More than a year has passed since the release of Vampire Survivors, which gave birth to a new, extremely simple, but very addictive game genre, and during this time the vastness of the World Wide Web has been filled with dozens of different clones. In this article you will find another selection of, in my opinion, very interesting clones, and you can familiarize yourself with the 2022 version at the link above.
HoloCure – Save the Fans!
In the first collection, I made a serious and, perhaps, even unforgivable mistake, I did not include an extremely exciting game called HoloCure – Save the Fans!, so we will start the new collection with it. HoloCure is a completely free project built around the universe (if one can say so in this case) of the virtual agency Hololive Production, which promotes YouTubers in various countries. The project is being developed by a talented person – Kay Yu.
Key Features:
- There is a standard passive development system, tied to the discovery of various passives and new opportunities (for example, you can unlock an ult).
- There are two modes for controlling attacks coming from the character – in the direction of movement or towards the pointer. Simply put, if desired, attacks can be directed using the mouse.
- All characters are YouTubers.
- Each character has its own special attack, ultimate and passiveactive abilities. All this can be upgraded.
- The process of unlocking characters is implemented through an extremely simple gacha for the main currency.
- Most of the opponents are represented as mascots of a certain YouTuber. Bosses and unique opponents are also presented as references to certain “things”.
- There are 8 levels in total, or, more simply put, cards – 4 regular, 3 difficult and 1 special. Open when certain conditions are met.
- As you progress through levels, you can strengthen your character with the help of 34 ordinary items (provide attacking or passive properties), 16 super items (a stronger version of ordinary ones), 23 collabs (to create them you need to combine two ordinary items) and 4 super collabs (to create them you need to combine two collab).
In addition to the above, there is a special non-combat mode that allows you to move a house to holo. Additional activities are collected inside it. Fishing – allows you to get sand, it can be exchanged for better fishing rods or the main currency at the rate of 1 to 1. Garden bed – allows you to grow all kinds of food for cooking, it is necessary for workers. Workers create the main currency.
Halls Of Torment
In May of this year, Chasing Carrots studio launched early access of its new project called Halls Of Torment. This is a pretty sticky clone of Vampire Survivors, standing out from the entire list with its gloomy style in the spirit of the first / second parts of Diablo (at least it seemed so to me), the presence of tasks and a full-fledged equipment system.
Key features, at least those that are present at the time of writing:
- The main point of each run is to survive for 30 minutes and then kill the boss.
- There is a standard passive development system, tied to the discovery of various passives and new opportunities, but certain options must first be opened by completing a certain quest.
- There are 5 cards. After successfully destroying the boss of the map, a more difficult mode becomes available, adding various modifiers, and the difficulty level gradually increases.
- There are 9 characters to choose from, each with their own unique fighting style. At the very beginning, only one class is available, and you unlock the rest by completing quests.
- According to Wikipedia, there are 250 quests in the game. Some of them are associated with unlocking cards, items, abilities, etc.
- There are a total of 16 abilities that can be obtained and then improved during each race. A character can have a maximum of 6 abilities.
- In addition to abilities, during the race you can find random equipment that fits into one of the slots – a helmet, a breastplate, gloves, boots, two rings and a necklace.
- After unlocking a special upgrade, the equipment found can be removed from the race, then purchased from a merchant in the camp and added to the permanent collection for later use.
Disfigure
In July of this year, Cold Brew Entertainment released its free, fairly simple, but extremely addictive clone called Disfigure. The main highlight of the project is the limited field of view; at any moment the player can switch between an extremely small spherical and conical version. Only within this area can you see opponents coming in endless waves, in fact, this is the main difficulty.
Key Features:
- There is no passive character development system.
- There is a leader board, although since the project is free and without protection, I would not pay attention to it.
- There is only one map with two difficulty modes – normal and hard.
- The character dies if he receives 3 hits.
- The map is populated by 9 types of enemies and 3 bosses, the latter appearing at certain levels.
- There are 9 weapon options – 6 firearms and 4 cold weapons. Initially, only the basic one is available, and the rest are opened for game currency.
- Each weapon has 9 unique passives, which are unlocked in each race at a certain character level.
- The character can be improved with the help of all kinds of enhancements, of which there are only 100 pieces – some are passive, others are active, acting as various abilities. For example, some power-ups expand the field of view.
- What’s noteworthy is that the enhancements are arranged like a tree, that is, by opening the base option, you get access to its two branches of improvements, which can now appear in the pool of possible options.
Yet Another Zombie Survivors
In June of this year, a small studio, Awesome Games Studio, launched early access of its project with the rather funny name Yet Another Zombie Survivors. This clone stands out for the following: more or less acceptable 3D graphics and the ability to run around the map with several characters at once. At a certain point in the race, the player can save a survivor and then summon the selected character, thereby gaining access to his weapons and unique abilities. The maximum group size is 3 people, including your character.
Key Features:
- Target selection is automatic, that is, the player only controls movement.
- There is a standard passive development system.
- Several game modes – normal, endless, hardcore, boss rush (the player is constantly attacked by bosses) and one hit (after receiving any hit, you fail the race).
- Unfortunately, there are only two cards available.
- There are 6 characters. Initially, only one is available and to open the others you need to fulfill the specified conditions.
- Each character has their own weapons, abilities, upgrades, and leader passives that affect other computer-controlled characters.
- Each character can be upgraded, giving access to advanced weapons and abilities. To do this, again you need to fulfill the specified conditions.
Sea of Survivors
This month, the studio Chasing Carrots launched early access of its project called Sea of Survivors. This clone stands out for the following things: marine theme – you control a ship, destroy other ships and all kinds of sea creatures (from very real to mythical). Upgrading the ship – the player places all received weapons and enhancements in a special interface consisting of 33 interconnected cells (4 for weapons, the rest for enhancements). This is why amplifications need to be chosen wisely.
Key Features:
- There is a standard passive development system.
- Before starting a new race, the player can hire NPCs and add them to the team. Each NPC provides special bonuses that simplify the gameplay to one degree or another, but if the race fails, you lose the entire team (unless, of course, there is a special bonus).
- At the time of writing, there is only one map, one ship, several weapon options, several enemy options and several bosses.
- In the process of exploring the map, in addition to opponents, you can stumble upon various special objects; after interacting with them for a certain period of time, you will receive a reward.
In conclusion, I would like to recommend taking a closer look at the Death Must Die project; a very long demo with two characters is now available, and an early access release will take place in November. Among the features: nice pixel graphics, 10-minute races with the goal of defeating the final boss of the map, abilities and improvements are tied to the gods (almost ala Hades), equipment is present (fits in 10 slots) and it does not disappear after each race. The demo lacks the standard passive progression system, but additional systems are gradually opening up.
