How Do You Play Vampire Survivors? Gameplay, Story and Upgrades

Vampire Survivors is a rogue-lite in which you only move your character while all weapons fire automatically, and you survive an endless stream of enemies for up to 30 minutes. It started as an early access game released on Steam in December 2021 and has since received many updates that have significantly increased its popularity. Now, Xbox Game Pass has announced that Vampire Survivors will be offered to PC subscribers. At a glance, Vampire Survivors looks like a twin-stick shooter in pixel art, but it is much more than it seems. The game has many layers worth highlighting, including multiple characters, maps, weapons and abilities.

How Do You Play Vampire Survivors? Gameplay

The game is considered a rogue-lite, meaning players retry the same levels again and again, but it allows upgrades to base stats and new characters to be bought with the in-game currency, all with unique starting perks and weapons. Unlike other twin-stick shooters, where the player moves with one hand and aims/attacks with the other, Vampire Survivors takes a very minimalist approach, letting the player only move their character while all weapons and abilities are used automatically. Vampire Survivors' gameplay has a fairly simple foundation: the player drops onto the map and has to survive an endless stream of enemies that becomes harder and more numerous as time passes. As the player progresses toward the 30-minute time limit and defeats enemies, they are rewarded with gems that act as experience points to level up. Each level allows a new weapon or ability, as well as the chance to level up weapons to better deal with the hordes of enemies.

What Are the Story Elements of Vampire Survivors?

The game contains light storytelling elements, though it is as simple as it looks. Nothing is told to the player directly, but subtle clues in each level steer the player toward certain goals. Every level has hidden items, usually found by chance, unless the player finds the Milky Way Map, which shows all the items in any level. Besides showing extra items to pick up, the map shows the player a question mark somewhere in the level. If discovered, this area shows a coffin surrounded by a tough group of enemies. When all the enemies are defeated, the player is rewarded with a new unlockable character who says the vampire they are looking for is in another coffin. This is all the story provided in the early access version of the game, but the developers regularly add new levels and characters. Also, although there is no way to truly complete the game's story, it is possible to unlock an extremely hard-to-beat but powerful new character by defeating Death in Vampire Survivors.

What Are the Upgrades and Progression in Vampire Survivors?

Besides upgrading weapons and skills, Vampire Survivors adds other layers to the player's equipment through some easy-to-miss mechanics. Defeating stronger enemies has a chance to drop a treasure chest that can give the player up to five upgrades at once. With the right combination of upgraded weapons and abilities, players can "evolve" weapons to deal more damage and hit more enemies, which gives them a significantly better chance to survive to the end.

By progressing through levels and unlocking achievements, players can also access abilities like Arcana, a modifier system that offers the option to gain additional perks during each run. Players survive through proper planning, weapon combinations and perseverance.

More of Our Vampire Survivors Articles

• Who Are the Vampire Survivors Characters? How Do You Unlock Them?
• Can You Survive? Vampire Survivors!