The developer who shook the gaming industry to its core in 2022 with 'Vampire Survivors' is back, and a demo for their latest project is dropping this February.

'Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors' (hereinafter Vampire Crawlers) is a spin-off deck-building card battle roguelike. It leans heavily into nostalgia by utilizing most of the original Vampire Survivors assets, from character art and enemies to weapons.

The general gameplay loop is similar to typical dungeon crawlers. The protagonists of Vampire Survivors return here as 'Crawlers', which you choose to navigate through a dungeon one tile at a time. Each Crawler comes equipped with a unique deck, and you can add new cards to your deck every time you level up.

The core of the game lies in its mana and combo systems. It is a turn-based affair where you spend mana to play cards. Each card displays its mana cost in the top-left corner, and you are encouraged to play them in specific sequences to trigger more powerful effects. For instance, chaining the 0-cost 'Maniac's Skull' into the 1-cost 'Charm Orb' and then the 2-cost 'Eight the Sparrow' creates a much more devastating impact.

The card effects themselves are also inspired by Vampire Survivors. 'Maniac's Skull' makes enemies stronger in exchange for extra experience, while the 'Charm Orb' handles card draw. The signature weapon evolution system is also present, bolstered by a gem-socketing mechanic. These gems range from simple tweaks that increase mana costs to unique perks like 'granting extra damage to all attacks while this card is in your hand'.

Vampire Crawlers is slated for release in 2026, with a playable demo launching on February 23rd.