DISCLAIMER: This is a message from the legal team of the Indie Skunk. We decline any responsability in case one of our followers developes an unhealthy, if understandable, addiction to this game or any of the games that the minions of the Indie Skunk, who are poor irresponsible illiterates that just don’t know any better, recommend. Thank you.
Just so you know, “the legal team” was the Indie Skunk Itself coming in and out of the room wearing different glasses, wigs and costumes, most of which didn’t make any kind of sense. But Its Stinkiness insisted on “definitely looking like a lawyer”.
With that out of the way, today this minion would like to talk about a superb indie game—Vampire Survivors, a game by Luca Galante, solo dev at poncle.
With almost 61,000 reviews on Steam, 98% percent of them positive ones, it is a game that, no matter what our “legal team” says, you should probably try.
Also it’s VERY cheap, specially for the amount of fun that it offers, and therefore it’s the kind of game that we can “borrow” the Indie Skunk’s credit card for without Its Magnanimous Gloriousness noticing.
No, once again, we do not get paid. We had cold potatoes for lunch last Sunday though. And there were only a couple of worms.
Vampire Hunter 2D—The world
The plot of Vampire Survivors is simple. We must kill 2D vampires and other 2D creatures of the night with our 2D vampire hunter.
What stands out are those other creatures. While some of them (and the characters that we can select) are obviously similar to the ones in the old Castlevania games, many others are as bizarre as the ones in the classic anime movie Vampire Hunter D. And they look awesome, which is a plus for this minimalistic game.
The really catchy soundtrack, also reminiscent of those old school 2D games, is the new official earworm of this minion. And that’s ok. It’s pretty good.
Look mom, one hand!—The gameplay
The pompous and famous last words of the Triple-A Ferret, right before it lost its life in that bizarre golf accident (our “legal team” encourages us to use the word “accident”) were “No respectable game can be played with just one hand”.
Given what happened next, the Ferret was probably right about that in that context, but it couldn’t have been more wrong in this context.
Because all you need to play Vampire Survivors is one hand.
The gameplay is brilliant in its simplicity—The player will be quickly overwhelmed by mobs of creatures of the night, more and more dangerous the longer we survive, and we must avoid those creatures by moving our character.
We can also use our position to unleash our weapons, taking into account their different attack patterns. We need to kill creatures to collect stones that will allow us to increase our level and unlock new weapons and defenses, and to improve the ones that we already have. Also if we manage to kill some of the bigger, boss-like creatures, we will get a chest with some sweet loot.
The weapons attack automatically, following a cool down period that we can of course improve too.
Therefore we just need one hand. That’s it. If only the Triple-A Ferret had chosen this game instead of golf.
One more thing. No matter how well we play, our character will die. Sooner or later, it’s unavoidable.
And you, our beloved follower, may be thinking “So, what’s the point?”, and the answer is that, the longer we survive, the better new weapons, characters and other maps/stages we will unlock.
That was probably what our “legal team” was talking about. Because, dear follower, believe this minon—You will play, and play, and play, and then play a “little” more.
Vampire Survivors is, after all, brilliant in its simplicity, and the proof that sometimes less is definitely more.
That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more legal advice of the definitely-not-a-lawyer Indie Skunk. Also for more reviews of the most amazing indie games.
Hail the Indie Skunk!