Vampire Survivors
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 6 of 12 roguelike games by recommenders
Recommended for its fun, vibe and genre-shaping influence, with many survivors-likes. Critics call it a mechanically simple dopamine shortcut that feels pointless.
Recommended for its fun, vibe and genre-shaping influence, with many survivors-likes. Critics call it a mechanically simple dopamine shortcut that feels pointless.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 71%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fun for many players
“Balatro and Vampire Survivor are plenty of fun for some people”
Comment from 28 Dec 2025 in “Rainbow Six Siege Hacked as Players Get Billions of Credits and Random Bans” “I really like the Vampire Survivors vibe though”
Comment from 3 Sep 2026 in “Wk. 6 of Vibecoding an MMO” “Vampire survivor is an amazing game”
Comment from 21 Aug 2026 in “Death to the Self-Playing Game”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Mechanically simple, shallow dopamine loop
“games that are mechanically simple and exist just to give you dopamine hits”
Comment from 8 Jun 2026 in “Dopamine Fracking” “if Vampire Survivors is a dopamine shortcut”
Comment from 21 Aug 2026 in “Death to the Self-Playing Game” “But these don't make the game good, they make the gameplay feel pointless.”
Comment from 23 Aug 2026 in “Death to the Self-Playing Game”
Other roguelike games people recommend
The four most recommended other roguelike games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NetHack | 60 | 7 | 90% | 11 | 26 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| Chess-Inspired Roguelike | 33 | 3 | 92% | 1 | — | — |
| Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup | 16 | 6 | 73% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Xs of Y | 14 | 5 | 74% | 1 | — | — |
| Vampire SurvivorsThis page | 10 | 4 | 71% | 5 | — | Approved |
What people said
13 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“balatro plays on the same things that vampire survivors does: overwhelming the enemy with enormous domination”
“I really like the Vampire Survivors vibe though”
“But these don't make the game good, they make the gameplay feel pointless.”
“winning requires a lot of exploration”
“Vampire survivor is an amazing game”
“if Vampire Survivors is a dopamine shortcut”
“Games are already democratized.”
“It is a pedestrian dual stick shooter.”
“games that are mechanically simple and exist just to give you dopamine hits”
“Games that are so good they define or reshape genres are few and far between nowadays.”
“Vampire Survivors (itself a roguelite) spawned survivors-likes.”
“Original, phenomenal games covering damm near every genre”
“Balatro and Vampire Survivor are plenty of fun for some people”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.