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Genre/Control

Specific tags for the title's features

Ranking

Similarity & Review

Review

Multiple Sources

Similarity

Compared to VS. Not a review!

Similarity Scale

Percentage of possible points earned scored -1 to 1 in tenths in 60 categories

Genre Controls Modes Progress Builds Stages Content Aesthetic Vibe
[edit]

Halls of Torment

EA Free Available

An action RPG inspired survivors-like commonly recommended if you like things a little more slower and challenging or just isometric with a Diablo 1 vibe. Feels more like VS when you enable Auto-Aim and Auto-Attack, but you might enjoy more control. The quick toggle option is appreciated. Crazy amount going on for Early Access. Darker vibe may appeal to you. This is one of the most popular and highly regarded titles on the list and I agree with that prestige.

Auto-Shooter Bullet Heaven Content Rich Dungeon Crawler Enemy Hell Hack and Slash Horde Survival Mowing Game Roguelite Single Stick Shooter Survivors-like Top Down or Isometric Twin Stick Shooter Wave Shooter Wave Survival
9.3 Combined Ranking Score
2/72 Ranking Position
1526/1600 Total Points
9.6 Final Review
96% Steam
9.8 Scale
9.3 Vibes
16395 Steam Reviews
387/400 Review Points
9.0 Similarity Score
95% Diagnosis:
Similar
1139/1200 Comparison Points
98% Genre 7.7/8 genre
94% Simple Controls 6.2/7 move
88% Survival Modes 3/4 modes
100% Power Progression 4/4 level
90% Buildcrafting Depth 4/5 build
93% Stage Features 6/7 stage
94% Content Breadth 8/9 stuff
94% Aesthetics 5.3/6 style
99% Gameplay Vibe Check 9.7/10 vibe vibe

Halls of Torment Ranking Notes

- +

Scaling and Review Notes

Personal Hours Played: 11.3

Every game ranked was played, but also scaled based on research, talking to developers & your feedback. The priority with the scale's initial design was to compare similarity on relatively objective features - so it doesn't claim to include reviews of the depth and clarity you'd get at a games journalism site, nor the intensive time played you might get from player reviews on steam. We try to incorporate and link all of that along with a 'review scale' that checks for bugs. See the heatmap and breakdown! Time played noted so you can take any notes with a big grain of salt! I can't get to high level gameplay in 850+ games so I heavily research every game. Over 80 game creators let me interview or survey them! I Hope to go back and refine. Please argue or submit your own scores and reviews to be incorporated with credit into the notes and score numbers.

Added or last checked on 11/23/2023

imp-from_halls-of-torment.gifAn excellent choice to scratch your Vampire Survivors itch. This one is very inspired by oldschool Diablo 1 feel from graphics to enemy types and attacks. Great enemy patterns/AI, kind of beautiful sometimes to watch them move. Has options for Auto Aim and Auto Attack. Quick Toggle available at all times means it still gets high scores in those columns.

archer-from_halls-of-torment.gifThere is a prelude so you can try it out and see if you like the more downtempo vibe. I can see how some people complain about the graphics, but it's pure nostalgia for me! It's a great game, but I'm personally often looking for something a little more over the top and upbeat in this genre, which explains my lower playtime vs. some others.

skeleton-from_halls-of-torment.gifI should write more on this at some point, it's one of the better games on the list, but I imagine it being up so far and already popular most people already know that. Like a few other games the detail of notes suffers because I played most of my time in it before I was making notes and they are already on my list to play a lot more of. That's generally a good sign, but I intend to revise the notes later.

Halls of Torment Similarity Scale Heatmap

- +

Measured in 60 categories via likert-scale style options -1 to 1 in tenths, how does this game compare to Vampire Survivors. This allows 1200 total "points". It's easier to have a point of comparison and we just picked Vampire Survivors since it's the most popular and commonly referenced game in the subgenre. For detailed methodology read the explainer. For in depth examples at score value, see the scoring guide and for term definitions see the key.

9.0 Similarity Score
95% Diagnosis:
1139/1200 Comparison Points
Rogue-lite 1/1
Auto-Fire / Auto-Battle 0.9/1
Real Time 1/1
Top Down or Isometric 1/1
Direct Control of Single Avatar 1/1
Arcade Style 1/1
Bullet Heaven A (Many Player Bullets) 0.8/1
Bullet Heaven B (Few Enemy Bullets) 1/1
One Handed Play (w Controller) 0.8/1
Move Only 0.8/1
No Dash 1/1
No Trigger 0.8/1
No Special Move 1/1
No Aiming 0.8/1
No On-Aim / On-Fire Movement Penalty 1/1
Timed / Boss Ended Survival 1/1
Endless Mode 0/1
Organic / Unannounced Waves 1/1
High Enemy Count (Horde) 1/1
Level Up on XP Gain Event 1/1
Streamlined Level Choices (Simple UI) 1/1
Currency Based Meta Unlocks 1/1
Goal Based Meta Unlocks 1/1
Build Crafting 1/1
1/1
Weapon Combination / "Evolution" 0/1
Interesting Item / Weapon / Ability Synergy 1/1
Broken / Invincible Builds Possible 1/1
Explorable Map 1/1
BIG Maps 1/1
XP on Ground 1/1
Health on Ground 1/1
Temp Powerups / Items on Ground 1/1
Treasure Chests and/or Loot Events 1/1
Vendor / Merchant on Run 0/1
Enemy Variety 1/1
Bosses / Elites 1/1
Many Interesting Characters 1/1
Many Challenges 1/1
Multiple Stages 1/1
Difficulty Modifiers 1/1
Bestiary / Lore 0/1
Achievements 1/1
Secrets 1/1
Retro / Pixel Art 1/1
Damage Numbers 1/1
Lofi Charm 1/1
Bumpin Music 0.5/1
Fun Writing 0.8/1
Subtle Humor 1/1
Panic & Zen Duo Vibe 1/1
Over the Top 0.7/1
"One More Run" / Short Runs 1/1
Difficulty Ramp 1/1
Fun Ramp 1/1
Low Price 1/1
Technical Check 1/1
Controls Check 1/1
Fun Check 1/1
Feels like VS 1/1

Halls of Torment Review Scale Heatmap

- +

The review scale is judged from -1 to 1 in 10 categories, with 200 possible "points" earned. Steam review positive percentage is worth another 100 points, and a "ten point" pure vibe review number adds extra subjectivity. Converted into points, that's 400 points total. The points aren't used directly in the ranking, though, which averages the three number scores for the final review score listed in the game line above.

9.6 Final Review
96% Positive Steam Reviews
16395 Steam Reviews
9.3 Pure Vibes
9.8 Review Scale
387/400 Review Points
Not Buggy 1/1
Not Janky 1/1
Good UI 0.9/1
Controller and Deck 1/1
Lots of Content 1/1
Good Theme 1/1
Good Graphics and Sound 1/1
Fun Feel 0.9/1
Unique Twists 1/1
Vibe Check 1/1

Metacritic Scores

- +

This title has metacritic data! The "fuck the man" score is adjusted so each person's review is equally weighted, regardless of critic or fan status.

Critic

- Converted 10 Point Score
- Number of Critic Reviews

User

8.4 User Review Average
19 Number of User Reviews

Average

8.4 Direct Average
8.4 "Fuck The Man" Combined Mean

Game Features

- +

Listing various features we've got info on.

Multiplayer

  • Local: No
  • Online: No
  • Player Count: 1
  • Leaderboards: No

Steam Features

  • Steam Cloud: Yes
  • Steam Achievements: 252
  • Steam Leaderboards: No
  • Steam Workshop: No
  • Steam Trading Cards: No

Extras, Etc.

  • NSFW: No
  • Demo Available: Yes
  • DLC Available: No
  • Soundtrack Available: YouTube

Marketing Blurb

- +

Some description of the game and its features from the creators.

"Slay hordes of terrifying monsters in this horde survival roguelite. Descend into the Halls of Torment where the lords of the underworld await you. Treasures, magic trinkets, and a growing cast of heroes will grant you the power to vanquish the horrors from beyond. How long can you survive?"

Control Style Notes

- +

Technically a twin stick shooter, but with auto aim and auto fire quickly available to toggle via a controller press without having to enter a menu. It felt, in my playthrough, like auto aim always was valid enough as a strategy and sometimes I would want to manually aim. Pretty comfortable play style.

Auto Aim generally targets nearest enemy, with some melee ranged attacks and upgrade paths make it a good mowing game.

Enemies form satisfying maze like patterns.

Automated Features

Auto-Aim
Auto-Fire

Toggle in menu or via button in play, default's to manual aim. With auto-aim on, you can still press the right stick to aim when needed and simply release to return to auto-aim.

Supported Controls

  • Controller: Full
  • Controller Move Only: Yes
  • Controller One Handed: Yes
  • Mouse Only: Yes
  • Keyboard Only: Yes
  • Keyboard One Handed: Yes

Accessibility & Tutorial

- +

Accessibility Notes

Very accessible about of the box control-wise due to easy enable of auto-aim and fire, though menus are a little bit more complicated to navigate.

Menu FX Toggle: Damage Flash Intensity

Visibility Options: Cursor Size, Ability Effect Opacity, Aiming Line, Disable Damage Numbers

Tutorial Notes

Input hints on start is toggleable in the menu.

Shows inputs on screen before fading away at start of run, if toggled.

Tooltips help show information about abilities on hover.

Game Modes

- +

Timed / Boss Ended
Survival

"Agony" Modes
(Difficulty Increase)

Camp
(Main Menu
/Hub Zone)

Game Mode Notes

The game challenges you to survive out a timer and the boss that shows up. Defeating the boss ends the run.

After completing a certain point at regular level, a harder mode called "Agony" becomes selectable.

The main menu navigation is through a hub zone called "Camp" where you control an avatar directly and interact with other characters to switch to them, and to a couple interactable objects and NPCs to increase your power and pick your equipment.

Run Times & Speedups

- +

Average Run Time: 30m

Run Time Notes

At the end of the round the boss shows up and must be defeated. It's a fairly standard countdown timer.

Speed Settings

None

Player Power Progression

- +

Detailed notes on progression systems.

In Run Progression

Much like Vampire survivors, you avoid enemies while picking up XP drops and gold. One difference is you have to find abilities around the map, instead of being able to get them by leveling. Leveling up powers up traits for your current abilities.

Equipment is also another difference, see also meta notes.

There are a couple powerups and a magnet ability.

When you "run out" of traits to pick in a run you can pick health or gold.

Meta Progression

Through progression players unlock characters and features in the hub zone. Players can find equipment and then purchase it from the wellkeeper NPC hubworld to equip at the stash.

Incremental upgrades can be purchased for in game currency between runs. Players can brew potions with the cupbearer NPC allowing temporary options like rerolls in the next run."

It's possible to reset and restore backups of progress in player profiles.

Content By The Numbers

- +

9 Characters ("Heroes") each with 3 Class Traits
16 Abilities each with trait upgrade options.
15 Base Traits
10 Elevated Traits
500+ trait options total that upgrade characters and abilities
22 Visible Player Stats

2 NPCs
4 Stages / "Dhapters"
30+ Unique Monsters
12+ Bosses
2 Difficulty Options (Normal, Agony)
250 Quests (Challenges) Total, split between chapter related and character related.

1 XP pickup item, 4 Healing Drops
1 Gold meta progression currency
4 Temporary Powerups (inc XP magnet)
50+ Equipment Items

18 Meta Upgrades ("Blessings")
6 Potions, brewed with 15 ingredients drops
9 Equippable Buffs ("Marks")

In Game Lore & Extras

2 rescuable hub zone NPCs with light voice acted dialog.

UI Walkthrough: Main Menus

- +

Any other accessibility or menu options not mentioned already in the game modes. Instead of deciding what to list here, I'm going to just list it all. This should make for a pretty interesting UI study, actually, but probably won't be needed by most players. These are all likely missing late game unlock options! Please comment in corrections! From top left, back or close buttons are assumed. Spoiler Warning! Menu unlocks often happen later in play. See also meta unlock menu walkthrough.

Main Menu

Initial
- Character Select (Left Stick)
-> Avatar Control / "Camp" Hub Zone
-> Menu (Start, also option during hub world)

Camp (Hubzone, Walk, button to interact)
- Wellkeeper (Merchant NPC, buy found items)
- Item Stash (Equip)
- Change Character
- Shrine of Blessings
(Currency Meta Powerups)
--> Register of Halls / Door (Choose Stage)
- Quests (Tab through challenges,
see unlock rewards)
- Cupbearer (Potion Crafting NPC)

Menu (LB - RB to tab)
- Settings Tab (Display, Input, Audio, Interface)
- Profile Tab
- Quit Tab (Yes/No Confirmation)

Display & Sound

On the settings tab of the main menu

Display and Window Toggles
- Fullscreen, Performance Mode,
Pause when Focus Lost

Audio Sliders
- Master Volume, Music Volume,
SFX Volume, Voice Volume

Interface
-Cursor Select
- Sliders: Cursor Size, Damage Flash Intensity,
Ability Effect Opacity
- Toggles: Aiming Line, Damage Numbers,
Show Input Hints on Start

Gameplay / Input / Other Options

On the settings tab of the main menu

Input Method Toggles
- Auto Aim, Auto Attack, Mouse Only Mode,
Mouse Only On Hold

Keyboard Bindings
- Move Up, Move Left, Move Down, Move Right, Attack Up,
Attack Left, Attack Down, Attack Right,
Tab Left, Tab Right, Confirm / Interact

UI Walkthrough: Player HUD & Pause

- +

From top left of the screen, persistent UI during play (aka Heads Up Display) and other menus during your run.

Player HUD / Gameplay UI

Play area is in center with persistent sidebars on left and right.

Left Sidebar
- Player Level, XP Meter,
XP Gained / Required Number,
Health/Max, Health Orb.

Right Sidebar
- Menu/Pause Button, Ability Cooldown Icons,
Powerups, Gold Count, Enemies Slain Count,
Time Remaining

On Run Start (optionally) displays controls in bottom left corner of play area. Optional damage numbers. Arrows on edge direct players to objectives.

Pause Menus

On "start" or Menu click, both left and right sidebars persist while center is replaced with menu.

Tab Menus
- Character, Traits and Abilities,
Settings, Quit

Character
- View and equip items, view stats.

Traits and Abilities
- View Traits and Ability Stats

Settings
- (Same as Main Menu Settings)

Quit
- Return to Camp, Quit Game

UI Walkthrough: Leveling & Progression

- +

Listing UI display as well. "In run" applies to "round end" UI in games with rounds. May use in game terms for complicated concepts. See also metaprogression system notes in the game mode notes.

Level / Power Up / Treasure: In Run and End Menus

XP drops as gems. Gold and health drop from enemies and breakables. Items sit on map. Enemies drop chests. Sidebars persist in all views.

On XP Gain Event
- Pick from 4 "Traits"
- 4 Level Options in vertical bordered list
- Potions: Reroll, Banish, Memorize, Double

On "Scroll of Mastery" pickup
- Pick from 3 "Abilities"
- Discard for 50% Level XP

"Dried Up Well" interactable
- Drop found equipment into the well
to retrieve it at camp

End Run Displays Results
- View stats and completed quests
-> Return to camp

Meta Unlock Menus

Various features for the hub world unlock through play.

Players can find equipment and then purchase it from the wellkeeper NPC hubworld to equip at the stash.

Item Stash: 7 slots, 4 loadouts, sorted tabs. Equip items found for bonuses during the next run.

Shrine of Blessings: Purchase upgrades for Health Capacity, Health Regeneration, Defense, Movement Speed, Pickup Range, Damage, Attack Speed, Area / Projectile Size, Attack Range. Can be refunded individually or all at once.

Players can brew potions with the cupbearer NPC allowing temporary options like rerolls in the next run.

[edit]

Bio Prototype

Released

This bioengineering themed arena wave survival game might be my favorite of the Brotato-style auto shooters so far. The logic puzzle style chaining of abilities from your "brain" gives me something enjoyable to look forward to on each round end and within the rounds the movement-only wave survival is quite enjoyable. I also dig the ugly-cute aesthetic and overall vibe, making this a title I'm looking forward to putting more time into. I think if you like Brotato and want to really think through strategy between rounds, this is a good choice. If you like "spellcrafting" games this could be considered similar. It even lets you test your build before going to the next wave!

Arena Shooter Auto-Shooter Brotato-style Bullet Heaven Content Rich Enemy Hell Roguelite Single Stick Shooter Spell Crafting Survivors-like Top Down or Isometric Wave Survival
8.5 Combined Ranking Score
13/72 Ranking Position
1436/1600 Total Points
9.3 Final Review
92% Steam
9.9 Scale
8.8 Vibes
2041 Steam Reviews
379/400 Review Points
7.6 Similarity Score
88% Diagnosis:
Similar
1057/1200 Comparison Points
100% Genre 8/8 genre
100% Simple Controls 7/7 move
85% Survival Modes 2.8/4 modes
56% Power Progression 0.5/4 level
100% Buildcrafting Depth 5/5 build
54% Stage Features 0.6/7 stage
86% Content Breadth 6.4/9 stuff
100% Aesthetics 6/6 style
98% Gameplay Vibe Check 9.5/10 vibe vibe

Bio Prototype Ranking Notes

- +

Scaling and Review Notes

Personal Hours Played: 4.1

Every game ranked was played, but also scaled based on research, talking to developers & your feedback. The priority with the scale's initial design was to compare similarity on relatively objective features - so it doesn't claim to include reviews of the depth and clarity you'd get at a games journalism site, nor the intensive time played you might get from player reviews on steam. We try to incorporate and link all of that along with a 'review scale' that checks for bugs. See the heatmap and breakdown! Time played noted so you can take any notes with a big grain of salt! I can't get to high level gameplay in 850+ games so I heavily research every game. Over 80 game creators let me interview or survey them! I Hope to go back and refine. Please argue or submit your own scores and reviews to be incorporated with credit into the notes and score numbers.

Added or last checked on 11/13/2023

Bio Prototype is an excellent creature creating survivors-like, though more in the Brotato-style since it does all of the upgrading on round ends and the gameplay stays within a small box-like arena. I haven't played or unlocked nearly enough of it, but it's popular enough that I was able to enjoy some nice gameplay videos and other content to help with my first impressions review.

The lack of exploration aspects may make it less similar to Vampire Survivors, as does the relatively complex upgrade system, but I found it quite satisfying both in avoiding the enemies and upgrading during my run. The enemy drops don't auto gather so it feels a tiny bit more like VS compared to Brotato. The upgrading is done by selecting from a small amount of options for "organs" to implant and then chaining them up from your "brain." This works like a simple puzzle, well simple in terms of left to right alignment but complicated in terms of the chain of events. You can sell your previous upgrades if needed (we're counting this interface as a vendor as well) and even test your ability layout between rounds.

Tweaking this brain linking to get the most heavenly of bullet heavens results in a satisfying gameplay loop that I think will keep many fans busy for a solid set of hours (this is one I intend to come back to after trying out all the games, myself.) It's also helped along by the simple in round movement controls (single stick only!) You avoid mobs and try to gather resources while also lining up your attacks without the distraction of additional controls. The enemy waves are laid out well, as in the best of these games, to make pathing the maze between them satisfying enough to pull you into the zen point (at least until the end of the round.)

There are a variety of playable creatures as well as a fair amount of variation in attacks and abilities. It has multiple stages, though as far as I know they're basically all a simple arena. There's an endless mode and a "draft" mode. It's pretty full of content which is mostly hidden at first behind a pretty simple and straight to the action main menu (something I very much appreciate to get me into the next run quickly.)

Some organs create temporary health/powerup drops so partial score there. There are a lot of challenges to unlock things, but no currency based meta unlocks as far as I know. This makes it a bit more skill and strategy based for progression than some games on this list that mostly reward time spent grinding. That can make it either more or less appealing to you, to me it's just different and sometimes I'm in the mood for one or the other. But I have to admit more obviously grind-happy games sometimes steal more hours away from me.

I think the "round end" upgrade cycle allows it a great complexity in the strategy, but that's not always my personal preference for playing these games (You'll notice I didn't particularly end up enamored with Brotato, kind of king of the round end upgrade auto shooters.) In this case, the game won me over by what I find to be a much more charming aesthetic, relatively unique system for upgrades, and the basic logic/programming puzzle of setting up moves.

Bio Prototype Similarity Scale Heatmap

- +

Measured in 60 categories via likert-scale style options -1 to 1 in tenths, how does this game compare to Vampire Survivors. This allows 1200 total "points". It's easier to have a point of comparison and we just picked Vampire Survivors since it's the most popular and commonly referenced game in the subgenre. For detailed methodology read the explainer. For in depth examples at score value, see the scoring guide and for term definitions see the key.

7.6 Similarity Score
88% Diagnosis:
1057/1200 Comparison Points
Rogue-lite 1/1
Auto-Fire / Auto-Battle 1/1
Real Time 1/1
Top Down or Isometric 1/1
Direct Control of Single Avatar 1/1
Arcade Style 1/1
Bullet Heaven A (Many Player Bullets) 1/1
Bullet Heaven B (Few Enemy Bullets) 1/1
One Handed Play (w Controller) 1/1
Move Only 1/1
No Dash 1/1
No Trigger 1/1
No Special Move 1/1
No Aiming 1/1
No On-Aim / On-Fire Movement Penalty 1/1
Timed / Boss Ended Survival 1/1
Endless Mode 1/1
Organic / Unannounced Waves 0/1
High Enemy Count (Horde) 0.8/1
Level Up on XP Gain Event -0.5/1
Streamlined Level Choices (Simple UI) 0/1
Currency Based Meta Unlocks 0/1
Goal Based Meta Unlocks 1/1
Build Crafting 1/1
1/1
Weapon Combination / "Evolution" 1/1
Interesting Item / Weapon / Ability Synergy 1/1
Broken / Invincible Builds Possible 1/1
Explorable Map -1/1
BIG Maps -1/1
XP on Ground 1/1
Health on Ground 0.3/1
Temp Powerups / Items on Ground 0.3/1
Treasure Chests and/or Loot Events 0/1
Vendor / Merchant on Run 1/1
Enemy Variety 0.8/1
Bosses / Elites 1/1
Many Interesting Characters 1/1
Many Challenges 1/1
Multiple Stages 0.6/1
Difficulty Modifiers 1/1
Bestiary / Lore 0/1
Achievements 1/1
Secrets 0/1
Retro / Pixel Art 1/1
Damage Numbers 1/1
Lofi Charm 1/1
Bumpin Music 1/1
Fun Writing 1/1
Subtle Humor 1/1
Panic & Zen Duo Vibe 1/1
Over the Top 1/1
"One More Run" / Short Runs 1/1
Difficulty Ramp 0.5/1
Fun Ramp 1/1
Low Price 1/1
Technical Check 1/1
Controls Check 1/1
Fun Check 1/1
Feels like VS 0.9/1

Bio Prototype Review Scale Heatmap

- +

The review scale is judged from -1 to 1 in 10 categories, with 200 possible "points" earned. Steam review positive percentage is worth another 100 points, and a "ten point" pure vibe review number adds extra subjectivity. Converted into points, that's 400 points total. The points aren't used directly in the ranking, though, which averages the three number scores for the final review score listed in the game line above.

9.3 Final Review
92% Positive Steam Reviews
2041 Steam Reviews
8.8 Pure Vibes
9.9 Review Scale
379/400 Review Points
Not Buggy 1/1
Not Janky 1/1
Good UI 1/1
Controller and Deck 1/1
Lots of Content 0.9/1
Good Theme 1/1
Good Graphics and Sound 1/1
Fun Feel 1/1
Unique Twists 1/1
Vibe Check 1/1

Game Features

- +

Listing various features we've got info on.

Multiplayer

  • Local: No
  • Online: No
  • Player Count: 1
  • Leaderboards: Steam

Steam Features

  • Steam Cloud: Yes
  • Steam Achievements: 39
  • Steam Leaderboards: Yes
  • Steam Workshop: No
  • Steam Trading Cards: Yes

Extras, Etc.

  • NSFW: No
  • Demo Available: No
  • DLC Available: No
  • Soundtrack Available: No

Marketing Blurb

- +

Some description of the game and its features from the creators.

"A wave of irrational experimentation rushes toward you. Hurry up and mutate! evolution! Become scarier monsters than them! Use flesh and blood to bloom a way of survival! 24 characters, more than 80 kinds of organs, and endless build combinations"

"Hurry up and mutate! evolution! Become scarier monsters than them! Use flesh and blood to bloom a way of survival! 19 characters, more than 40 kinds of organs, and endless build combinations!"

"Link organs to your brain to create exponentially increasing combos" "More than 80 kinds of organs, 40 special designed characters, and infinite combinations"

Control Style Notes

- +

The game is a single stick shooter, with no options for manual aim. It's not quite as much of a mowing game, so you mostly avoid enemies while chaining projectile combos.

Automated Features

Auto-Aim
Auto-Fire

No Manual options.

Supported Controls

  • Controller: Full
  • Controller Move Only: Yes
  • Controller One Handed: Yes
  • Mouse Only: Yes
  • Keyboard Only: Yes
  • Keyboard One Handed: Yes

Game Modes

- +

Timed Survival

Endless Survival

Daily Challenge

Test Mode

Game Mode Notes

The primary mode is the timed round survival in the menu. When upgrading within a run, there is an option to enter a sort of test mode where you can see how your abilities end up chaining together and test the damage against dummy targets.

Run Times & Speedups

- +

Average Run Time: 30m

Run Time Notes

Runs are separated into 15 small rounds, with upgrades at the end of each round brotato-style. You can test your build between rounds.

Disclaimer: Hard to say exact run time from my gameplay, since I spend so much time between rounds fiddling 15 short rounds can take me 45 minutes or even an hour. Part of that is just me being silly and spending too much time in the test mode probably. "Run time "Depends on difficulty. In normal mode you can expect 20-35 minutes. You can clock over an hour in endless mode." via BrziKorak on the forum. Sounds about right.

Speed Settings

None

Player Power Progression

- +

Detailed notes on progression systems.

In Run Progression

In between rounds you are awarded a choice of "organs" which are your ability chain and weapon items. You can sell your organs and have access to a store where you can upgrade your capabilities or buy more organ picks. You then must create a programming like chain of attacks from your brain by linking organs, which you can move and rearrange as you wish between rounds.

Some organs create temporary powerups which can be picked up off the ground.

Meta Progression

Achievements unlock new "classes" and new types of organs (the way abilities and attacks chain from your characters brain, or brains rather.)

[edit]

God of Weapons

Free Available Released

An inventory management Brotato-style survivors-like with an enjoyable dungeon (if not actual crawling.. elevator riding?) presentation for the arena. This is a newer but fully released title a lot of folks are excited about with an active fan community. My first impressions are very positive. It's not as over the top but the inventory management for "leveling up" is a puzzle twist I liked. Also similar to Brotato (aside from the small arena) with end of round equipment choices instead of leveling on XP gain with organic waves. Not as lofi feeling but still a lot of charm, worth checking out if you'd like to spend some time stacking axes in gloomy rooms.

Arena Shooter Auto-Shooter Brotato-style Hack and Slash Horde Survival Puzzle Roguelite Single Stick Shooter Survivors-like Wave Survival
7.5 Combined Ranking Score
33/72 Ranking Position
1351/1600 Total Points
8.4 Final Review
85% Steam
8.6 Scale
8.2 Vibes
1762 Steam Reviews
353/400 Review Points
6.6 Similarity Score
83% Diagnosis:
Similar
998/1200 Comparison Points
96% Genre 7.4/8 genre
82% Simple Controls 4.5/7 move
74% Survival Modes 1.9/4 modes
78% Power Progression 2.2/4 level
90% Buildcrafting Depth 4/5 build
68% Stage Features 2.5/7 stage
79% Content Breadth 5.2/9 stuff
73% Aesthetics 2.7/6 style
92% Gameplay Vibe Check 8.4/10 vibe vibe

God of Weapons Ranking Notes

- +

Scaling and Review Notes

Personal Hours Played: 2.3

Every game ranked was played, but also scaled based on research, talking to developers & your feedback. The priority with the scale's initial design was to compare similarity on relatively objective features - so it doesn't claim to include reviews of the depth and clarity you'd get at a games journalism site, nor the intensive time played you might get from player reviews on steam. We try to incorporate and link all of that along with a 'review scale' that checks for bugs. See the heatmap and breakdown! Time played noted so you can take any notes with a big grain of salt! I can't get to high level gameplay in 850+ games so I heavily research every game. Over 80 game creators let me interview or survey them! I Hope to go back and refine. Please argue or submit your own scores and reviews to be incorporated with credit into the notes and score numbers.

Added or last checked on 11/5/2023

A brotato-style survivors-like with a fun (for me anyway) inventory management twist to powering up. It's fully released but I need more time with it so let's consider this a first look review. I'll be checking on discord and with the devs on the features in the comparison ranking.

It's a 3D style game and based to my prior exposure I can't help sometimes feeling like it's a smooth Halls of Torment. The weapons play pretty differently though, or at least feel different. The isometric shift is also more intense, which can make it a little harder to avoid enemies at times. Has dash, doesn't seem you can map it to the left side so 0 still on one handed.

Luckily your weapons will be heavily favoring the closest enemy so often you're not worrying as much about one close tag. You get XP from to level up, which determines how much inventory you unlock on the next round. You gather currency from the ground to spend on round end. We'll call this a store and not level choices.

Worked fine on Steam Deck but had issues getting controller to work on PC, had to use a custom profile by some other steam user.

Personally I don't like when rounds end while there are still enemies and then it says the wave is complete, but when the timer is up for the round, well, it's over. Then it sends me to the store to power up and puts me in a new room with new enemies.

A fair amount of the arena shooters do stuff like that, but I much much prefer the more modern survivors-like trend of having organic waves and leveling up with a simple dialog that then drops you back into the same exact gameplay. This makes and the small arena makes it a "brotato-style" game which is another subsubgenre defined in the terms.

I like that I can see my DPS if I want. Low score in multiple stages because moving between the rooms feels so repetitive. While I prefer more exploration, I was still charmed by what's here.

My partner has basically no patience for the inventory management mechanic, but personally I like the blocks, the picking new inventory spaces to unlock, items from a large array of options, and then shifting things around. Well, mostly. I admit I often play games in this genre to turn my brain off more or at least just think about statistics, but it does help the game stand out and is utilized in interesting ways for proximity buffs, not just a matter of putting stuff in there.

Really then, with the short rounds, the game became all about the inventory to me, which is perhaps the point. I spend about as much time thinking and fiddling with it as I do in the round sometimes. Not complaining. Overall though it felt a tinsy bit dreary to me, missing something. I need to spend more time with it to know if that's a reasonable feeling, but with the enclosed arena shooters I get antsy quick. I could see myself getting very into this on a smaller screen while traveling.

God of Weapons Similarity Scale Heatmap

- +

Measured in 60 categories via likert-scale style options -1 to 1 in tenths, how does this game compare to Vampire Survivors. This allows 1200 total "points". It's easier to have a point of comparison and we just picked Vampire Survivors since it's the most popular and commonly referenced game in the subgenre. For detailed methodology read the explainer. For in depth examples at score value, see the scoring guide and for term definitions see the key.

6.6 Similarity Score
83% Diagnosis:
998/1200 Comparison Points
Rogue-lite 1/1
Auto-Fire / Auto-Battle 0.8/1
Real Time 1/1
Top Down or Isometric 1/1
Direct Control of Single Avatar 1/1
Arcade Style 1/1
Bullet Heaven A (Many Player Bullets) 0.6/1
Bullet Heaven B (Few Enemy Bullets) 1/1
One Handed Play (w Controller) 0/1
Move Only 0.5/1
No Dash 0/1
No Trigger 1/1
No Special Move 1/1
No Aiming 1/1
No On-Aim / On-Fire Movement Penalty 1/1
Timed / Boss Ended Survival 1/1
Endless Mode 0/1
Organic / Unannounced Waves 0.2/1
High Enemy Count (Horde) 0.7/1
Level Up on XP Gain Event 0.2/1
Streamlined Level Choices (Simple UI) 0/1
Currency Based Meta Unlocks 1/1
Goal Based Meta Unlocks 1/1
Build Crafting 1/1
1/1
Weapon Combination / "Evolution" 0/1
Interesting Item / Weapon / Ability Synergy 1/1
Broken / Invincible Builds Possible 1/1
Explorable Map -0.5/1
BIG Maps -1/1
XP on Ground 1/1
Health on Ground 1/1
Temp Powerups / Items on Ground 1/1
Treasure Chests and/or Loot Events 0/1
Vendor / Merchant on Run 1/1
Enemy Variety 0.7/1
Bosses / Elites 0.8/1
Many Interesting Characters 1/1
Many Challenges 1/1
Multiple Stages 0.2/1
Difficulty Modifiers 0.5/1
Bestiary / Lore 0/1
Achievements 1/1
Secrets 0/1
Retro / Pixel Art 0.1/1
Damage Numbers 1/1
Lofi Charm 0.6/1
Bumpin Music 0.8/1
Fun Writing 0.2/1
Subtle Humor 0/1
Panic & Zen Duo Vibe 1/1
Over the Top 0.4/1
"One More Run" / Short Runs 1/1
Difficulty Ramp 1/1
Fun Ramp 1/1
Low Price 1/1
Technical Check 1/1
Controls Check 1/1
Fun Check 1/1
Feels like VS 1/1

God of Weapons Review Scale Heatmap

- +

The review scale is judged from -1 to 1 in 10 categories, with 200 possible "points" earned. Steam review positive percentage is worth another 100 points, and a "ten point" pure vibe review number adds extra subjectivity. Converted into points, that's 400 points total. The points aren't used directly in the ranking, though, which averages the three number scores for the final review score listed in the game line above.

8.4 Final Review
85% Positive Steam Reviews
1762 Steam Reviews
8.2 Pure Vibes
8.6 Review Scale
353/400 Review Points
Not Buggy 0.9/1
Not Janky 0.9/1
Good UI 0.6/1
Controller and Deck 0.8/1
Lots of Content 0.8/1
Good Theme 0.7/1
Good Graphics and Sound 0.9/1
Fun Feel 1/1
Unique Twists 1/1
Vibe Check 1/1

Metacritic Scores

- +

This title has metacritic data! The "fuck the man" score is adjusted so each person's review is equally weighted, regardless of critic or fan status.

Critic

8.4 Converted 10 Point Score
1 Number of Critic Reviews

User

3.0 User Review Average
2 Number of User Reviews

Average

5.7 Direct Average
4.8 "Fuck The Man" Combined Mean

God of Weapons Tag Cloud

- +

More sortable taxonomies and categories associated with the game (genre tags are available in the main game table line!) We've just started adding tags to enable more sorting options, this section will get more filled out as we go!

Release Tags

Steam DeckWindows PCFree AvailableReleased

Sorting Categories

Similar

Genre and Control Style Tags

Arena ShooterAuto-ShooterBrotato-styleHack and SlashHorde SurvivalPuzzleRogueliteSingle Stick ShooterSurvivors-likeWave Survival

Aesthetic Tags

3DSerious

Setting / Story Tags

DungeonsFantasy

Control Styles

Controller

Game Mode Tags

Advance on Round EndInventory ManagementShort Rounds25m

Features and Extras

SoundtrackSteam AchievementsSteam Cloud

Dev/Publisher

Archmage Games StudioArchmage Labs

Game Features

- +

Listing various features we've got info on.

Multiplayer

  • Local: No
  • Online: No
  • Player Count: 1
  • Leaderboards: ?

Steam Features

  • Steam Cloud: Yes
  • Steam Achievements: 93
  • Steam Leaderboards: No
  • Steam Workshop: No
  • Steam Trading Cards: No

Extras, Etc.

  • NSFW: No
  • Demo Available: On itch.io
  • DLC Available: No
  • Soundtrack Available: YouTube

Marketing Blurb

- +

Some description of the game and its features from the creators.

"Embark on a thrilling journey in God of Weapons, an action roguelike where you must ascend the tower of Zhor to reclaim the last light for the world. To survive the monster onslaught on each tower's level, you'll need to obtain and carefully organize weapons and accessories in your inventory"

I just found out after I wrote this all it's made by the Sexy Mystic Survivors folks? Which is funny to me because this is one of the least horny games on the list.

Run Times & Speedups

- +

Average Run Time: 25m

Run Time Notes

?

Speed Settings

?

[edit]

The Riftbreaker

DLC Released

Very Different. A top down shooter horde survival game, but in the long term resource gathering sense in the main campaign mode. Build a base, or rather multiple bases, as you attempt to survive on an alien planet. Relevant to this sheet is the timed survival mode. It recently came on sale on steam so I decided to see how it matches up on this scale considering it shares some elements. It may be an interesting one to check out if you enjoyed the horde and exploration aspects of the genre but wished for a long game with persistent progression instead of short runs. Technically, though, with a hardcore mode enabling permadeath it's optionally rogueish. I wouldn't say it's similar to Vampire Survivors, but it is a horde survival game for sure!

Action RPG Base Building Content Rich Horde Survival Roguelite Sandbox Story Rich Survival Craft Top Down or Isometric Tower Defense Twin Stick Shooter Wave Survival
6.3 Combined Ranking Score
48/72 Ranking Position
1182/1600 Total Points
9.0 Final Review
91% Steam
9.4 Scale
8.5 Vibes
13901 Steam Reviews
370/400 Review Points
3.5 Similarity Score
68% Diagnosis:
Very Different
812/1200 Comparison Points
68% Genre 2.8/8 genre
11% Simple Controls -5.5/7 move
85% Survival Modes 2.8/4 modes
38% Power Progression -1/4 level
80% Buildcrafting Depth 3/5 build
82% Stage Features 4.5/7 stage
95% Content Breadth 8.1/9 stuff
69% Aesthetics 2.3/6 style
75% Gameplay Vibe Check 5/10 vibe vibe

The Riftbreaker Ranking Notes

- +

Scaling and Review Notes

Personal Hours Played: 10.8

Every game ranked was played, but also scaled based on research, talking to developers & your feedback. The priority with the scale's initial design was to compare similarity on relatively objective features - so it doesn't claim to include reviews of the depth and clarity you'd get at a games journalism site, nor the intensive time played you might get from player reviews on steam. We try to incorporate and link all of that along with a 'review scale' that checks for bugs. See the heatmap and breakdown! Time played noted so you can take any notes with a big grain of salt! I can't get to high level gameplay in 850+ games so I heavily research every game. Over 80 game creators let me interview or survey them! I Hope to go back and refine. Please argue or submit your own scores and reviews to be incorporated with credit into the notes and score numbers.

Added or last checked on 11/16/2023

An interesting game to compare and not unlikely to come up in your search because it's a "survival" game with "hordes" of enemies. It's also top down and a twin stick shooter and randomization, so it's got some surface level similarities. But it's also an incredibly complex game with many controls, so in many ways the polar opposite of something like Vampire Survivors.

It has a campaign mode but also a survival mode with timed waves. The general gameplay loop consists of gathering resources and base building to develop and increase various weapon powers and survive waves of enemies. Set up towers, do research, explore and so on. It's really a rather cool mashup of genres, which got me interested in checking it out.

It's got kind of the polar opposite of "simple level choices", having some of the most complex systems to upgrade your fighting level imaginable (dependent on base building.) I mostly liked that, but for my review score I'll have to note I found the voice acting grating when I should have been loving this. It might hurt that my name is also Ashley so it just felt like my robot dad was yelling at me a lot.

With a game design really revolving around long term play, it's definitely not a roguelite, but with map generation and hardcore mode, it is a non-traditional Roguelike in the same manner that Diablo 2 is a roguelike. I usually use roguelite to refer to metaprogression and I'm not sure if the campaign unlocks apply to hardcore mode yet - and if they do to the survival mode, it actually shares more in common with these games than I thought at first glance. In any case, I'm giving it a partial score in "rogue-lite".

It doesn't have a sprawling open world or stretching maps, but you do explore to other maps through the same game when playing the campaign. Aesthetics feels a little like some custom Star Trek map with one mech defending from waves of zerg rushes. Voice acting and writing is kind of annoying imho, probably could have done entirely without it but it doesn't intrude too often.

It feels a bit more bullet heaven when you equip a gun on each hand and stand near a million towers you set up. Enemies do have ranged attacks, though. All in all it's more of an ARPG / base building hybrid and not a survivors-like, but it could tickle your fancy for long term wave defense with more complex systems.

The Riftbreaker Similarity Scale Heatmap

- +

Measured in 60 categories via likert-scale style options -1 to 1 in tenths, how does this game compare to Vampire Survivors. This allows 1200 total "points". It's easier to have a point of comparison and we just picked Vampire Survivors since it's the most popular and commonly referenced game in the subgenre. For detailed methodology read the explainer. For in depth examples at score value, see the scoring guide and for term definitions see the key.

3.5 Similarity Score
68% Diagnosis:
812/1200 Comparison Points
Rogue-lite 0.7/1
Auto-Fire / Auto-Battle -0.5/1
Real Time 1/1
Top Down or Isometric 1/1
Direct Control of Single Avatar 0.7/1
Arcade Style -1/1
Bullet Heaven A (Many Player Bullets) 0.6/1
Bullet Heaven B (Few Enemy Bullets) 0.3/1
One Handed Play (w Controller) -1/1
Move Only -1/1
No Dash -1/1
No Trigger -1/1
No Special Move -1/1
No Aiming -1/1
No On-Aim / On-Fire Movement Penalty 0.5/1
Timed / Boss Ended Survival 0.8/1
Endless Mode 1/1
Organic / Unannounced Waves 0/1
High Enemy Count (Horde) 1/1
Level Up on XP Gain Event -1/1
Streamlined Level Choices (Simple UI) -1/1
Currency Based Meta Unlocks 0/1
Goal Based Meta Unlocks 1/1
Build Crafting 1/1
1/1
Weapon Combination / "Evolution" 0.5/1
Interesting Item / Weapon / Ability Synergy 0.5/1
Broken / Invincible Builds Possible 0/1
Explorable Map 1/1
BIG Maps 0.9/1
XP on Ground 0.5/1
Health on Ground 0/1
Temp Powerups / Items on Ground 0.1/1
Treasure Chests and/or Loot Events 1/1
Vendor / Merchant on Run 1/1
Enemy Variety 1/1
Bosses / Elites 1/1
Many Interesting Characters 0.1/1
Many Challenges 1/1
Multiple Stages 1/1
Difficulty Modifiers 1/1
Bestiary / Lore 1/1
Achievements 1/1
Secrets 1/1
Retro / Pixel Art -1/1
Damage Numbers 1/1
Lofi Charm -0.5/1
Bumpin Music 1/1
Fun Writing 1/1
Subtle Humor 0.8/1
Panic & Zen Duo Vibe 0.3/1
Over the Top 0.6/1
"One More Run" / Short Runs -1/1
Difficulty Ramp 1/1
Fun Ramp 1/1
Low Price -0.7/1
Technical Check 1/1
Controls Check 1/1
Fun Check 1/1
Feels like VS 0/1

The Riftbreaker Review Scale Heatmap

- +

The review scale is judged from -1 to 1 in 10 categories, with 200 possible "points" earned. Steam review positive percentage is worth another 100 points, and a "ten point" pure vibe review number adds extra subjectivity. Converted into points, that's 400 points total. The points aren't used directly in the ranking, though, which averages the three number scores for the final review score listed in the game line above.

9.0 Final Review
91% Positive Steam Reviews
13901 Steam Reviews
8.5 Pure Vibes
9.4 Review Scale
370/400 Review Points
Not Buggy 1/1
Not Janky 0.8/1
Good UI 0.8/1
Controller and Deck 0.8/1
Lots of Content 1/1
Good Theme 1/1
Good Graphics and Sound 1/1
Fun Feel 1/1
Unique Twists 1/1
Vibe Check 1/1

Metacritic Scores

- +

This title has metacritic data! The "fuck the man" score is adjusted so each person's review is equally weighted, regardless of critic or fan status.

Critic

8.3 Converted 10 Point Score
9 Number of Critic Reviews

User

8.4 User Review Average
64 Number of User Reviews

Average

8.4 Direct Average
8.4 "Fuck The Man" Combined Mean

The Riftbreaker Tag Cloud

- +

More sortable taxonomies and categories associated with the game (genre tags are available in the main game table line!) We've just started adding tags to enable more sorting options, this section will get more filled out as we go!

Release Tags

EpicGOGPS5Steam DeckWindows PCXboxDLCReleased

Sorting Categories

Very Different

Genre and Control Style Tags

Action RPGBase BuildingContent RichHorde SurvivalRogueliteSandboxStory RichSurvival CraftTop Down or IsometricTower DefenseTwin Stick ShooterWave Survival

Aesthetic Tags

3DRealisticSerious

Setting / Story Tags

MechaSci-fi

Control Styles

Controller

Game Mode Tags

Custom Mode/ScenarioDifficulty ModesDifficulty ModifiersHardcore Mode (Optional Permadeath)Inventory ManagementMap Based CampaignResearch TreesTimed SurvivalWave Survival60m

Features and Extras

SoundtrackSteam AchievementsSteam CloudSteam Trading CardsSteam Workshop

Dev/Publisher

EXOR StudiosSurefire Games

Game Features

- +

Listing various features we've got info on.

Multiplayer

  • Local: Planned
  • Online: No
  • Player Count: 1
  • Leaderboards: ?

Steam Features

  • Steam Cloud: Yes
  • Steam Achievements: 41
  • Steam Leaderboards: No
  • Steam Workshop: Yes
  • Steam Trading Cards: Yes

Extras, Etc.

  • NSFW: No
  • Demo Available: Yes
  • DLC Available: Yes
  • Soundtrack Available: Steam YouTube Soundcloud Apple GOG

Marketing Blurb

- +

Some description of the game and its features from the creators.

"The Riftbreaker™ is a base-building, survival game with Action-RPG elements. You are an elite scientist/commando inside an advanced Mecha-Suit capable of dimensional rift travel. Hack & slash countless enemies. Build up your base, collect samples and research new inventions to survive."

"Your presence on this planet will not go unnoticed. As you build up your industry and disrupt the natural order, the world will start seeing you as a threat. Build up your defenses. Construct walls, barriers and defense towers as the attacks get stronger with every passing day. You will face thousands of hostile creatures trying to eliminate your presence."

"If intense fight for survival is not your thing either, then try out the Sandbox mode, where we give you control over the entire game – including resources, enemy spawns, and weather conditions."

Game Modes

- +

Map Based Campaign

Timed Survival

Custom Scenario,
Difficulty Modes &
Difficulty Modifiers
(For both modes)

Hardcore Mode
(Optional Permadeath)

Game Mode Notes

The game is designed with a campaign across several procedurally generated maps. It mimics sandbox base construction games a little bit, but the starting map does run out of resources relatively quickly if not enemies. The game lets you explore and set up other bases on other maps and then return to your main one until you complete the campaign.

There is a secondary survival mode which speeds up research and challenges you to survive until the end of a timer. Both modes allow a large degree of customization for challenge and difficulty.

Run Times & Speedups

- +

Average Run Time: 60m

Run Time Notes

The default mode is a campaign with multiple procedurally generated maps. You build bases as you progress objectives and survive waves, but you can spend as long as you want on any map, in theory (?). You make bases that persist as you explore other maps.

There's also a survival mode, which speeds up in game research for a compressed experience on a single map. 60m refers to the default run time of the first "survival" mode.

Speed Settings

None