The New 3D Vampire Survivors Clone That's Storming On Steam

"Vampire Survivors was one of 2022's break-out indie successes, a crudely animated 2D auto-shooter in which you moved your Castlevania-inspired character around screens filled with kerbillions of enemies, gaining new automatically triggered attacks and defenses by picking up the diamond-shaped gems dropped by fallen enemies. The more you played, the more characters you unlocked and the more skills would became available as you leveled up."

"Now meet Megabonk, a 2025 indie success, a crudely animated 3D auto-shooter in which you move your character around screens filled with kerbillions of enemies, gaining new automatically triggered attacks and defenses by picking up the diamond-shaped gems dropped by fallen enemies. The absolutely blatant way in which Megabonk takes inspiration from Vampire Survivors doesn't seem to be doing it any harm. Then again, the most played games in the world are Roblox-made knock-offs, so no big surprises there."

"In Megabonk, you move your chosen character (at the start you can choose between a nimble fox with a starting fireball and a clunky armored knight with a swingy sword) around the PS2-like 3D space, with enemies pinging into existence all around you. Much like in VS, you then learn how to move around in a way that's appropriate for your attacks while trying to shepherd the crowd of enemies chasing you such that you can loop around"

Megabonk translates the auto-shooter loop of Vampire Survivors into a PS2-like 3D arena where waves of enemies spawn around the player. Players pick up diamond-shaped gems dropped by defeated foes to level up, unlocking characters and choosing upgrades from randomized sets. Starting characters include a nimble fox with a fireball and a clunky armored knight with a sword, each requiring different movement strategies to shepherd enemies and collect gems. The game comes from first-time developer vedinad and leans heavily on its predecessor's formula while remaining notably fun and successful as an indie release.

Read at Kotaku