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Very commonly recommended free game for if you want something tight to the Vampire Survivors formula and just as fun. Technically a fan game for Hololive, it's a feature rich game anyone can enjoy. Some features, including fishing, are tucked into a little life sim menu mode. Has aiming and special moves but they can be ignored and still play ok.
Many meta notes via Joske and Genki on Discord!
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 11/21/2023
You might not realize these are all fan representations of HoloLive vtubers as characters, except for the game kind of tells you. Many players including myself have no idea who they are and still enjoy the game a lot. It has a lighter humorous tone that doesn't bog it down into meme game territory and nails the basic VS formula with some subtle twists and upgrades with weapon evolutions.
Adds aiming and a special move button, but some builds you can make work for 1 handed play. Also has a home decoration side game, fishing, and more! On the downside, feels a little 'light' and less immersive for some reason to me, but hey, it's free! I'll be playing more of it!
Did I say it's totally free? It's Free! I'll come back and make real notes later.
Full level/progression notes from Genki: "Leveling up is done like Vampire Survivors. Enemies drop XP, on level up you choose a weapon (or item). Eventually there's an option to reroll or banish a weapon or item. Occasionally, anvils drop on the ground. Anvils allow you to level up a weapon/item without the need for xp, enchant a weapon (apply a random buff) or enhance a weapon beyond it's max level (each enhancement costs coins and every time per weapon the probability of success decreases).
Stamps also drop from time to time. Stamps are buffs that are only applied to the main character-unique weapon. You can equip a max of 3 stamps and level them up to level 3 by sacrificing other stamps. Stamps can also be sold for coins. There's a also a super rare chance for super-items to drop from boxes. Super items are buffed version of normal items without any downside."
"Players can combine certain weapons to make a collab, an evolved version of those two weapon that also frees a slot. When certain requirements are met and the player collects a golden hammer, they have the chance to combine a collab with an item to make a super collab."
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.
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.
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!
Some description of the game and its features from the creators.
"Play as your favorite Vtubers from Hololive! Fight, explore, and clear your way through armies of fans and save them from their mind-control in this unofficial free fan-game."
"Free, unofficial fan game featuring the vtuber talents of Hololive and its surrounding community, with gameplay heavily inspired by Vampire Survivors and Magic Survival."
Genki: "Twin stick shooter with special skills activated by a button and strafing / aiming lock also toggled by holding a button. Can be played with only keyboard (aiming and strafing will be locked to eight directions), mouse+keyboard or controller (both allow for free aiming 360 degrees)."
Automated Features
Auto-fire. Default, but there is a special move button.
No targeted auto-aiming, but by default all weapons that can be aimed fire in the direction your character moves. You can choose to lock(strafe) the aim in a specific direction or use free aiming with m+k or controller
Supported Controls
Controller: Partial
Controller Move Only: No
Controller One Handed: Partially
Genki: "Possible to assign special skill and strafing to the two left triggers. Would be missing the free aim that comes with the right stick, though."
Mouse Only: No
Keyboard Only: Yes.
Genki: "Weapon aiming and strafing will be restricted to only 8 directions, though."
Keyboard One Handed: Partially.
Genki: "It's possible to play with 1 hand with certain weapon combinations and characters, but not all."
Game is semi-accessible as it can be played with one hand, but it loses the aiming features.
Menu FX Toggles: Attack opacity slider, Visual Effects, Screen Shake, Show Skill Radius
Tutorial Notes
Has a very quick basic tutorial when you start a run for the first time showing basic movement and aiming controls for both keyboard + mouse and controller (twin-stick controls).
Stage mode is the default game mode that lasts 20 minutes and the run ends when the player defeats the final boss.
Endless mode lasts 30+ minutes (to upwards of 60 minutes, sometimes more depending on build and strategy), the run ends with a mob horde with exponentially increasing stats that eventually overwhelmed the player.
Time mode lasts 3-10 minutes. The goal is to complete a certain objective as fast as possible.
Very similar to Vampire Survivors. Enemies drop XP, on dialog pops up on level event, eventual reroll and "banish" options.
Occasionally dropped "anvils" allow you to instantly level, buff or a chance to further enhance a weapon beyond it's max level for coins.
Occasionally dropped "stamps" are also equippable/upgradeable/swappable buffs
Very rare chance of super-items dropped from boxes, which are buffed versions of items without any downside.
Weapons can combine and evolve, called a "collab", freeing an equip slot. In certain conditions they can combine with an item to make a "super collab".
Meta Progression
Players unlock new stages, items and weapons by completing certain goals. They can earn gold (holocoins) through runs that can be spent on upgrades and characters.
The characters can not be purchased directly and are instead obtained through gacha with the in-game currency. Repeat characters in the gacha upgrade the existing character. Repeat characters on a gacha banner also give a secondary currency (a "tear") per repeated character. Tears can be used to directly purchase
characters or outfits without the need for gacha.
Upgrades can be refunded, gold spent on gacha can not be refunded. In the HoloHouse, gold can be spent on farming crops and combined with fish obtained from a fishing minigame. It's cooked into various food items that give effects during gameplay (essentially difficulty modifiers.)
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
Play
->Character Select
-->Outfit Select (if extra outfits unlocked)
-> Mode Select (Stage, Endless or Time)
--> Stage Select(Also enable Food from HoloHouse)
HoloHouse
-> Character Select
Shop
-> Character Gacha
--> Banner Selection (Select your number of rolls from 1-10)
-> Tears Menu (Buy Outfits or Characters directly with the secondary currency tears)
-> Buy Upgrades
-> Armory (Collection)
Leaderboard
Achievements
-> Achievements
--> General Achievements
--> Character Specific Achievements
-> Fandoms (Character-based meta-progression based on goals)
Settings
Credits
Quit
Display & Sound
Available on the main menu or the pause menu
Display
- Resolution(720p or 1080p)
- Fullscreen
- Attack Opacity
- Damage Numbers
- Visual Effects
- Screen Shake
- Hud Portrait(Character Portrait)
- Hud HP bar
- Hud HP number
- Show Mini HP(above player)
- Hide HP if full
- Show Skill radius
- Show Stamps
Sound
- Music Volume Slider
- Sound Volume Slider
Gameplay / Input / Other Options
Available on the main menu or the pause menu
Gameplay
- Damage Numbers, Visual Effects, etc under the option "Graphic Settings". See Display and Sound Options column
Input
- Keybinds: Confirm/Strafe, Cancel/Special, Left,Right, Up,Down,SET ALL.
- Controller: Confirm/Strafe,Strafe(Alt),Cancel/Special,Special(Alt),Start,Menu,SET ALL
- Controller Vibration
Other
- Language (English, Indonesian, Japanese)
- HoloHouse Custom Names (randomizes workers names in HoloHouse)
- HoloHouse Custom Messages
From top left of the screen, persistent UI during play (aka Heads Up Display) and other menus during your run.
Player HUD / Gameplay UI
XP bar runs across the screen. Level is displayed on the top right.
Character Portrait (Size can be selected in settings)
6 weapon slots and 6 item slots below them. All next to character portrait.
Character Skill icon and charging bar below character portrait.
Coins collected and below it, enemies defeated. Both top right close to level.
Timer on display at all times. Shows selected mode and time elapsed.
Pause Menus
Actual Pause Menu on the center. On the left, Character Artwork, name and stats are shown.
-Skills (check character-specific skills and their level)
-Stamps (upgrade, swap or sell stamps)
-Collabs (see a list of already unlocked collabs and super collabs)
-Resume
-Settings
-Quit
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 play buttons of varying color depending on the XP given. Gold drops from enemies. Health items can either drop randomly or be obtained by breaking certain objects. Anvils that let you upgrade your weapon also drop.
On XP Gain Event
- On the left, Character Artwork, name and stats are shown.
- Can bring up a side menu to see all available collabs possible.
- Pick from 4 options. Items/Weapons
- Reroll, Eliminate
On Stamp pickup
-Picked up stamp on left side. Description in the bottom center.
-Select an option to swap/upgrade/sell the stamp with any already placed stamp or place stamp in empty slot
On Collab
- Shows 6 weapons on screen. Weapons that can be collabed in general glow.
On Super Collab
- Shows all weapons and items on screen. Weapons and items that can super collab glow.
On Anvil pickup
- Shows all weapons and items. Maxed out items are greyed out.
- On item select: Level up item for free.
- On weapon select: Level up item for free if not maxed out. Can also "enchant" weapon (apply a buff) for coins.
If weapon already maxed, can choose to level up beyond max level for coins, has a probability to fail enhancement.
On box drop
- Can select to accept the drop or refuse it
Meta Unlock Menus
Characters can be purchased via gacha banners. There's a "tears" sub-menu per banner that also acts as a way to check alt outfit unlocked status.
Upgrades are bought in the shop. Divided in three menus: Enhancements (unlock basic game systems like stamps, rerolls, eliminates),
Stat Upgrades and Others(Game modifiers like weapon limit, banning super items, hardcore mode)
Enhancements: Special Attack, Growth, Reroll, Eliminate, Stamps, Enchantments, Fandom
Stat Upgrades: HP, ATK, Speed,Crit, Pickup Range, Haste, Regen, Defense, Special Cooldown Reduction, Skill Up, EXP Gain Up, Foods Drop Up, Coins Up, Enhancement Rates Up
Others: Marketing, Weapon Limit, Item Limit, Collab Ban, Super Items Ban, G Rank Off, Hardcore Mode, Refund All
All upgrades can be refunded, including the basic system ones (required for some achievements). Characters cannot be refunded, but
repeated characters on a gacha banner grant you a tear. With enough tears you can purchase characters or outfits directly without the need for gacha.
Fandom Menu: Under the Achievements Menu. Provides a list of every character's fandom exp and their conditions to level up. Fandoms grant you bonuses for each character. 3 levels of fandom per character.
A auto-battler necromancy game if you want to raise hell but not freeze your computer. As a summoning focused horde avoidance game, it has a lot of depth. But it may not satisfy bullet heaven cravings if you want to see a million things pop out of your character or so many enemies you get one frame a second. It also has a dash and special move button, differentiating it from VS there. Active updates, a beloved title by many! Additional notes and score adjust by Raring on discord.
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 10/18/2023
This game is notable both for being widely loved but also for being a firm twist on the genre by focusing on summoning (though plenty of other games on this list like Keeper's Toll have necromancer or summoner characters or skills.) This is not only one of the best VS-likes, though, it's also one of the best necromancer games ever! Also includes a card game mini-game that's totally optional accessed through your lair.
Lots of unlocks from characters to game modes and a lot of depth in a lofi presentation. Patches may have removed the ability to go infinite without amazing luck unfortunately. It's possible this won't scratch the itch for you if you want to see a lot of attacks/bullets come out of your character. You spend most of the time running away from, not into, mobs of enemies while your summons mop up.
This is one of the more unique and fully realized title on this list and also well supported with an active fandom.
Raring Review Notes: "It's a bullet heaven title with a heavy horde focus. While there are plenty of projectiles, it leans more into dodging large groups of mobs in melee range. While it is isometric depending on the map and the layout you choose through upgrades any map can and will feel different. Opposed to the likes of VS, it features (Mini)bosses with distinctive skills and high mobility. The various classes all have their unique playstyle and the game is not strictly build around weapons and passives."
"Controls are great. You only need movement keys and 2 trigger keys or your stick and 2 buttons"
Raring: "In its core outside of spell based classes it's still a necromancy game. You raise your minions and while you can support them, they will do most of the work for you. In earlier iterations the game used to be fairly hard and unlocking Bosses to raise them as minions felt very rewarding. Sadly my review score took a bit of a hit when it started to orient itself more on VS adding features that made difficulty redundant unless you kept looping for higher leaderboard scores."
"While it has become a tad too easy and as such the incentive of "one more run" has been lowered, it is still a solid recommendations. For less than 5 bucks you get an incredible bang for buck value if achievement hunting is your thing. It's still the best class/necromancy based horde survivor if pixel art is your jam."
Raring and I both came to the same pure vibes score: 8.5
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.
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.
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!
Some description of the game and its features from the creators.
"Amass an army of deamonic undead to fight endless waves of heroes intent to end your boneraising ways! In this gothic-horror auto-battle roguelite, use the bones of slain heroes to raise your minions, collect powerful relics and spells, and unlock meta upgrades, all to survive King Gigald's crusade!"
"Dash around avoiding enemies and collecting their bones" "There's several game modes to keep play fresh."
A movement focused game that I wouldn't call a single stick shooter, since you don't shoot.
Mostly using your dash to stay out of trouble while gathering the resource to power up, you spend most of the time running away from, not into, mobs of enemies while your summons mop up.
Automated Features
Auto-Battler
You summon a great deal of enemies to do damage for you
Timed Survival is also called Mausoleum Awakening, Endless is Necrotic Skirmishes, dailies called Boneworld Challenges.
Raring: "The goal is survival until the "final" boss of the map. Then either loop for endless if you want to place higher on the leaderboards or end your run to invest into unlockable boons. Those will either grant you access to more classes, allow you to modify the hub for more features or to either increase or lower the difficulty by spending on perks for yourself and the hordes. It also features daily and weekly challenges."