Following its successful early access period, Vampire Survivors hit Steam in October 2022 and quickly made its way to Xbox and mobile soon after. A top-down roguelike shooter that wears its Castlevania influences boldly on its sleeve and boasts a gorgeous pixel art style, Vampire Survivors has gradually grown in popularity over the last year or so, and with its widespread release, it's become one of the most beloved Indie games in recent memory. Though it isn't the first of its genre, Vampire Survivors, at least to many fans, has perfected the top-down auto-shooter formula, but it's about to get some intriguing competition.
Launched on Steam early access in September of last year, Brotato is a top-down auto-shooter roguelike that looks like a perfect blend of Vampire Survivors' gameplay, and The Binding of Isaac's art style. Brotato's Nintendo Switch debut - slated for later this year - has just been announced at Nintendo's Indie World Showcase, and if the early access reviews are anything to go by, then Brotato is one to watch out for.
Brotato Could Finally Give Vampire Survivors Some Competition
Though Vampire Survivors didn't quite take the world by storm, it has garnered quite the loyal fan-base over the last year or so. The biggest draw for Vampire Survivors is its addictive core gameplay loop. Embracing the best parts of the roguelike genre, players are dropped into a chosen location, and given endless hordes of skeletons, ghouls, werewolves, and monsters to fight, all of which attempt to surround and overwhelm the player. Each kill will reward the player with some XP, which they can then use to upgrade themselves with new weapons and gear, which in turn means that they can slay foes even faster.
Each round of Vampire Survivors can only last a maximum of 30 minutes, and these short bursts are integral for keeping that core gameplay loop addictive. And Vampire Survivors doesn't just stop at having a satisfying gameplay loop. Vampire Survivors boasts a lot of in-game content, ranging from a ton of unlockable playable characters to a plethora of weapons and gear to overarching character upgrades and unlocks. It feels like there's always something to work toward in Vampire Survivors, and the fact that it's so cheap on PC and consoles - and completely free on mobile - makes it all the more compelling and impressive.
But while Vampire Survivors has been the talk of its genre for the past year, that might all be about to change with the upcoming Indie Brotato. Developed by Blobfish, the same studio behind the charming 2D roguelite platformer Space Gladiators, Brotato seems to take the best elements of Vampire Survivors, and double down on them. In terms of gameplay, Brotato and Vampire Survivors seem almost identical, with Brotato borrowing the top-down auto-shooter roguelike formula almost beat-for-beat. However, it seems as though Brotato may offer even more weapon and gear choices than Vampire Survivors, putting a strong emphasis on build types and variations.
The biggest thing setting Brotato apart from Vampire Survivors is its completely different art style. While Vampire Survivors boasts a highly detailed pixel art style heavily inspired by classic Castlevania titles, sometimes even directly "borrowing" sprite art from the series, Brotato has a more simplistic Super Meat Boy or Binding of Isaac style of visual design. The player-character in Brotato is, as the name would imply, a gun-wielding potato, represented by a simple circle model with little arms and legs. Brotato's enemy design is equally simplistic, with each foe essentially being purple blobs of differing shapes and sizes, occasionally wearing a skeletal hat. Though it isn't quite as eye-catching as Vampire Survivors, Brotato's art style does make the action feel a little less chaotic, which could end up helping it attract more casual audiences when it releases later this year on Nintendo Switch.
Vampire Survivors is available now for Android, iOS, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
