Deal | Steam: 2026 indie hit (96% positive) drops to around $8 for the first time

Vampire Crawlers is an official spin-off of Vampire Survivors, one of the most popular roguelikes around. Expectations were accordingly high when the game launched in April 2026 – and judging by its more than 18,000 Steam reviews, 96% of which are positive, fans were apparently not disappointed. According to SteamDB, the title from poncle and Nosebleed Interactive is now available on Steam with a 20% discount for the first time. This brings the regular price of the Steam Deck Verified dungeon crawler down from $10 to $8.

Vampire Crawlers is set in the same delightfully bizarre universe as its predecessor. In terms of gameplay, however, the game takes a completely different direction. Instead of controlling a character from a top-down perspective and mowing through ever-growing hordes of enemies, players explore dark dungeons from a first-person perspective. The starting point is a village that serves as a central hub. From there, players venture into infested dungeons with their crawler, searching for treasure, upgrades and a shovel that can be used to clear the way to the next floor. Between runs, new characters, cards and permanent upgrades can be unlocked in the village.

Combat is turn-based and revolves around playing cards. Each turn provides a certain amount of mana, which is used to play cards that can, for example, attack an enemy, hit several monsters at once or strengthen the player's character. The order matters: Playing cards in sequence with increasing mana costs creates a combo, with each card played increasing the effect of the next. So instead of the automatic barrage of attacks seen in Vampire Survivors, the focus this time is on tactical card combos. However, the signature barrage of numbers and the appeal of creating increasingly powerful builds remain intact.

According to GameSpot's review, Vampire Crawlers delivers the same “just one more run” appeal that made the original game so successful. Cleverly combining cards is said to feel highly satisfying. Over time, new mechanics are introduced, including relics and gems that can further enhance cards. By the endgame, this can result in almost game-breakingly powerful builds. Players who spend enough time fine-tuning their deck can eventually steamroll through the dungeons with almost no effort. According to GameSpot, however, this also makes exploration somewhat less challenging, as familiar dungeons and once-dangerous enemies become increasingly trivial due to permanent upgrades. Overall, the game still earned a score of 8 out of 10.

Disclaimer: Notebookcheck is not responsible for price changes carried out by retailers. The discounted price or deal mentioned in this item was available at the time of writing and may be subject to time restrictions and/or limited unit availability.