Scaling and Review Notes

Review Disclaimer

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 ?

No notes available yet!

Help us rank this game! [Submit Feature Survey] [Submit Review]

Scaling and Review Notes

Personal Hours Played: 3.0

Review Disclaimer

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 11/15/2023

Ecstatic is more of an oldschool arena shooter which had previously come up in my recommendations since I've been getting so many bite sized top down retro style shooters. It's not a survivors-like, with no meta progression, no giant hordes, and no buildcrafting alternate paths or bullet heaven power fantasy. Just one weapon and character.

But it is a pretty great little arcade style shooter, I think. Fairly simple in design, but it doesn't pretend to be a huge game and I'm satisfied to have tried it since it was in the Steam Bullet Heaven Fest. I think originally designed as a browser game, the controller support (which isn't officially listed) basically just emulates a mouse and was pretty hard to play with. (Dev confirmed: "The "controller support" is actually just Steam emulating mouse inputs, as the game was indeed designed and developed to be played with the mouse")

Playing on Steam Deck, it works quite well with the trackpad as you kind of click to move your little spider around the grid-like arena and hover your target over enemies then click to send missiles their way. One hit will kill you (giving this a -1 on "health on ground") so it feels very much like a bullet hell at first even with the relatively small enemy and projectile count, but a "freeze" mechanic that slows everything down unless you move drastically increases survivability.

Power ups are in the classic arcade style, a limited number of them available and a few levels possible in each. It's unlikely you'll be able to get them all in a play, so in that way there are some build choices. You can target the powerups to change them to a different type, helpful when figuring out your play style.

It took me a bit to truly adapt to the lock on and then fire mechanic for the missles, I admit. I imagine it's more obvious as a mouse game. Aesthetically excellent, from the pixel spider's independently moving legs to the classic arcade beats and synth voice announcing powerups (another thing I love from games like Super Stardust HD).

It's actually priced a tiny bit higher than on average for these games, but before this latest wave most arcade style shooters were around this price range or more (and there were a lot fewer options.) I'm happy with the experience for the price, though I'm not sure I'll really put a ton of hours in. I like these games, but I reach my limit of ability in them at times. It may not be about winning an arcade game, though, I guess, just playing.

Scaling and Review Notes

Review Disclaimer

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 ?

No notes available yet!

Help us rank this game! [Submit Feature Survey] [Submit Review]

Scaling and Review Notes

Personal Hours Played: 283.3

Review Disclaimer

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 10/17/2023

I've put an insane amount of hours into all the From Software Souls-Likes and thought it might be interesting to use one to test the scale. Souls-likes have a slightly similar feel in that their "one more try" dynamic after dying feels a lot like the "one more run" addiction of rouge-lites.

It also has a lot of exploration, levels, depth, and technically the XP is on the ground sometimes. Great game! Will it scratch your VS itch? Almost definitely not... but maybe.

I love Soulslikes but I wouldn't put most of them on this list. I just picked the latest one and I think it was the most widely played as well, The mechanics in most of them are very similar. The FromSoft games, anyway.

Scaling and Review Notes

Review Disclaimer

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 ?

No notes available yet!

Help us rank this game! [Submit Feature Survey] [Submit Review]

Scaling and Review Notes

Review Disclaimer

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 ?

No notes available yet!

Help us rank this game! [Submit Feature Survey] [Submit Review]

Scaling and Review Notes

Personal Hours Played: 2.6

Review Disclaimer

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

This is a survivors-like with a very cute SNES era RPG inspired vibe, complete with Nintendo Power themed menu and 4:3 ratio gameplay area. It's both more contemporary and more simplified in art style, but that's not a nitpick just an observation from a huge fan of the genre. It's overall very fun.

It's a nice find, very familiar to VS in the relaxing ways and just a little different thematically, enough that it feels new and worth exploring. In fact the little world map style exploring is a fun part of it, though minimalistic. Technically waves are announced in a scrolling box on the right sidebar but it's easy to not notice and still feels organic. The visual theme fits since it's little twist is you hire a "party" not just picking weapons or abilities. It's got aim enabled by default but can be turned off in the menu quickly, so we're giving it high partial points in movement only. Some characters have "on stop moving" abilities hence a tenth off in "no on attack movement penalty."

I have mixed feelings about "stats", sometimes preferring the more arcade style games, but I know many Brotato and RPG fans will appreciate more overt numbers on the screen. I think I do agree with the steam reviewer who prefers to not have borders on the screen, this also causes burn in on my OLED not just less immersion. I like a lot about the music but also it could relax just a little bit. I wish there were more lofi/relaxed options on start anyway. You can switch it at any time and for a bit I didn't realize I had it on shuffle, which was frustrating, using the trigger locks it to the track it's on.

But I do have a concern it may be too easy. Or at least too tilted towards the player in a way that makes the ramp odd. My first run in I got all the way until the end of run boss without much effort,then got stomped. I would have rather had a series of shorter runs feeling like I earned it and then a chance at winning with more upgrades. Also, it tells me to pick STR abilities for a STR character, then hands me all and only level ups with the ones I pick.

There's no way to make a badly optimized build or be forced to deal with a "bad draw". I imagine that comes later outside of my limited first look, but usually I encounter some of it quickly (that difficulty dropping down quick that rogue-inspired games are known for.) That challenge of high risk high reward is what draws me and makes me want to learn the new system. My hope is that I'll find more if it when I check back in on this early access title.

The data for this one is based on a dev submitted scorecard, my personal review and another review submitted by Silver721 earlier. Here's Silver's review note:

"Elemental Survivors wear's Vampire Survivors' inspiration on its sleeve, but distinguishes itself by incorporating Dungeons & Dragons and RPG elements to it. It features a party of characters with one main character, and each character has an array of stats like you would see in D&D. These stats influence which weapons are stronger with certain characters and allow for a wide variety of builds."

Scaling and Review Notes

Review Disclaimer

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 ?

No notes available yet!

Help us rank this game! [Submit Feature Survey] [Submit Review]

Scaling and Review Notes

Review Disclaimer

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 10/29/2023

Scale scoring from scorecard submitted by Developer. Once evaluated after a couple hours play and some research, will be adjusted and moved up into the ranking proper.

Game currently available in closed beta, Dev states will be totally free on upcoming Early Access release.

Dev Scorecard notes: "Elewar: Fused Survivors is a game similar to VS, enriches it with more player choices and hardcore difficulty. Enemies each have their own attacks, and there might be lots of enemy shots, if you don't overpower them with your build."

Dev Scorecard notes: "The map is fixed sized, but features different events spawning on it all the time, making exploring it well worth it"

Help us rank this game! [Submit Review]

Scaling and Review Notes

Review Disclaimer

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 12/22/2023

No notes available yet!

Help us rank this game! [Submit Feature Survey] [Submit Review]

Scaling and Review Notes

Review Disclaimer

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 ?

No notes available yet!

Help us rank this game! [Submit Feature Survey] [Submit Review]

Scaling and Review Notes

Review Disclaimer

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 11/20/2023

Scale scoring from scorecard submitted by player reviewer. Once evaluated after a couple hours play and some research, will be adjusted and moved up into the ranking proper.

zza675's scorecard notes: "I would say it's fairly different from VS it as its more focused on exploring a linier dungeon with rooms instead of an open one."

Help us rank this game! [Submit Review]

Scaling and Review Notes

Review Disclaimer

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 ?

No notes available yet!

Help us rank this game! [Submit Feature Survey] [Submit Review]

Scaling and Review Notes

Review Disclaimer

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 ?

No notes available yet!

Help us rank this game! [Submit Feature Survey] [Submit Review]

Scaling and Review Notes

Review Disclaimer

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 ?

No notes available yet!

Help us rank this game! [Submit Feature Survey] [Submit Review]

Scaling and Review Notes

Review Disclaimer

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 ?

No notes available yet!

Help us rank this game! [Submit Feature Survey] [Submit Review]

Scaling and Review Notes

Review Disclaimer

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.