A First Look At Poncle's Deck-Building Spinoff Vampire Crawlers

Developer Poncle has announced that a Vampire Crawlers demo will be available for Steam and Xbox Game Pass on February 23rd, offering a first taste of the much-anticipated deck-building spin-off set in the Vampire Survivors universe. The game has already gathered over 200,000 wishlists, signaling strong interest ahead of its release. The demo's arrival on PC will coincide with Steam's latest Next Fest.

Vampire Crawlers was officially unveiled last November, with Poncle describing it as the first in a potential series of spin-offs. The developer's goal is to apply the core principles of the original hit—its accessibility, immediacy, affordability, replayability, and lightheartedness—to different game genres. In addition to the upcoming demo, Poncle has launched a new video series, "Let's Explore Vampire Crawlers," with the first episode now available to watch.

The series provides an in-depth look at the gameplay and features players can expect in the full version. More videos are planned for release in the near future. The game itself is a departure from the original's formula, described by the studio as a "turbo turn-based, card-driven BLOBBER with rogue-lite elements." It is designed to be played at two different speeds. Players can opt for a slower, more tactical experience, or they can play at a faster, more chaotic pace. The game intelligently stacks and executes ability inputs, so players do not have to wait for animations to complete before making their next move.

This system allows for a fluid and continuous sequence of actions. Gameplay involves building powerful card decks and exploring familiar dungeons, which now have functioning walls. Players will gain experience and level up to acquire new cards, open chests for customization gems and power-ups, and pursue weapon evolutions. They can also summon survivors to create cascading effects. While a specific release date has not yet been announced, Vampire Crawlers is scheduled to launch sometime this year for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Switch, PC, iOS, and Android.