Vampire Survivors has been one of the breakout hits of 2022, so it’s not too surprising to see the indie smash getting some… extreme flattery, courtesy of Vampire Survivor, which emerged on the Microsoft store this month.
If you thought Vampire Survivors, one of the best games on Game Pass, would have been better if the game was buried deep beneath layers and layers of adverts, then you’ve come to the right place. TangoGames’ one-letter-off ‘homage’ Vampire Survivor is free on the store, but it will throw unskippable full-screen ads at you as often as it can — between runs, during runs, and even over/under other ads, which can get kinda hectic. Perhaps you thought Poncle’s game was too balanced in how it dished out power-ups? Vampire Survivor doesn’t care about such trivial things, and will hand out extra weapons and abilities, let you pick all Level-up options, increase chest quality, and more so long as you’re willing to sit through unskippable mid-run ads each and every time.
Shameless Vampire Survivors ripoff lands on MS store
Vampire Survivor’s simplistic art is certainly very similar to the game it so closely emulates while getting so, so much wrong, but audio is basically identical. No, really — from familiar sound effects to that unmistakable chest jingle, most of the audio seems to have been lifted wholesale from the original game, while music doesn’t even loop properly. Maybe you have to watch more ads to unlock that functionality?
Truth be told, you don’t even download the game itself, rather a tiny launcher that constantly tries to feed you a bunch more browser knock-offs like Pocket League, Mario Craft Runner, Sonik Run, Cuphead Rush, and a litany of other questionable games. You can tell a lot about a game from the company it keeps, and that rough list right there speaks volumes. Even if you’re done with the real deal and need a fix before the next DLC rolls around, just stick with the original — trust us, this ain’t it, on any level.
Surprised to see MS store knock-offs getting quite this brazen? Let us know!