, as it has a lot of issues with stability, crashes, and performance late in a run. However, when (or maybe if) those issues are addressed, the game will almost assuredly jump back up to 'Mostly Positive'

Apocalypse Party switches things up by relying on random chance a bit more with weapon spawns, event spawns, and more as well as an actual 'objective' for every level other than just surviving. Where it shines most though is in its cooperative play and gigantic cast of playable characters, which again...is unfortunately leading to some crashes and performance issues.

2 Cursorblade

Most Vampire Survivor-type Games Barely Use The Mouse, But This One Is All Mouse

Cursorblade might be the most unique entry on here in terms of how it switches things up from Vampire Survivors. This cute little game tries a bunch of new stuff for the reverse bullet hell subgenre, all while packaging it in a bright and vibrant atmosphere.

In Cursorblade, the player's mouse cursor is their literal 'character'. As they move their mouse through the enemies on the screen, those enemies take damage. However, if they move through an enemy while they're in their attack animation, the player takes damage. This system alone is already pretty different from any other Survivors-like game. Additionally, with the way the 'Waves' work in this game, the most hectic point of each Wave is at the start and it gradually gets easier as more enemies are taken out, which is sort of the exact opposite of how most other Vampire Survivor-type games work. All in all, seems to also have some crashes and slight performance issues, but is at least worth checking out, especially for people who aren't looking for gigantic timesink.

1 Slime 3K: Rise Against Despot

From The Makers Of Despot's Game

Last up is a spinoff game of another game, Slime 3K: Rise Against Despot. Slime 3K is set in the same world as the developer's (Konfa Games) last game, Despot's Game. However, while Despot's Game was a dystopian auto-battler, Slime 3K is a chaotic mix of deckbuilding and Vampire Survivors-like mechanics.

The fact that the players have a 'deck' that they build pre-run is already unique enough, but there are a whole bunch of other small mechanics that Slime 3K also switches up from the standard formula. Things like being able to get multiple abilities at once, selling abilities, combining multiple copies of abilities into stronger versions, a 'currency' system for abilities instead of getting one per level, and so on.